U.S. car sales up 3.1% in December, up 0.4% for 2016
U.S. light vehicle sales of 1,690,429 units in December were up 3.1% as compared to the same month in 2015.
Truck and SUV sales rose 8.3% from last December to 1,065,592 units, while passenger car sales declined 4.7% to 624,837 units.
Total sales for 2016 were up 0.4% to 17,550,351 units.
Truck and SUV sales for the full year were up 7.2% to 10,445,189 units, while passenger car sales were down 8.1% to 7,105,162 units for 2016.
The overall SAAR for December of 18.43 million units set a record for 2016.
The SAAR was 7.26 million units for passenger cars and 11.17 million units for trucks.
General Motors sales were up 9.9% based on the strength of passenger car sales, which increased 20.9% from last December.
Ford sales were up 0.1% and FCA sales were down 10.0% compared to December sales last year.
Among Japanese companies, Toyota, Nissan, Honda, and Subaru sales were up 2.0%, 9.7%, 6.4%, and 12.3% respectively compared to last December.
Kia sales increased 0.2%, while Hyundai sales decreased 1.9% from last year.
Among German companies, Daimler and BMW sales declined 4.8% and 5.3% respectively, while Volkswagen Group sales increased 17.1% from the same month last year.
Volvo sales increased 8.4%, while Jaguar Land Rover sales increased 30.5% from last December.