By William Spain, MarketWatch
CHICAGO (MarketWatch) — Auto makers had one of their best Decembers in years as strong sales growth helped fuel a big turnaround for much of the industry.
Ford F +2.62% , the No. 2 U.S. automaker, reported Wednesday that it sold 210,140 vehicles last month, a year-over-year increase of 10%. While car sales were down 14.9%, truck sales rose almost 28% to 92,673 units.
For the full year, Ford said that sales were up 17% to 2.06 million vehicles, helped by solid demand for its small fuel-efficient cars, utility vehicles, and trucks.
The company said it expects the global economy to expand by about 3% in 2012, with global industry sales of 75 million to 80 million. In the U.S., economic growth should be 2% to 3%, with industry sales of 13.5 million to 14.5 million.
“The year finished on a high note, with industry sales momentum strengthening as the year came to a close,” said Ken Czubay, Ford’s vice president of U.S. marketing, sales and service, in the sales report. “We saw Ford sales strengthen as well, posting our best December retail sales month since 2005 and closing the year as America’s best-selling brand.”
Shares of Ford were up about 3% in morning action.
At Chrysler Group, U.S. sales jumped 37% to 138,019 vehicles in December, marking the best month for the company in four years. For all of 2011, the company saw sales increase 26%. “Chrysler Group finished a year of growth on a strong note with our December retail sales soaring 45% to our highest dealer retail sales in four years,” Reid Bigland, president and chief executive of the Dodge brand and head of U.S. sales, said in the report. “Looking back, we were the fastest-growing automaker in the country, increasing our market share 1.3 percentage points during 2011.”
Things were not as brisk at General Motors GM -0.33% , which reported total U.S. sales of 234,351 vehicles in December, a 5% gain. For all of 2011, sales rose 14% to over 2.5 million units.
GM’s total passenger car sales last month increased 12% while trucks were up 13%. However, sales of crossover vehicles slid 14%.
“GM’s balanced portfolio of fuel-efficient cars, trucks and crossovers helped us make the most of the U.S. economy’s slow but steady recovery in 2011,” said Don Johnson, vice president of U.S. sales operations. “Importantly, we were able to grow all four of our brands and reestablish Chevrolet as a force to be reckoned with in the passenger-car business.”
Shares of GM slipped about 1%.
Industrywide, including fleet sales, analysts at J.D. Power & Associates and LMC Automotive predicted total vehicle sales in December of 1,230,100 units, a rise of 8%.
William Spain is a MarketWatch staff writer in Chicago.
