December Auto Sales Chilly

Auto sales posted another dismal December, capping a horrendous 2008. Should we be surprised? Of course not -- we have been talking about this for some time. Expensive vehicles and gas guzzlers were hit the most, as cost-sensitive consumers and tight credit markets rule the day.

BMW sales were down 36% in December and 10% in 2008. The pillar of strength here is the Mini, believe it or not.

Chrysler was down 53% in December and 30% in 2008. Most of the weakness can be traced to the 300, Wrangler, Grand Cherokee and Ram.

Daimler (DAI - Analyst Report) was down 24% in December and down 2% in 2008. The C-class, a terrific car we saw in San Diego a couple of days ago, is keeping this company afloat.

Ford (F - Analyst Report) was down 34% in December and down 22% in 2008. The weakness can be tied to the E-series, F-series, Explorer and Mustang.

General Motors (GM) was down 31% in December and 23% in 2008. The weakness is tied to the Express, Silverado, Sierra, Silverado, Tahoe and Trailblazer.

Honda (HMC - Analyst Report) was down 35% in December and 8% in 2008. The Odyssey and Pilot are the problem here. This is the best company of the bunch, though.

Nissan (NSANY - Analyst Report) was down 31% in December and down 11% in 2008. Sales of the Murano have been weak and smaller models have been decimated.

Toyota (TM - Analyst Report) was down 37% in December and down 15% in 2008. The Highlander, RAV4, Tacoma and Lexus have been dragging results down.

Volkswagen is down 13% in December and down 4% in 2008. This is all due to the Jetta, as VW is a "one-hit wonder."

It was a bad month, we all know that. However, the key is getting through these tough times and position all of these companies for the eventual recovery in the economies and markets (even if it is 4-5 years out) and for the global demand for cars in upstart economies such as China, India, Mexico (which we saw tremendous new demand for new cars just a few days ago in Tijuana), Brazil and others.

Read the full analyst report on GM

Read the full analyst report on F

Read the full analyst report on TM

Read the full analyst report on HMC

Read the full analyst report on NSANY

Read the full analyst report on DAI