Prius Schmius! Trucks and SUVs climb back into the top sales spot

Sales of SUV’s and trucks are the hottest sellers December, proving again that he collective memory of the American automobile consumer can be short and fickle.

“Despite all the public discussion of fuel efficiency, SUVs and trucks are the industry’s biggest sellers right now as a remarkable number of buyers seem to be compelled by three factors: great deals, low gas prices and winter weather,” commented Michelle Krebs, Senior Editor of Edmunds’ AutoObserver.com. “Meanwhile, Toyota has slowed production of the industry’s flagship hybrid vehicle, the Prius, due to lack of interest and growing inventory of the once best-selling model.”

Edmunds also estimates that December new vehicle sales (including fleet sales) are expected to be 852,000 units, a 38.4 percent decrease from December 2007 but a 14.6 percent increase from November 2008. Typically, December sales are about 18 percent higher than November’s, according to Edmund’s

Based on this forecast, annual sales for 2008 will total just over 13 million, a decrease of almost three million, or 18 percent, from 2007. (Link here for comments from a Fort Smith area auto dealer about the state of the industry from his perspective.)

The combined monthly U.S. market share for Chrysler, Ford and General Motors (GM) domestic nameplates is estimated to be 51 percent in December 2008, down from 51.9 percent in December 2007 and up from 48.2 percent in November 2008.

Edmunds.com pushed estimates for each auto maker.

• Chrysler will sell 104,000 units in December 2008, down 45.6 percent compared to December 2007 and up 22.4 percent from November 2008.

• Edmunds.com predicts Ford will sell 137,000 units in December 2008, down 33.8 percent compared to December 2007 and up 13.5 percent from November 2008.

• Edmunds.com predicts GM will sell 194,000 units in December 2008, down 39.3 percent compared to December 2007 and up 26.6 percent from November 2008.

• Edmunds.com predicts Honda will sell 82,000 units in December 2008, down 37.7 percent from December 2007 and up 7.7 percent from November 2008.

• Edmunds.com predicts Nissan will sell 52,000 units in December 2008, down 42.1 percent from December 2007 and up 11.2 percent from November 2008.

• Edmunds.com predicts Toyota will sell 137,000 units in December 2008, down 38.8 percent from December 2007 and up 5.4 percent from November 2008.