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USA December 2014: BMW 3 breaks record again, market up 11%

Chevrolet Colorado USA December 2014. Picture courtesy of motortrend.comChevrolet sales are up 20% in December, with the Colorado back inside the Top 100.

* See the Top 275 All-models, Top 40 brands & 15 groups by clicking on the title *

An improving economy, fuel prices at 6 year-lows and very advantageous year-end deals: all conditions were reunited for US car buyers to flock to dealerships in December. And they did, propelling new light vehicle December sales up 11% year-on-year to 1.507.928 and lifting the 2014 figure up 6% to 16.5 million deliveries. Looking at automotive groups, General Motors (+19%), Toyota (+13%), FCA (+20%) and Hyundai-Kia (+14%) all lodge double-digit year-on-year growth while Ford (+1%) Honda (+1%) and Nissan (+7%) lose market share.

BMW M3 USA December 2014. Picture courtesy of motortrend.comBMW M3: the 3/4 Series smashes its monthly US volume record in December.

Brand-wise, Chevrolet is up a stellar 20% to take a definitive advantage over Toyota (+13%) in the final 2014 ranking, Jeep is faithful to month after month of explosive growth at +19%, GMC is up 23%, Subaru up 24% and Ram up 35%. And that’s just the Top 10… Further down, notice Kia up 36%, Lexus up 15%, Chrysler up 53%, Buick up 32% and Alfa Romeo already climbing one spot up the ladder, overtaking Rolls-Royce to rank #38 with 67 units sold.

1. Ram 2500 Long Horn Fort WorthThe Ram Pickup is at its best since July 2005, with the 1500 variant up 44%.

While the Ford F-Series is waiting out its transition period to the new aluminum-bodied 2015 F-150 (-0.3% on December 2013), the Chevrolet Silverado (up 36% to 57,837 sales) and the GMC Sierra (up 31% to 23,436 both deliver their best monthly results since August 2007, meaning GM’s full-size pickup line outsells the Ford F-Series for the 5th month running at 81,273 sales vs. 74,355. In other great pickup news, the Ram Pickup hits its best monthly score since July 2005 at 44,222 sales, up 32%, thus securing the #3 spot overall in 2014. The Honda CR-V is virtually immobile vs. last month, tying its best-ever monthly ranking at #4 overall, outselling all passenger cars in the market for the second month running (and ever) and lodging the nameplate’s 5th best-ever monthly tally at 32,369.

Nissan Altima USA December 2014The Nissan Altima is the #1 passenger car in the US in December, outselling the Toyota Camry.

The Nissan Altima (+30%) is the best-selling passenger car in the country for only the third time ever after March 2013 and February 2014 at #5 above the Toyota Camry (+6%) and Honda Accord (-2%). The Toyota Corolla is up a beautiful 34% YOY at #8 and the Chrysler 200 hits its 2nd best-ever monthly volume at 16,229 units (+187%) thanks to the 2015 model. But the most impressive performance of all is the works of the BMW 3/4 Series smashing the all-time record it hit exactly one year ago in December 2013: up 16% to 19,464 sales in 15th position.

Ford Transit USA December 2014. Picture courtesy of motortrend.comFirst ever 4-digit sales month for the Ford Transit in the US.

Further down in the ranking, the Jeep Cherokee lodges a third consecutive month inside the Top 20, the Ford Transit finally breaks its ties now that the E-Series it replaces has been discontinued: up 107% and 33 spots on November to break into the Top 50 for the first time and pass the 10,000 monthly-unit milestone at #45 and 10,030 sales. The Ford Mustang is up 66% to #49, the BMW X5 up 212% to #75, the Lexus NX up to #123 with 2,905 units for its first full month of sales and the Chevrolet Trax lands at #199. In the medium-size pickup revived segment, the Chevrolet Colorado is up 71% on last month to 4,037 units at #99 while the GMC Canyon is up 80% to 1,533 sales at #167. If the Toyota Tacoma is still a fair bit ahead (#31 at 14,284 sales), the Nissan Frontier (#75 – 6,060 units) is now a locked-down target for the Colorado.

Previous post: USA 11 months 2014: Discover the Top 279 All-models

Previous month: USA November 2014: Best November score since 2001

One year ago: USA December 2013: BMW 3 Series breaks all-time record

Full December 2014 Top 275 All-models, Top 40 brands & 15 groups below.

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