Washington, D.C. – Total U.S. sales of light-duty vehicles dropped 36.7 per cent in November 2008 when compared to November 2007, to 746,789 units, according to a report from the Green Car Congress. Year-to-date vehicle sales are down 16.3 per cent from 2007.
November sales of passenger cars dropped 36.5 per cent, while light trucks dropped 36.9 per cent in November. Year-to-date, passenger car sales are down 8.3 per cent, while trucks are down 23.4 per cent.
General Motors reported sales of 154,877 vehicles in November, down 41 per cent; the Malibu, in a rare instance of success for any manufacturer, posted a 31 per cent increase in sales in November and is up 39 per cent year-to-date. GM delivered a total of 1,335 hybrid vehicles in the month, including 404 Chevrolet Tahoe, 190 GMC Yukon and 173 Cadillac Escalade 2-mode hybrids, and 194 Chevrolet Malibu, 45 Saturn Aura and 328 Saturn Vue hybrids sold.
Toyota reported November sales of 130,307 vehicles, a decrease of 33.9 per cent. The best performer was the Corolla, which declined 12.8 per cent.
Ford was the best relative performer of the major automakers, with a decline of 30 per cent, to 118,818 Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles. November marked the official U.S. introduction of the all-new F-150; total F-Series sales were 37,911 vehicles, with nearly 5,000 of them the 2009 model.
Chrysler reported sales of 85,260 units in November, down 47 per cent from 2007. Passenger car sales were down 59 per cent, while truck sales were down 42 per cent, but sales of the full-size Aspen SUV were up 33 per cent to 2,013 units. The company reported 35 sales of its Aspen and Durango two-mode hybrids.
Honda posted November sales of 76,233, a decline of 31.6 per cent compared to its record November 2007 sales, with passenger car sales down 30.7 per cent and truck sales down 32.9 per cent. Sales of the Accord were down 38.1 per cent to 17,430 units, while the Civic dropped 29.6 per cent to 17,690 units. Sales of the Civic Hybrid dropped 67.8 per cent, to 1,043 units.
Nissan reported sales of 46,605 units, a decrease of 42.2 per cent; passenger cars were down 37.3 per cent to 29,377, while trucks dropped 49 per cent to 17,228 units. Sales of the Altima were down 45.3 per cent to 10,828 units, although the Murano posted a gain of 4.7 per cent, to 4,162 units.
