Car sales hit an all time high in 2015, breaking the record of 17.41 million units sold in 2000. Sales were boosted due to favorable economic conditions, low oil prices and more accessibility to credit at better interest rates. All in all, buyers flocked to showrooms to make 2015 a record-breaking year with sales 5.7% greater than 2014.
The industry’s top 6 showed solid car sales growth with FCA and Nissan on the top slot with 7% growth. Ford Motors, Toyota and GM reported sales growth of 5% whereas Honda showed 3% growth. Hyundai bumped shoulders with the big guys with its 5% sales growth.
FCA put everything they had in the last lap and posted a 13% jump in December to end up with the impressive annual 7% bump. Special mention goes to Jeep with an astounding 42% growth in December and 25% annual growth.
Both Ford brands (Ford and Lincoln) showed good performance. General Motors owes a chunk of its 5% annual growth to GMC sales which made up for Chevrolet, Cadillac and Buick lukewarm performances.
Nissan also had a great December with an 18% gain. Nissan Infiniti finished the year with a 25.7% bump in December. Toyota’s steady performance showed a 12% increase in December landing it at 5% for the year. Honda lagged behind 3% with the Acura showing dismal sales in December.
MINI and Mazda ran neck to neck with 4.3% and 4.4% annual boosts respectively, while VW sales dropped by 5% for the year.
BMW car sales slowed in the last couple of months, but it still managed to maintain its top position in the luxury segment with 346,023 vehicles sold. Lexus filled the second slot with a 3.8% annual growth (344,601 units sold in 2015). Mercedes-Benz came in third, selling 34,203 units in December and finishing the year at 343, 088 units.
Audi is on a roll with five consecutive years of record breaking sales! The company sold 202,202 units in 2015 and reported an annual growth of 11.1%. Land Rover also had a great year with a 37% annual increase but Jaguar went down by 8%.
Volvo has the XC90 to thank for an absolutely phenomenal 90% gain in December bringing its annual growth to 24%.
The boom is expected to continue in 2016 though growth rates may slow down as oil prices might be on the rise for next year.
Here are 2015 total sales:
– Acura up 5.6%, 177,165
– Alfa up 629%, 663
– Audi up 11.1%, 202,202
– Bentley up 10.6%, 2,686
– BMW up 1.8%, 346,023
– Buick down 2.6%, 223,055
– Cadillac up 2.6%, 175,267
– Chevrolet up 4.5%, 2,125,347
– Chrysler up 5%, 324,846
– Dodge down 10%, 517,153
– Fiat down 8%, 42,410
– Ford up 5.3%, 2,511,935
– GMC up 11.3%, 558,697
– Honda up 2.6%, 1,409,386
– Hyundai up 5%, 761,710
– Infiniti up 13.8%, 133,498
– Jaguar down 8%, 14,466
– Jeep up 25%, 865,028
– Kia up 7.8%, 625,818
– *Lamborghini up 2.7%, 756
– Land Rover up 37%, 70,582
– Lexus up 10.7%, 344,601
– Lincoln up 7.1%, 101,227
– Maserati down 9.6%, 11,697
– Mazda up 4.4%, 319,184
– **Mercedes-Benz up 3.8%, 343,088
– MINI up 4.3%, 58.514
– Mitsubishi up 22.8%, 95,342
– Nissan up 6.4%, 1,351,420
– Porsche up 10.1%, 51,756
– Ram up 5%, 493,807
– Subaru up 13.4%, 582,675
– Scion down 3.2%, 56,167
– smart down 28.4%, 7,484
– *Tesla up 26.7%, 22,800
– Toyota up 4.5%, 2,154,712
– Volkswagen down 4.8%, 349,440
– Volvo up 24.3%, 70,047