The Detroit Three automakers posted sales gains during 2013, even as sales waned toward the year's end.
For the year, General Motors Co. saw sales rise 7% to 2.8 million vehicles, even as December fleet sales declined 9% and retail sales returned a 6% decline. In all, GM dealers delivered 230,157 vehicles during the last month of the year, the company said.
The performance of GM's full-size trucks followed a similar pattern. For 2013, sales of the Chevrolet Silverado increased 14.8% to 480,414 units, and the GMC Sierra posted a 17.3% increase to 184,389. During December, however, both trucks posted declines. For the Silverado, sales were off 16% to 42,593, and Sierra sales dipped 4.6% to 17,854. Both manufacturers are in the midst of launching redesigned versions of the trucks.
Ford Motor Co. is expected to introduce a redesigned F-150 full-size pickup for the 2015 model year. Meantime, the current version helped lift the company during 2013 as overall sales across the two brands increased 10.8% to 2.5 million vehicles. The
F-150 contributed 763,402 of those sales, an 18.3% increase over the 645,316 units that sold in 2012, Ford said.
For December, Ford sales increased 1.8% to 218,058. Sales of the F-150 increased 8.4% to 74,592 for the month.
Chrysler Group posted the strongest percentage gains for the year and in December.
For 2013, the automaker said overall sales rose 9% to 1.8 million vehicles. For December, sales rose 6% to 161,007 units.
The Ram Truck brand saw sales rise 22% in 2013 to 367,843 units, Chrysler said. Included in that total were 3,270 ProMaster vans, a new, full-size model that hit the market in the latter half of the year. Sales of Ram pickups increased 21% to 355,673 during the year.
For December, Ram sales increased 17% to 36,028. Ram pickup sales increased 11% to 33,405, Chrysler said.
By Truck Fleet Management
