Dec. 5, 2013—The U.S. automotive industry continued its steady climb back to pre-recession levels after a strong November, reporting a significant year-over-year increase in total vehicle sales.
Total sales of 1.25 million cars and trucks during the first three weeks of November for General Motors Corp. (GM), Ford Motor Co., Chrysler Group LLC, and other automakers were the highest since 2003’s 1.26 million. GM, Ford, and Chrysler made up 544,784 of those vehicles.
In all, the numbers add up to a 9 percent year-over-year increase in total sales, with Chrysler coming in the strongest at 16 percent and just over 142,000 vehicles sold. Chrysler’s Jeep and Ram Truck models enjoyed the largest increase in sales over last year with a 30 percent and 25 percent bump, respectively.
GM enjoyed a 14 percent increase in sales compared to last year. Nissan Motor Co. went up 11 percent, Toyota Motor Corp. increased 10 percent, and Ford reported a 7 percent increase in sales.
It wasn’t all good news for automakers, however, as Volkswagen Group and Honda Motor Company Ltd. reported sales decreases of 16 percent and less than 1 percent, respectively.
GM, Ford, and Chrysler have sold nearly 6.4 million vehicles this year with less than a month to go until 2014, resulting in a 11 percent increase compared to the same time frame from last year.
