December 2017 U.S. LV Sales Thread: Industry Hit 17.8 Million SAAR

WardsAuto tracks light-vehicle (LV) deliveries throughout sales reporting day. Monthly year-over-year change represents the change in daily sales rate (DSR).  December had 26 selling days this year compared with 27 days in 2016, meaning DSR % change will be higher than straight volume % change for year-over-year comparisons this month.

Related Table 

U.S. Light Vehicle Sales Summary table

SUMMARY:  

U.S. automakers sold 1.60 million light vehicles over 26 selling days in December.

The resulting daily sales rate of 61,377 units represents a 1.5% decline from year-ago (27 days). The 9.9% gain from November (25 days) is higher than the average improvement between the two months recorded over the past three years.

The 17.76 million-unit seasonally adjusted annual rate is above November’s 17.40 million, but below December 2016’s 18.05 million. Excluding prior-year’s unexpectedly high results, this month’s SAAR will hit a 17-year high.

General Motors accounted for 19.3% of the LV market, a small gain from the 19.0% recorded year-ago.

Ford's share lifted from 13.8 in prior-year to 14.7%.

Toyota showed a loss in market share, from 14.5% in December 2016 to 14.0% in same-month 2017.

FCA showed a big drop to 10.7% vs 11.3% last year.

Honda's market share was 9.4%, followed by Nissan with a 8.7% take.

Industrywide December LV sales brought the full-year total to 17.05 million units, down 1.9% from 2016.

UPDATE 3:15 AM EST

Hyundai's DSR lifted 6.0% on 63,594 LVs. Its 12-month total plummeted 11.5% from like-2016.

UPDATE 2:50 AM EST

BMW delivered 38,864 vehicles in December, resulting in a 7.6% gain in DSR. Year-to-date, sales were down 3.4%.

UPDATE 1:30 AM EST

Kia recorded a 17.8% decline in monthly sales with 43,039 units. YTD sales were down 8.9%

Subaru's DSR rose 4.1% from year-ago on 63,342 vehicles. January-December sales were 5.3% higher than same-period 2016.

Audi delivered 26,977 LVs, resulting in a 20.8% jump in DSR. Its 12-month total was 7.8% above like-2016.

Daimler sold 39,426 cars and light trucks in December, up 10.4% from year-ago. Annual sales fell 1.4%.

UPDATE 12:30 AM EST

Sales of Volkswagen-branded vehicles totaled 30,281 units, a 15.5% drop in DSR from December 2016. The 12-month tally was 5.2% above last year.

UPDATE 12:10 AM EST

Nissan sold 138,226 vehicles in December, slipping 6.0% from year-ago. Year-to-date, sales were up 1.9%.

Honda posted a 3.4% decline on 149,317 units. Sales for 2017 were nearly flat with prior-year with a 0.2% growth.

UPDATE 10:15 AM EST

GM's DSR upticked 0.4% on 308,248 LVs. Its 12-month total came in 1.4% below like-2016.

UPDATE 10:10 AM EST

Ford sold 234,896 light vehicles in December, a 5.1% jump in daily sales. For full-year 2017, deliveries were down 1.2%

FCA's DSR dropped 7.2% for the month, with 170,241 LVs. Annual sales fell 8.4%.

Toyota sold 222,985 units in December, down 4.8% from year-ago and resulting in a 0.6% year-to-date downturn.