Ford capped 2011 as the only automotive brand to gain a full point in U.S. light-vehicle market share, finishing the year at 15.9%, according to WardsAuto data.
The last time the Blue Oval controlled a greater slice of the market was in 2004, when its stake was 16.1%.
A handful of brands were close to the full-point threshold. They included Jeep, up 0.8 pts., and Kia, up 0.7 pts. Nissan, Hyundai and Chevrolet all gained 0.4 pts., compared with like-2010.
The Ford brand’s climb is reflected in Internet traffic. General Sentiment, a Jericho, NY-based firm that monitors social media, says Ford garnered more than 2.3 million online mentions last year.
The only brand to outpace Ford was luxury-segment sales leader BMW. General Sentiment recorded 3.1 million BMW mentions.
The Ford brand was tops in Google search queries, followed by Nissan, BMW, Jeep, Hyundai, Audi, Kia, Lexus, Subaru and Volkswagen.
General Sentiment analyst Steven Kwon says Ford benefited from the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 11, resulting in vehicle-assembly disruptions around the globe.
“The reason Ford gained market share in 2011 was because of the production troubles of the three Japanese auto makers,” Kwon tells WardsAuto in an email. “The data shows this clearly.”
The Ford brand last year accounted for 2,024,941 deliveries, a 17.3% hike from like-2010. Its top-selling vehicle was the F-Series fullsize pickup, which posted a 10.1% year-over-year gain to 254,293, according to WardsAuto data.
The F-Series delivery total made it America’s best-selling vehicle for the 30th consecutive year.
