All Japanese automakers posted sales increases in the U.S. in 2014, helping propel Asian manufacturers’ market share upward to 45.7% from 45.4% in 2013. It was the best share performance for the group since 2012, WardsAuto data shows.
North American automakers saw flat market share of 45.3%, while the Europeans lost ground for the second year in a row, falling to 9.0% from 9.4% in 2013.
Two of the biggest gainers in 2014 were Nissan and Subaru. Both Japanese automakers grew their U.S. market share by 0.4 percentage points in 2014, with Nissan, thanks to its namesake brand, going from 8.0% to an 8.4% share and Subaru rising from 2.7% to a 3.1% slice of the total U.S. light-vehicle market.
Kia, Mazda and Mitsubishi also gained market share in the U.S. in 2014, although each grew just 0.1%.
Nissan, Kia and Subaru achieved record calendar-year sales in the U.S. last year, respectively selling 1.39 million, 580,234 and 513,693 units. Subaru sales jumped 21.1% from 2013 and were up a whopping 174% from the 187,208 units the brand delivered in 2007.
Toyota held at 14.4% share, once again placing the automaker third in market share in the U.S., behind General Motors (flat at 17.9%) and Ford (down a full percentage point to 14.7%).
Reflecting a tough year that saw its core Civic and Pilot models lose traction, Honda’s share fell to 9.4% in 2014 from 9.8% in 2013.
Hyundai also lost ground last year, with a reduced 4.4% of the market, down from 4.6% prior-year, as the Elantra compact-car lineup waned. However, the brand still managed to set a volume record for the fifth consecutive year, recording 725,718 sales in 2014.
Delving deeper into the numbers, the Toyota brand kept a 12.2% U.S. market share, putting it close to GM’s Chevrolet, which slipped in 2014 from 2013, to 12.4% from 12.5%.
GM’s Buick and GMC brands registered slight gains, up 0.1%, while Cadillac predictably fell, down 0.2%, as its cars failed to click en masse with American luxury buyers.
Despite falling from a 15.2% slice of the market in 2013 to 14.1% last year, Ford again was the leading brand by market share in the U.S.
Jeep led all gaining brands in 2014, growing penetration a full percentage point, to 4.2% from 3.2% in 2013.
That jump, and Ram’s half-point uptick, helped propel FCA US (Chrysler Group) share from 11.5% to 12.6%.
European automakers and brands were flat, holding their share of the U.S. market, or moving slightly up or down.
Audi and BMW each added 0.1%, while Mini and Volvo’s share fell by the same margin.
Volkswagen was the exception to the tepid changes, losing 0.4 percentage points of share in 2014, due to underwhelming Jetta and Passat sales. The C- and D-cars saw volume decrease 1.8% and 11.9% last year.
