Best Selling Cars of 2008

I’m certainly not here to defend the big three US auto makers or to say that the huge hole they’ve dug for themselves isn’t completely justified, but I find it interesting that so many people are criticizing the companies for not listening to car buyers.  “If they listened to the consumer,” so many say, “they’d be building smaller cars.”

On the surface, this seems like a reasonable point of view, but the numbers don’t completely back this up.  In December of last year, three of the top ten selling vehicles in the US were trucks.  Yup, big fat American pickups.  And, five of the top ten vehicles were American.  Now, while there’s reasonable argument that American manufacturers should dominate this list, five out of ten isn’t horrible (I suspect, by the way, that sales of the Impala are probably driven by fleet purchases – this isn’t a negative, loads of Camry’s and Accords are also sold into fleets).  I also think this indicates that the companies were, in fact, listening to the buying public who was clamoring for pickups.  Keep in mind that half of Toyota’s products are trucks (and SUVs) and they are not on the list.

December 2008’s Top 10 Best-Selling Cars

• Ford F-Series: 41,580
• Chevy Silverado: 33,340
• Toyota Camry: 25,275
• Honda Accord: 22,348
• Toyota Corolla: 22,129
• Chevy Impala: 21,148
• Chevy Malibu: 17,355
• Nissan Altima: 17,311
• Honda Civic: 17,302
• Dodge Ram: 16,618

For the year, the leading pickups from the Big 3 are on the top ten list (the Ford F-150 is at the top of both lists as it has been for a zillion years), but America’s contribution to the list drops to 4/6.

The Top 10 Best-Selling Cars of 2008

• Ford F-Series: 515,513
• Chevy Silverado: 465,065
• Toyota Camry: 436,617
• Honda Accord: 372,789
• Toyota Corolla: 351,007
• Honda Civic: 339,289
• Nissan Altima: 269,668
• Chevy Impala: 265,840
• Dodge Ram: 245,840
• Honda CR-V: 197,279

As I’ve discussed before, while there are loads of real reasons that American cars don’t occupy the majority of slots on the list, the primary reason is the crappy perception Americans have of the quality of products from the Big 3. This perception comes from the fact that GM, Ford and Chrysler built garbage vehicles for almost two decades starting in the late 70s/early 80s.  Most people won’t cut these companies any slack and give their new offerings a spin, however, so recent products from Detroit haven’t gotten their fair shake or a chance to change people’s opinions.

My guess (and hope) is that the top ten list for 2009 will include more American cars, the same pickup trucks.  Some of this will be driven purely by economics – American cars are once again cheaper than market-comparable vehicles from other countries and exchange rates aren’t helping foreign manufacturers.  Some of this will happen because, inevitably, people will once again give American cars a chance and word will spread.  Of course, I expect the overall totals to be down significantly.

Related posts:

1. The 2008 New York International Auto Show
2. What’s With All The GM Bashing?
3. 2007 Camry – Tough Competition