All three of Detroit’s “Big Three” automakers reported sales increases for 2013 over the previous, with some reporting their best numbers since last decade.
General Motors reported selling 2,786,078 vehicles, a 7% increase over 2012 sales. Ford reported an almost 11% increase, while Chrysler reported a 9% increase.
In a press release from General Motor’s Flint, Mich., headquarters, the company’s vice president for U.S. sales said that the numbers show “2013 was the year that GM and the auto industry put the last traces of the recession in the rearview mirror.
“Now we can devote our full attention to the things that matter most to customers, compelling design, world-class quality and delivering the best ownership experience in the business,” said Kurt McNeil in the press release.
Ford Motor Company had its best sales year in seven years in 2013. The company saw car sales increase by 12%, sports utilities up 13% and trucks up 17%. Overall, Ford sales increased by 14%, according to a press release from the company’s Dearborn, Mich., headquarters.
Overall, Ford sold 2,493,916 vehicles in the United States in 2013, including 216,058 sold in December. By region, the biggest sales gains were in the West – up 21% – and in the Southeast, where sales rose 17%.
Some individual brands set sales records, according to Ford.
- The Ford Fusion had a 27% increase in sales in December. Both the Fusion model and the Ford Fiesta had sales records in 2013, with 295,280 Ford Fusions purchased and 71,073 Ford Fiestas sold.
- Ford Escape sales rose 22% in 2013 and also set an annual sales record with 295,993 vehicles sold.
- Ford sold 70,000 of its F-Series truck in December after eight straight months of selling more than 60,000 each month. Americans bought 763,402 F-series trucks, according to numbers from Ford. The F-series has now been the top-selling truck in America for the past 37 years and the top-selling vehicle for 32 years.
Lincoln, which is Ford’s upscale luxury brand, saw sales increase 6%. The Lincoln MKZ model saw sales jump 73% in December.
Most other car makers are expected to report sales increases in 2013. Most experts expected total car sales to be somewhere in the range of 15.6 million for 2013, up from 14.5 million in 2012, according to the International Business Times.
Reporting before Ford, Chrysler – another of Detroit’s Big Three automakers – said sales had increased 9% over 2012 sales, driven in part by strong truck sales, with the Dodge Ram reporting double-digit sales gains. Chrysler reported that December 2013 was the best December sales month for the company since 2007.
