The year was dismal for most automakers, with sales plunging by double digits for a lot of companies. So far (not all automakers have reported 2008 sales yet), Subaru and Mini are the only automakers that sold more vehicles in 2008 than they did in 2007.
"To post increased sales for the year the industry has just experienced reflects the strength of our products, our dealers and the Subaru brand," said Tim Colbeck, vice president of sales for Subaru of America.
"Fuel efficiency and small cars had a big year in 2008 even with low fuel prices slowing down the positive sales development in the past few months," said Jim McDowell, vice president of MINI USA.
As credit to buy a car starts to become more available, automakers hope they can make a big turnaround in 2009. All sales figures listed below are for American sales only.
GM: down 31% for December; down 23% for 2008 compared to 2007
Ford: down 32% for December; down 21% for 2008 compared to 2007
Chrysler: down 53% for December; down 30% for 2008 compared to 2007
Toyota: down 37.5% for December; down 14.9% for 2008 compared to 2007
Lexus: down 32.4% for December; down 21.2% for 2008 compared to 2007
Honda: down 34.7% for December; down 8.2% for 2008 compared to 2007
Acura: down 39.3% for December; down 20% for 2008 compared to 2007
Nissan: down 30% for December; down 10.9% for 2008 compared to 2007
Infiniti: down 34.6% for December; down 11.1% for 2008 compared to 2007
Porsche: down 25.5% for December; down 25% for 2008 compared to 2007
Mercedes-Benz: down 23.5% for December; down 11.2% for 2008 compared to 2007
Subaru: down 7.7% for December; up 0.3% for 2008 compared to 2007
BMW: down 40.2% for December; down 15.2% for 2008 compared to 2007
Mini: up 0.1% for December; up 28.6% for 2008 compared to 2007
Kia: down 39.2% for December; down 10.5% for 2008 compared to 2007
Mitsubishi: down 22.6% for December
Audi: down 9.3% for December; down 6.1% for 2008 compared to 2007
Hyundai: down 48.3% for December; down 14% for 2008 compared to 2007
Mazda: down 26.8% for December; down 10.7% for 2008 compared to 2007
