Record-Breaking New Car Sales in December to Cap off Best Year Ever for Auto Industry, Forecasts Edmunds.com
SANTA MONICA, Calif. — December 17, 2015 — Edmunds.com, the premier destination for car shopping, forecasts that 1,688,167 new cars and trucks will be sold in the U.S. in December for an estimated Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) of 17.8 million. This will make December 2015 the fourth best-selling month on record, surpassing the previous December record of 1,537,655 sales registered in 2004. This month’s performance will propel the industry to 17.5 million sales in 2015, besting the previous record high of 17.35 million new car and truck sales in 2000.
"It's truly remarkable that the auto industry is finishing off its best year ever just six years after the depths of the Great Recession," says Edmunds.com Director of Industry Analysis Jessica Caldwell. "Low-APR offers and tumbling gas prices are making it easy for shoppers to buy or lease a new car, but don't overlook the products themselves. If you're buying a new car today, you're getting a safer, more fuel-efficient and more technologically-packed vehicle than ever before. Automakers are doing a great job giving the people what they want in a new car."
| Sales Volume | December 2015 Forecast |
December 2014 |
November 2015 |
Change from December 2014 |
Change from November 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GM | 287,203 | 274,483 | 229,296 | 4.6% | 25.3% |
| Toyota | 243,735 | 215,057 | 189,517 | 13.3% | 28.6% |
| Ford | 243,590 | 219,369 | 186,889 | 11.0% | 30.3% |
| Fiat Chrysler | 229,517 | 193,261 | 175,974 | 18.8% | 30.4% |
| Honda | 149,296 | 137,280 | 115,441 | 8.8% | 29.3% |
| Nissan | 135,972 | 117,318 | 107,083 | 15.9% | 27.0% |
| Hyundai/Kia | 127,942 | 110,094 | 105,560 | 16.2% | 21.2% |
| VW/Audi | 56,821 | 53,116 | 40,582 | 7.0% | 40.0% |
| Industry | 1,688,167 | 1,503,321 | 1,319,734 | 12.3% | 27.9% |
Edmunds forecasts that December sales will be a 27.9 percent increase from November 2015, and a 12.3 percent increase from December 2014. Edmunds further estimates that retail SAAR will come in at 15.1 million vehicles in December, with fleet transactions accounting for 15.2 percent of total sales. An estimated 2.59 million used cars will be sold in December, for a SAAR of 37.3 million (compared to 2.75 million — or a SAAR of 38.1 million — used car sales in November).
| Market Share | December 2015 Forecast |
December 2014 |
November 2015 |
Change from December 2014 |
Change from November 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GM | 17.0% | 18.3% | 17.4% | -1.2% | -0.4% |
| Toyota | 14.4% | 14.3% | 14.4% | 0.1% | 0.1% |
| Ford | 14.4% | 14.6% | 14.2% | -0.2% | 0.3% |
| Fiat Chrysler | 13.6% | 12.9% | 13.3% | 0.7% | 0.3% |
| Honda | 8.8% | 9.1% | 8.7% | -0.3% | 0.1% |
| Nissan | 8.1% | 7.8% | 8.1% | 0.3% | -0.1% |
| Hyundai/Kia | 7.6% | 7.3% | 8.0% | 0.3% | -0.4% |
| VW/Audi | 3.4% | 3.5% | 3.1% | -0.2% | 0.3% |
More insight into recent auto industry trends can be found in Edmunds.com's Industry Center at http://www.edmunds.com/industry-center/.
About Edmunds.com
Car shopping destination Edmunds.com serves nearly 20 million visitors each month. With Edmunds.com Price Promise®, shoppers can buy smarter with instant, upfront prices for cars and trucks currently for sale at 13,000 dealer franchises across the U.S. Shoppers can browse not only dealer inventory, but also vehicle reviews, shopping tips, photos, videos and feature stories on both Edmunds' wired site and on its acclaimed mobile apps. Regarded as one of the best places to work in Southern California, Edmunds.com was also named one of "The World's Top 10 Most Innovative Companies of 2015 in Automotive" by Fast Company. Edmunds welcomes all car-shopping questions at our Help Center and on Twitter and Facebook. The company is based in Santa Monica, Calif. and has a satellite office in downtown Detroit, Mich., but you can find Edmunds from anywhere on YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Instagram, Google+ and Flipboard.
