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Global vehicle sales reached 88.7 million units in 2015, a 2.0% increase from prior-year, following a strong December that saw a 6.0% gain over like-2014 to 8.5 million units.
The final count was boosted by robust demand in North America coupled with positive totals in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.
With strong contributions from all three countries, North American vehicle sales jumped 6.3% over 2014, reaching 21.2 million vehicles. The region sold close to 2 million vehicles last month alone, which was 8.7% higher than December 2014 and a 23.1% share of the global market.
The U.S. witnessed a 5.9% increase in 2015 sales, and Canada saw modest growth at 2.6% above prior-year. Deliveries in Mexico surged 18.7% above 2014, totaling 1.4 million units.
The Asia-Pacific region ended the year with 42.9 million sales, a 2.6% increase over 2014’s record total. The region’s December volume of 4.4 million accounted for 51.9% of the world’s tally.
China alone held 32.9% of the global total, selling 2.8 million vehicles last month, up 16.5% from 2014, even as the country’s overall economy was in flux. December was a mixed bag for the rest of the region: sales plummeted in Japan (-14.5%) and Indonesia (-7%), but soared in South Korea (+16.5%) and Thailand (+13.3%).
India witnessed a 7.8% gain on 3.5 million vehicles for the year as its economy benefits from low oil prices and slowdowns in other markets, such as Russia and Brazil.
Sales in Europe continue to climb back to pre-recession volumes with 2015 ending 3.5% above 2014’s total at 19.3 million units. High points in the final month included Austria (+29.1%), Ireland (+23.2%) and Spain (+21.0%). In contrast, the recession in Russia drove its sales down 44.2% to 157,000 units.
While growth was recorded in all other regions, South America’s ongoing economic struggles continued to hinder sales. The region ended the year with 4.3 million vehicles, a sharp 22.3% drop from 2014, holding just 4.3% of the global market. Sales in Brazil, the region’s largest market, plummeted 38% for a December total of 229,000 units.
