NOVEMBER SWING

For those Mercury salespeople in the USA who thought November was a great month.... you were right. Hummer salespeople who figured things weren't about to improve... you were right. November was about as bad as October.

check out the October Swing here

Ford dealers pushed the Fusion, and Mulally can thank them now. Fusion sales were 38.8% higher than November of 2006. Cadillac has a new CTS in showrooms and MotorTrend's Car of the Year sold at a 55.1% higher clip than it did last November. The new Accord also helped Honda, as the brand saw 10.4% higher sales with the aid of 28,161 Accord's (a 25.2% jump) going out the doors. The major numbers are ↓.

BIGGEST SELLERS

Toyota - 172,341
Chevrolet - 151,642
Ford - 147,310

GREATEST IMPROVEMENT NOV/07 vs. NOV/06

Mercury - 27.6%
Mitsubishi - 13.8%
Hyundai - 12%
Honda - 10.4%
Kia - 8.9%

WORST DOWNFALL NOV/07 vs. NOV/06

Hummer - 30.5%
Buick - 26.8%
Acura - 24.9%
Saab - 19.8%
Saturn - 17%

U.S. AUTO SALES FOR NOVEMBER 2008

Not as though you were expecting otherwise, the Numbers for November/2008 in the automotive sales segment of the economy are disastrous. Tata, whose hotel was just blown to bits by terrorists in Mumbai, continues to decline requests to release sales figures for Jaguar and Land Rover. Mini, the line in bold and itallics below, is configured that way for a significant reason. The BMW-owned British small car builder was the only brand to post sales that were better this November than in November of '07. The only others to come close to that in America were, surprisingly, Lincoln, and not-so-surprisingly, Subaru. Click here for last month's story and click here for the Canadian results.

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Toyota: -33.8% to 114,084

Ford: -30% to 103,055

Chevrolet: -36.9% to 95,756

Honda: -30.6% to 68,345

Dodge: -44.3% to 44,941

Nissan: -44.4% to 38,974

Jeep: -41.8% to 20,302

GMC: -41.5% to 20,214

Chrysler: -56% to 20,017

Hyundai: -39.7% to 19,221

Lexus: -34.7% to 16,223

BMW: -36% to 15,217

Kia: -37.2% to 15182

VW: -19.2% to 14,295

Mazda: -31.3% to 14,134

Mercedes-Benz: -38.2% to 14,102

Subaru: -7.8% to 13,706

Pontiac: -53.4% to 12,140

Cadillac: -48.3% to 8,815

Saturn: -46.2% to 8,130

Lincoln: -8.3% to 8,019

Acura: -38.9% to 7,888

Mercury: -41.4% to 7,744

Infiniti: -28% to 7,631

Buick: -43.3% to 7,516

Audi: -25.4% to 6,788

Mitsubishi: -35.4% to 5096

Mini: +43% to 4,545

Volvo: -46.5% to 4,404

Suzuki: -46% to 3,216

Hummer: -63.9% to 1,454

Porsche: -48.2% to 1,378

Saab: -57.5% to 852

OCTOBER SWING

Compare the sales of automakers and their brands in the USA for October 2007 versus October 2006, and these are the notable achievements and disappointments. The Good Car Guy tells you what the backmarkers need for change to occur.

THE GERMAN BRANDS CHANNEL REGGIE JACKSON

Porsche +16.9%
Audi +10.9%
BMW +8.3%
Mercedes-Benz +6.5%
Volkswagen +4.1%

KOREA WAS INCONSISTENT

Kia +20.5%
Hyundai -4.6% ( Next Tiburon needs to spice up the showroom... big time)

THE GENERAL FINDS SOME TROOPS FIGHTING; SOME AREN'T

Cadillac +19.9%
GMC +10.2%
Chevrolet +0.6%
Saturn -5.9% (Where are you Astra?)
Buick -12.% (More Enclave beauty for the rest of the lineup)
Pontiac -17.5% (G8... hello, I'm waiting)
Saab -19.9% (Changes necessary for a + sign? Funny)
Hummer -33.2% (See Saab)

SOME JAPANESE BIT PLAYERS TAKE BIG BITES

Mazda +13.3%
Nissan +9.8%
Suzuki +5.6%
Honda +3.4%
Infiniti +1.8%
Lexus +0.6%
Toyota +0.5%
Mitsubishi -3.9% (More than just a new Evo)
Subaru -6.5% (What? Another quick redo of a new Impreza?)
Acura -22.2% (Gotta say "Dunno" on this one... Maybe an Integra)

FORD WILL SPIN THIS FOR GOOD

Mercury +20.2%
Lincoln +13%
Land Rover +1.7%
Ford -16.4% (My list is too long for this post)
Volvo -11% (Heavy V70 marketing and a true sports sedan)

OTHER NEGATIVE FINISHERS

Chrysler -6.6% (Quality before warranty)
Dodge -9.6% (See above)
Jeep -24% (SEE ABOVE, eh?)
Mini -11% ($500 off and better supply)

CANADA AUTO SALES FOR OCTOBER 2008

One day in advance of Barack Obama's election as President of the United States the election in the USA, some sorry Numbers were revealed regarding auto sales south of the border. To what degree will the president-elect be consulted on the bailout of U.S. automakers? Can't be too sure. However, whatever happens will have an effect on the Canadian market as well. Reasons being: Canada, Ontario more specifically, builds a lot of cars. Secondly, many automobile manufacturers base their importing decisions on what they're accomplishing in the United States. While we're not assuming that anybody's about to pull out of the American market, funny things happen. 

As for the disastrous type of month had by just about everybody (except Mini and Audi) in the States, their Canadian divisions were largely spared. 

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General Motors: -5.9% to 28,115

Chrysler LLC: +1.5% to 15,643

Ford Motor: -10.3% to 15,123

Toyota: +8.8% to 14,539

Honda: +1.7% to 10,293

Mazda: +1.1% to 6,109

Nissan: +3.6% to 6,063

Hyundai: +1.4% to 5,885

Volkswagen: +37.7% to 3,662

Kia: +0.2% to 2,925

BMW: +22.8% to 2,190

Subaru: +23.4% to 1,784

Mercedes-Benz: +15.4% to 1,720

Mitsubishi: -3.1% to 1,338

Suzuki: +21.6% to 1,316

Lexus: +15.8% to 1,304

Acura: -7.3% to 1,162

Audi: +67.7% to 1,075

Infiniti: +60.4% to 770

Mini: +52.7% to 481

Volvo: +4.6% to 453

smart: +1,488.2% to 270

Land Rover: +9.0 % to 217

Porsche: -26.9% to 114

Saab: -38.6% to 105

Jaguar: +37.5% to 55

AMERICAN AUTO SALES FOR OCTOBER 2008

Expecting a repeat performance of September in the United States' vehicle sales statistics, The Good Car Guy was shocked to find two outperformers. How dare Mini and Audi stray from the flock of upside-down trending? Therefore, unlike September when The Good Car Guy forsook the - symbol in favour of simply typing in the Numbers, this month requires a full +/- slate. Take note, Subaru hasn't yet posted but did complete its best ever October in Canada. (*Update - Subie just posted.)

Under Tata, Jaguar and Land Rover have forsaken public disclosure in America. Buick, Mercury, Pontiac, and Suzuki all show sales that are just above half what they were last October. Cadillac, Chrysler, GMC, Hummer, Porsche, Saturn, and Volvo posted less than half the sales of October/2007. Arranged by their total sales, here's the list of major automakers competing in the United States. (Find Canada's stats for 10/2008 here)

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Toyota: -21.3% to 135,818

Ford: -27.9% to 114,969

Chevrolet: -40.3% to 107,313

Honda: -25.7% to 75,756

Dodge: -27% to 53,267

Nissan: -33.4% to 49,833

Jeep: -32.9% to 21,360

GMC: -52.5% to 21,109

Hyundai: -31.1% to 20,820

BMW: -13.9% to 20,203

Chrysler: -50.8% to 19,903

Mazda: -25.9% to 16,442

Lexus: -35.2% to 16,283

Volkswagen: -7.9% to 15,889

Kia: -38.5% to 15,483

Mercedes-Benz: -34.3% to 14,996

Pontiac: -48.2% to 13,054

Subaru: -14% to 12,917

Acura: -21.6% to 10,108

Cadillac: -55.1% to 9,541

Saturn: -54.6% to 8,583

Buick: -46.3% to 7,642

Mitsubishi: 19.3% to 7,486

Audi: +0.3% to 7,443

Lincoln: -27.7% to 7,399

Infiniti: -28.5% to 7,112

Mercury: -47.4% to 6,753

Mini: +56.4% to 5,272

Volvo: -52.1% to 3,717

Suzuki: -46.7% to 3,482

Saab: 13.2% to 1,975

Porsche: -50.1% to 1,427

Hummer: -64.6% to 1,368

CANADA AUTO SALES FOR SEPTEMBER 2008

Unlike their counterparts south of the border, most automakers competing in Canada managed to post better sales this September than they did in September of 2007. (For USA auto sales last month, click here.) However, there were some losers. Most notably, Land Rover; Porsche; Saab; and Volvo. General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler like to lump most of their brands together in Canada, so it's difficult to know just how badly Hummer is doing. Regardless, the statistics for Canada's auto sellers for the month of September are below in order of total sales. 

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General Motors: -6.5% to 30,784

Toyota: +13.5% to 18,062

Chrysler: N/C to 17,006

Ford: -6.3% to 12,976

Honda: +3.6% to 12,841

Hyundai: +0.2% to 7,095

Mazda: -4.2% to 6,762

Nissan: +11.9% to 6,654

Kia: +13.3% to 3,772

Volkswagen: +28.3% to 3,662

Acura: +34.3% to 2,048

Mercedes-Benz: +35.4% to 1,800

Subaru: -4.1% to 1,511

Mitsubishi: +16.2% to 1,464

Lexus: +37.6% to 1,351

Suzuki: +23.3% to 1,304

Audi: +53.1% to 949

Infiniti: +58.4% to 746

Volvo: -30.8% to 543

Mini: +27.8% to 409

smart: +871% to 301

Land Rover: -30.1% to 195

Saab: -32.1% to 114

Porsche: -37.5% to 100

Jaguar: +41.4% to 82

AMERICAN AUTO SALES FOR SEPTEMBER 2008

If the measurement of a successful automaker's year-over-year sales stats can't start with a plus sign, you know it's been a bad month. Early this year, the brother and father-in-law of The Good Car Guy spent extensive amounts of time in Labrador, the most northern part of Newfoundland & Labrador, in Canada's north. It was winter; it was cold; it was stormy. 

Most curiously of all, the cold was so easily assumed that the obligatory 'minus' statement that comes before most Canadians state the temperature in Celsius is, actually, not obligatory at all. One can rest assured that the temperature will not rise above 0 degrees, the freezing mark, so Labradorians reduce unnecessary conversations by simply stating, "Nine", or "Fourteen". Everybody knows they mean "below zero". 

Likewise, in automotive sales for September 2008. Not a single manufacturer was able to produce better sales this September than they did in September of 2007. Therefore, GoodCarBadCar.net will be skipping the negative sign and simply stating the percentage drop. You can all assume the story's bad - your assumptions will be correct.

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Chevrolet: 11.2% to 172,803

Toyota: 31.8% to 128,215

Ford: 33.8% to 102,685

Honda: 23.2% to 86,629

Dodge: 25.2% to 62,572

Nissan: 38.4% to 51,786

GMC: 12.8% to 39,029

Hyundai: 25.4% to 24,765

Chrysler: 25.2% to 23,346

Pontiac: 26.7% to 23,324

Jeep: 42.8% to 21,431

Mercedes-Benz: 16.4% to 18,779

Saturn: 10.8% to 18,528

Kia: 27.8% to 17,382

Volkswagen: 9.4% to 17,109

Mazda: 35.6% to 16,169

Lexus: 36.1% to 16,045

BMW: 29.5% to 14,744

Subaru: 11.9% to 14,491

Buick: 20.5% to 14,121

Cadillac: 39.1% to 12,432

Acura: 30.4% to 9,997

Infiniti: 24.1% to 7,779

Audi: 5.4% to 7,584

Lincoln: 22.5% to 7,571

Mitsubishi: 39% to 7,378

Mercury: 43.2% to 6,478

Suzuki: 44% to 4,081

Volvo: 51.8% to 4,054

Mini: 6.7% to 3,762

Hummer: 54.8% to 2,298

Saab: 27.2% to 1,765

Porsche: 44.8% to 1,458

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Note the absence of Jaguar and Land Rover. New owners Tata have decided not to share their American sales figures, although you will be able to see the stats for Canada's auto sales coming up.

CANADA CAR SALES STATISTICS FOR AUGUST 2008

Passenger car sales were down almost 4% in Canada during the month of August. To make it more clear, 80,932 cars were sold in the ten provinces and three territories in the eighth month of this year; last year there were 84,067.

Truck sales plummeted 11.2% from 74,327 last August to 66,046 in the 31 days of August 2008. Much of the lost sales can be attributed to the brands of General Motors, Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep. Automakers based outside of North America saw sales climb 3.4% while the aforementioned previously-known-as-The-Big-Three declined 17.1%. 

Below you can read about each manufacturer's sales statistics arranged by total sales. For the comparable American statistics for August, click here. Frustratingly, the Numbers below don't separate GM's, Chrysler's, or Ford/Lincoln/Mercury divisions. Keep in mind, although many automakers may have excuses for their struggles, Honda mentioned that with greater supply, they'd have sold a lot more cars. Take it for what it's worth.

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General Motors: -17.2% to 31,735

Toyota: +30.2% to 22,037

Ford Motor: -10.3% to 20,725

Chrysler: -24.6% to 15,450

Honda: -18.% to 13,516

Mazda: -10.9% to 7,705

Hyundai: +1.6% to 7,530

Nissan: +8.3% to 6,784

Kia: +2.2% to 3,875

Volkswagen: +3.3% to 3,793

BMW: +2.5% to 1,902

Subaru: +26.3% to 1,861

Mercedes-Benz: +38.2% to 1,653

Mitsubishi: -10.5% to 1,489

Acura: -27% to 1,301

Suzuki: +16.9% to 1,298

Lexus: +14.5% to 1,167

Infiniti: +12% to 699

Audi: -18.9% to 558

Mini: +71.2% to 505

Volvo: -33.9% to 453

smart: +117.5% to 385

Land Rover: -32.1% to 184

Saab: +1.1% to 178

Porsche: -40.4% to 112

Jaguar: +45.6% to 83

AMERICA'S AUGUST AUTO SALES STATS

Interestingly, General Motors sold more cars in August than it had in any month all year. Yet the story is still gloomy. Nissan, Infiniti, Mini, Subaru, and Volkswagen managed to avoid posting worse numbers in the eighth month of '08; something no other automaker could do in America's struggling marketplace. Take a look for yourself - the story ain't pretty. 

These are the Numbers from all mainstream manufacturers competing in the United States of America in August of 2008, arranged in order of total sales. That way you won't indulge yourself with extreme joy, suggesting that Mini sells better than Chevrolet just because its sales rocketed upward. Got it? Okay.

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Chevrolet: -19.2% to 185,080 

Toyota: -9.4% to 182,252

Ford: -26.2% to 133,088

Honda: -7.2% to 131,766

Nissan: +14.2 to 97,417

Dodge: -24.6% to 62,422

GMC: -17.6% to 42,194

Hyundai: -8.8% to 41,130

Lexus: -9.1% to 29,281

BMW: -4.1% to 25,462

Kia: -6.7% to 25,065

Chrysler: -44.2% to 24,337

Pontiac: -38.3% to 24,257

Mazda: -4.4% to 23,680

Jeep: -43.7% to 23,476

Volkswagen: +2.9% to 22,292

Saturn: -3.5% to 20,385

Subaru: +14.2% to 18,932

Mercedes-Benz: -11.8% to 18,507

Buick: -4.1% to 25,462

Cadillac: -20.9% to 15,405

Acura: -8.2% to 15,089

Infiniti: +8% to 11,076

Lincoln: -8.5% to 9,540

Mitsubishi: -29.3% to 9,200

Mercury: -31.7% to 8,393

Audi: -15.9% to 6,406

Suzuki: -31.7% to 6,083

Mini: +34.1% to 5,469

Volvo: -48.8% to 4,669

Hummer: -62% to 2,160

Saab: -50.1% to 1,503

Porsche: -44.9% to 1,404

LUXURY CAR SALES IN AMERICA - NUMBERS

"It is wrong to say certain segments of the market are immune to economic downturns in the market, as far as we're concerned." Who said it?

That'd be a Bentley vice-president, Geoff Dowding, who happens to be the worldwide operations manager for Volkswagen-owned Bentley as well. For quite some time, luxury vehicle sales were immune to the current economic downturn that displayed American sales statistics that can be seen here, here, and here.

Such a anti-trend fad was bound to end. Some Numbers are beginning to reveal the effect of economic downturns on American luxury car sales. Those Numbers are below.

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27.9 - percentage drop in American Bentley sales over the first half of 2008 compared with the first half of 2007 when 2,527 Bentleys were sold

20,268 - total sales of the Lexus LS in the United States during the first six months of 2007; 7,248 more than in the first half of '08

25.7 - percentage sales drop in America for the Mercedes-Benz-owned Maybach brand over the first six months of this year

11,216 - total sales of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class over the first half of 2008; 3,854 fewer than the same period of 2007

28.6 - percentage drop in Porsche 911 sales through July of this year, down from 8,021 in 2007.5 to 5,724 during the first half of this year

JULY'S TOP 10 SELLERS IN AMERICA

After a very small taste test, Honda has relinquished the best-selling vehicle in America position to - only semi-surprising - the Ford F-Series pickup. This extended Top 5 post displays the, ummm... top ten best-selling vehicles in the United States for July of 2008.

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#10 - CHEVROLET MALIBU: Possibly GM's most important new introduction this year, the good-looking and capable Malibu midsize sedan exited Chevy dealers 16,637 times.

#9 - HONDA CR-V: 17,419 examples of Honda's first 4-cylinder cute-ute were passed on to consumers in July. Once derided for not powering up the CR-V, Honda now looks brilliant. As you'd expect.

#8 - DODGE RAM: Pickup truck sales may be tumbling down; down; down; down and further down, but many customers still need a genuine truck. Others may be willing to downgrade their luxury requirements in order to find gas money on a truck that, as you likely noticed, has been heavily discounted. 21,328 people found themselves in a new Ram in July.

#7 - NISSAN ALTIMA: Not that many years ago, Nissan was enlarging their lesser-known midsize sedan and positioning it directly against all Accord and Camry derivatives. 24,429 liked the thought of the big Altima in July.

#6 - HONDA CIVIC: After a brief reign at the top, the Civic plunged. Fret not ye proud Civic nation: 29,125 didn't like the thought of discounted trucks and slightly dropping gas prices and bought Honda's small sedan.

#5 - CHEVROLET SILVERADO: Many critics believe the Silverado/GMC Sierra duo is the best truck(s). Unable to outsell Ford, Chevrolet ridded itself of 32,989 Silverados.

#4 - TOYOTA COROLLA/MATRIX: It's not hard to see the appeal of the planet's best-selling nameplate. Reliability, durability, quality are present in spades. 34,438 acknowledged that truth with their wallets in July.

#3 - HONDA ACCORD: Though unable to claim direct influence over 41,382 buyers who purchased or leased Honda's venerable sedan in July, The Good Car Guy was smart enough to suggest it as one of the cars to be driven and owned in 2008 in The Good 12.

#2 - TOYOTA CAMRY: Recommended not as the most fun or most desirable, the Camry is a very good car to own. 42,131 new and repeat Toyota Camry buyers in July prove it.

#1 - FORD F-SERIES: The 2009 F-150 is delayed to run discounted '08 models off of dealer lots. It looks as though incentives did their job to the tune of 44,829 F-Series pickups in July.

AMERICA'S JULY AUTO SALES STATS

July was longer this year. Uh... lemme explain. In 2007, automakers had just 24 days to sell cars in July while this year, July had 26 selling days. Therefore it's theoretically possible that a manufacturer with a - symbol beside its numerical percentage actually sold more cars this July. In fact, with the BMW Group; Kia; Subaru; Suzuki; and Volkswagen all find themselves within that theory. July was successful - but not as successful as one might think at first glance. By brands, and ignoring unrevealed sales from Land Rover and Jaguar, here are America's auto sales statistics from July 2008 with a twist. There ain't no alphabetical order below. You can read'em first to worst in total sales.

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Toyota: -18% to 175,242

Ford: -20.6% to 138,175

Chevrolet: -30.5% to 137,823

Honda: -8.2% to 125,916

Nissan: +1.7% to 86,070

Dodge: -23.5% to 54,546

Hyundai: -13.6% to 40,703

Kia: -3% to 28,021

GMC: -42.5% to 27,447

Pontiac: -22% to 25,373

BMW: -9.1% to 23,914

Jeep: -44% to 22,705

Mazda: -20% to 22,418

Lexus: -25% to 22,182

Chrysler: -44.4% to 20,858

Mercedes: +3% to 20,733

Volkswagen: -4% to 20,422

Saturn: -20.2% to 17,602

Subaru: -2.7% to 16,271

Cadillac: -31% to 13,022

Acura: -17% to 12,828

Buick: -44.5% to 10,013

Infiniti: -10.9% to 9,249

Mitsubishi: -14% to 9,644

Mercury: -20% to 9,412

Lincoln: 8.8% to 8,819

Suzuki: -5.8% to 8,103

Audi: -11.9% to 6,804

Volvo: -50.4% to 5,124

Mini: +14.9% to 5,063

Porsche: -10.6% to 3,128

Saab: -42.4% to 2,026

CANADA CAR SALES - AUTOMAKERS GROUPED

Not to be completely ignorant of the United States on their special day (Happy Independence Day, folks), but more statistics are available regarding Canada's vehicle sales from last month (some altered) since The Good Car Guy first posted results yesterday. It's difficult to separate the automakers like we did for the American sales stats (see here), so things look a little different below. Auto sales in Canada did drop - the economy is longer roaring - but the difficulties at dealers are not as severe as what you'll see south of the border. Just check the +/- signs to get a better outlook on how many manufacturers are not struggling. Follow this link to see all Numbers posts.

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PERCEIVED FUEL-EFFICIENT AND VALUE BRANDS: 8/11

Mini +50.4%

Suzuki +2%

Honda -0.7%

Hyundai +6.2%

Kia +10.9% 

smart -12%

Mazda -6.1%

Volkswagen +3.2%

Mitsubishi +20.8%

Nissan +9.6%

Subaru +34.9%

THE DOMINATORS: 2/4

Toyota +7.9%

General Motors -23.8%

Ford Motor Company -13.7%

Chrysler LLC +0.1%

PREMIUM AND GUZZLERS: 5/11

Acura -15.3%

Audi -13.6%

BMW +6.3%

Mercedes-Benz +46.6%

Porsche -13%

Saab -39.3%

Infiniti +2.9%

Jaguar +55.4%

Lexus +22.4%

Volvo -13.4%

Land Rover -30%

CANADA CAR SALES FOR JUNE 2008

We're hopeful that more details will make themselves available in the near future regarding all automakers found competing in Canada. For now, here's what we know. General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler's stats are all-inclusive of their brands while Mercedes' figures include smart. Toyota's numbers happen to include Lexus, as well. The Canadian market as a whole stumbled and sales fell 5.7% compared to June of 2007. General Motors and Ford are much to blame: one can easily see how many other manufacturers have + signs beside their Numbers below. To be honest, apart from Dodge's Ram swimming against the tide, light trucks are to blame. Overall sales for that category were down 17.6% to 63,540. Sales of cars went up 4.3% to 95,989.

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Acura: -15% (to 1,600)

Audi: +.03% (to 729)

BMW: +6.3% (to 2,943)

Chrysler LLC: +1% (to 22,194)

Ford Motor Company: -13.7% (to 21,959)

General Motors: -23.8% (to 32,365)

Honda: -1% ( to 14,918)

Infiniti: +3.0% (to 680)

Kia: +10.9% (to 3,772)

Mercedes-Benz: +46.6% (to 2,105)

Mini: +50% (to 621)

Nissan: +10% (to 6,488)

Subaru: +34.9% (to 1,822)

Toyota: +8.8% (to 22,428)