You may have already seen the sales totals for December, and 2008 as a whole. If not, here's a summary: not good. For a more detailed look, check out the industry wide 2008 sales analysis over at AutoObserver.
We assembled something a little different though. Instead of assessing the big picture, we looked at the sales numbers for individual models. Which new models flopped, which old models recovered, that sort of thing. Some of the results we expected, others were a little more eye opening. See for yourself after the jump.
The 3 Series Reigns
- BMW continues to dominate the entry-level luxury sedan and coupe category with sales of 110,371 3 Series. No surprise there, but note the resurgence of the Mercedes-Benz C-Class (up 13.8% to 72,471) and the continued solid performance of the Infiniti G35/37 (64,183). The Cadillac CTS is also hanging in there well at 58,774 while the rest of the pack is still struggling to break free from the 50,000 unit range (Lexus IS - 49,432; Acura TL - 46,766; Audi A4 - 40,656).
PT No Match for HHR
- Often criticized for its copycat styling, the Chevrolet HHR put the hurt on the Chrysler PT Cruiser in 2008, outselling it nearly 2-to-1 (96,053 to 50,910).
MX-5 Top Selling Roadster -- Sort Of
- Taken alone, the Mazda MX-5 was the roadster sales king with sales of 10,997 units. But put GM's Pontiac Solstice/Saturn Sky twins together and it's not even close with combined sales of 19,901 cars. Broken out, the MX-5 outpaced the Solstice by 258 units and the Sky by 1,835 units.
Malibu Strong, But Not That Strong
- Chevrolet's Malibu is one of its best sedans in decades, but it's going to take a long time for it to threathen the Camry's lock on the family sedan segment. The Malibu had sales of 170,498 units in 2008. The Toyota Camry? Try 408,629 cars.
Mercury Weak, Very Weak
- GM can still feel good about the Pontiac G6 though. With a 2008 sales total of 140,240 units, the G6 outsold Mercury's entire lineup combined (120,248).
Was the Cayenne Really a Mistake?
- The Cayenne SUV is often criticized as a philisophical disaster for Porsche, but just look at the numbers. It rang up sales of 11,216 units in 2008. Porsche's other three models combined only totaled 14,819 units.
The Lexus GS Probably Feels Like a Mistake
- The Lexus GS continues to struggle. It's various models combined for a total of just 15,759 units. Only 665 of those were GS450h models, a 59.3% drop from the previous year. For comparison, BMW sold 45,813 of its 5 Series sedans.
A Relative Mistake
- The Mercedes-Benz R-Class is another slow seller that never really caught on, but efforts to revive its fortune have paid off to some degree. It racked up sales of 7,733 units in 2008. Not a big number, but considering the 2008 numbers for a few other choice models (SL - 5,464; SLK - 4,941; CL - 2,733; G - 931) it's not time to euthanize the R-Class just yet.
The Greenest Car Company?
- Toyota suffered big when it came to full-size trucks, but it pulled out quite a miracle when it came to full-size SUVs. Sales of the Toyota Sequoia were up 31.5% while numbers for the Land Cruiser rose 16.5%.
Cadillac's Cash Cow Gets a Little Slimmer
- Sales of the Cadillac Escalade aren't what they once were, but 39,710 Escalades still moved off the lots in 2008. Cadillac's XLR and XLR-V roadsters didn't fare so well in 2008 selling only 1,250 units combined.
Grab Them While You Still Can
- News of the Viper's demise sent demand soaring. It was up 169% in 2008 with 1,172 units sold.
Launch Control Sells
- The Nissan GT-R didn't go on sale until July, but it managed to rack up 1,730 sales in the second half of 2008.
Muscle Car Skirmish
- The muscle car war won't start in earnest until the Camaro and refreshed Mustang arrive in a few months, but as expected the 2008 squabble between the Mustang and Challenger wasn't much of a fight. The Mustang may have been down 32.2% in 2008, but it still racked up sales of 85,433 units. The Challenger didn't hit dealers until June and by the end of the year it only managed to snag 17,423 buyers.
Need More Funkmaster
- To the Challenger's credit, the Ford Flex also went on sale in June of 2008. It managed sales of 14,457 units by the end of the year.
Smart Out of the Gate
- Smart did better than expected. Initial sales projections were estimated at around 20,000 units. The final tally for 2008 was 22,880.
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Interesting reading - thanks. I'm surprised at the numbers for the GS, I've always liked that Lexus the most.....didn't think I was in the minority. Although now that I think about, it carries a pretty hefty MSRP anymore.
An excellent post. The news about the entry level lux, with the 3 series continuing to blow away all but the G35/37, does not surprise me whatsoever, having driven nearly all the cars in the class.
The Lexus GS has always been in a difficult position- it never was truly competitive on driving dynamics or features with the 5 series or E-class, but was not priced to compensate. Too bad for Lexus.
I'm glad to hear the Flex did so well, even in a poor economy, It is truly the future of "minivan alternatives" (crossovers, SUVs, wagons, etc)
I always wondered how many Cayennes Porsche sold, as they seem to be the most common by far (the next most common I see is the boxster, and that's not nearly as frequently as the Cayenne)
Dood, the 3 series blows away all it's competitors including the G35/37. It outsells those by almost 2:1.
The Mercedes sells more C series than Nissan sells G35/37.
I wonder how many g6s went into fleet sales.
Gosh did Chrysler take a beating. I guess that's what you get for offering mostly trucks and SUVs.