USA November 2018: Ram soars 43.5%, lifts FCA up 16.8% in market down 0.3%

The Ram Pickup soars 42%, posting a 3rd all-time volume record in 4 months. 

Evergreen pickup and SUV sales have failed to compensate a worsening car sales crisis in the U.S. this month as November edges down 0.3% to 1.395.144 deliveries, this despite Black Friday sale on throughout the month, to mark the third year-on-year decline in the past 5 months. The Seasonally Adjusted Annualised selling Rate (-0.6%) however marks a third month above 17.5 million at 17.55m after September (17.54m) and October (17.59m). Year-to-date, the U.S. new light vehicle market remains in positive at +0.5% to 15.704.921 nuts and is on track to cross the symbolic 17 million annual unit benchmark for the 4th straight year. Exclusive BSCB estimates for all General Motors brands and models are included in this article as the company now only reports quarterly.

The Toyota RAV4 is up 23% to cement its SUV leadership.

The hero of the month is once again FCA soaring 16.8% thanks fleet sales representing 25% of its November total, Ram shooting up an incredible 43.5% to break its all-time monthly record for the 2nd time in the past three months at 57.970 vs. 56.447 last September, Jeep (+11.8%), Dodge (+15.1%) and Alfa Romeo (+35.9%) whereas Maserati (-16.7%), Chrysler (-20.7%) and Fiat (-24.5%) struggle. General Motors is estimated to gain 1.4% thanks to GMC (+14.5%) while Chevrolet (-0.4%), Cadillac (-3.9%) and Buick (-12%) all decline. The remaining Top 6 groups all lose ground due to weak passenger car sales: Ford Motor (-7.1% cars down 20%), Toyota Motor (-0.6% cars down 17%), American Honda (-9.5% cars down 13%) and Nissan Motor (-18.3% cars down 33%). Jaguar Land Rover (+19.1%) and Hyundai-Kia (+1.1%) are in positive.

The Tesla Model 3 is the 5th best-selling passenger car in the U.S. this month.

Brand-wise, the Top 5 best-sellers are all in decline: Ford (-7.6%), Chevrolet (-0.4%), Toyota (-0.3%), Honda (-11.6%) and Nissan (-21.6%). Below Jeep (+11.8%) and Ram (+43.5%) posting extravagant gains, Hyundai (+3%) is in good shape while Subaru (+9.8%) posts an 84th consecutive month of year-on-year gain: that’s exactly 7 years! Tesla is up 382.4% to remain at #17, outselling Audi (-11%) but trailing fellow premium fares Mercedes (-3.6%), BMW (+1%) and Lexus (-2.5%), with Land Rover (+25.7%), McLaren (+22.4%), Acura (+10.5%), Infiniti (+8.1%), Rolls Royce (+4.7%), Jaguar (+4.4%) and Volvo (+4.2%) and  also posting solid upticks.

The Chevrolet Equinox is up 67% to #5 overall in November.

Over in the models ranking, the Ford F-Series (-1%) lodges a 9th consecutive month above 70.000 sales, adding up to 821.558 year-to-date (+2%), its second ever largest volume at this stage of the year below the 844.119 units reached back in 2004 when it achieved a record of 939.511 sales over the full year. The Ram Pickup (+42%) ranks 2nd for the 4th consecutive month and breaks its all-time volume record for the third time in the past 4 months at 52.056. In fact, the last 4 months have been the nameplate’s best-ever 4 months: September at 51.856, August at 49.912 and October at 49.186. As a result the Chevrolet Silverado (+7%) remans in third place despite a solid gain. The Toyota RAV4 (+23%) is starting to benefit from the arrival of the new generation in dealership and cements its YTD SUV lead, distancing the Chevrolet Equinox (+67%) in excellent shape, the Nissan Rogue (-12%) and Honda CR-V (-2%) making the Top 7 best-sellers 100% trucks.

The Lincoln Nautilus has landed in the U.S.

The Toyota Camry (-30%) leads passenger cars as usual but posts a ghastly fall, eclipsing the Honda Accord (+2%) and Civic (-30%) wth the GMC Sierra (+19%), Ford Escape (-14%) and Toyota Corolla (+9%) lurking just outside the Top 10. The Tesla Model 3 (+2564%) stuns with a #5 passenger car ranking below the Camry, Accord, Civic and Corolla usual suspects. The GMC Terrain (+51%), Jeep Compass (+25%), Jeep Cherokee (+23%), Toyota Tacoma (+22%) and Jeep Wrangler (+20%) post the largest gains in the remainder of the Top 50. The Hyundai Kona tops all recent launches at #64, just above the Ford Ecosport (#66) and Subaru Ascent (#67), the Lincoln Nautilus lands and immediately equals MKX sales with which it is counted together for now, the Cadillac XT4 is estimated to cross the 1.000 monthly unit-mark this month, the Audi Q8 is up 42 spots to #191 and the Jaguar i-Pace up 31 to #242.

Previous month: USA October 2018: FCA (+15.4%) single-handedly pulls market up 0.2%

One year ago: USA November 2017: Nissan, Honda, Ford lift market up 1.3%

Full November 2018 Top 15 groups, Top 40 brands and Top 280 models below.