We didn't know sales for the U.S. auto industry in 2008 would be this bad when the year began, but it sure ended on a fitting note. Over the past six months or so we've seen the U.S. auto sales market nearly collapse and almost take our own domestic auto industry with it.
Nevertheless, there were a couple of standouts. Both MINI and Subaru somehow managed to post sales gains in 2008 compared to the previous year. The success of MINI is likely due to production capacity more than popularity, but we have no explanation for Subaru other than its sales staff is more persuasive than at your average car dealership.
As for the big dogs, despite the whole lot of them being hit equally hard over the past few months, Japanese automakers had a stronger first half of 2008. As such, their year-end sales data looks better than the domestics with Toyota being the worst performing Japanese automaker at -15.4% and Honda fairing the best with a drop of just 7.91%. In comparison, Ford Motor Company (-20.7%) and General Motors (-22.9%) were equally unimpressive while the Chrysler Group hemorrhaged sales and finished down a full 30%.
As for the rest of the auto industry, it's all there below and it isn't pretty.
| BY THE NUMBERS - 2008 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | Vol. % Change | Total Sales 2008 | Total Sales 2007 | DSR % Change | Daily Avg. 2008 | Daily Avg. 2007 |
| Acura | -19.8% | 144,504 | 180,104 | -20% | 469 | 587 |
| Audi | -6.1% | 87,760 | 93,506 | -6.4% | 285 | 305 |
| BMW | -15.2% | 249,113 | 293,795 | -15.5% | 809 | 957 |
| Buick | -26.2% | 137,197 | 185,791 | -26.4% | 445 | 605 |
| Cadillac | -24.9% | 161,159 | 214,726 | -25.2% | 523 | 699 |
| Chevrolet | -20.5% | 1,801,131 | 2,265,641 | -20.8% | 5,848 | 7,380 |
| Chrysler | -38.3% | 335,108 | 543,011 | -38.5% | 1,088 | 1,769 |
| Dodge | -25.9% | 784,113 | 1,058,402 | -26.2% | 2,546 | 3,448 |
| Ford | -19.7% | 1,687,731 | 2,101,244 | -19.9% | 5,480 | 6,844 |
| GMC | -25.5% | 376,996 | 505,746 | -25.7% | 1,224 | 1,647 |
| Honda | -6.4% | 1,284,261 | 1,371,438 | -6.7% | 4,170 | 4,467 |
| HUMMER | -50.9% | 27,485 | 55,986 | -51% | 89 | 182 |
| Hyundai | NA | |||||
| Infiniti | -11% | 112,989 | 127,038 | -11.3% | 367 | 414 |
| Jeep | -29.7% | 333,901 | 475,237 | -30% | 1,084 | 1,548 |
| Kia | -10.5% | 273,397 | 305,473 | -10.8% | 888 | 995 |
| Lexus | -21% | 260,087 | 329,177 | -21.2% | 844 | 1,072 |
| Lincoln | -18.4% | 107,295 | 131,487 | -18.7% | 348 | 428 |
| Mazda | -10.9% | 263,949 | 296,110 | -11.2% | 857 | 965 |
| Mercedes-Benz | -11.2% | 225,128 | 253,433 | -11.5% | 731 | 826 |
| Mercury | -28.6% | 120,248 | 168,422 | -28.8% | 390 | 549 |
| MINI | 28.6% | 54,077 | 42,045 | 28.2% | 176 | 137 |
| Mitsubishi | -24.6% | 97,257 | 128,993 | -24.8% | 316 | 420 |
| Nissan | -10.9% | 838,361 | 941,200 | -11.2% | 2,722 | 3,066 |
| Pontiac | -25.3% | 267,348 | 358,022 | -25.6% | 868 | 1,166 |
| Porsche | -25% | 26,035 | 34,693 | -25.2% | 85 | 113 |
| Saab | -34.7% | 21,368 | 32,711 | -34.9% | 69 | 107 |
| Saturn | -21.7% | 188,004 | 240,091 | -21.9% | 610 | 782 |
| Subaru | 0.3% | 187,699 | 187,208 | -0.06 | 609 | 610 |
| Suzuki | NA | |||||
| Toyota | -14.6% | 1,957,575 | 2,291,648 | -14.9% | 6,356 | 7,464 |
| Volkswagen | -3.2% | 223,128 | 230,572 | -3.5% | 724 | 751 |
| Volvo | -31.2% | 73,102 | 106,213 | -31.4% | 237 | 346 |
| COMPANIES | ||||||
| BMW Group | -9.7% | 303,190 | 335,840 | -10% | 984 | 1,094 |
| Chrysler LLC | -30% | 1,453,122 | 2,076,650 | -30.3% | 4,717 | 6,764 |
| FoMoCo | -20.7% | 1,988,376 | 2,507,366 | -30% | 6,456 | 8,167 |
| General Motors | -22.9% | 2,980,688 | 3,866,620 | -23.2% | 9,678 | 12,594 |
| Honda America | -7.91% | 1,428,765 | 1,551,542 | -8.21% | 4,369 | 5,054 |
| Nissan NA | -10.9% | 951,350 | 1,068,238 | -11.2% | 3,081 | 3,480 |
| Toyota Mo Co | -15.4% | 2,217,662 | 2,620,825 | -15.7% | 7,200 | 8,537 |
