Toyota Motor Corp. posted slightly higher volume and Hyundai and Kia capped a year of U.S. market share gains with double-digit sales gains in December as the auto industry’s lean stockpiles continued to rebound, overcoming rising interest rates and new-vehicle prices, and the growing prospects of an economic slowdown.
General Motors, driven by strong light-truck deliveries, reported a 42 percent increase in fourth quarter light-vehicle volume, with sales rising 44 percent at Chevrolet, 42 percent at GMC and 75 percent Cadillac. Buick was the only GM brand to post lower volume in the final quarter of 2022, down 6.5 percent, extending the brand’s declines to six concecutive quarters.
GM also reclaimed the title of top-selling automaker in the U.S. in 2022 by nearly 150,000 units after Toyota Motor grabbed the crown in 2021. GM, the market’s longtime leader until 2021, reported U.S. deliveries of 2.258 million last year, up 2.5 percent, while Toyota Motor sales tallied 2.1 million, down 9.6 percent.
GM said U.S. dealer inventories continue to rebound and have more than doubled over the last 12 months, finishing December at 410, 682 units, including cars and light trucks in transit, up from 359,292 at the close of the third quarter and 199,662 at the end of 2021.
December deliveries rose 3.5 percent at Toyota Motor, with a 6.6 percent rise at the Toyota division offsetting a 16 percent decline at Lexus. Both brands continue to be hampered by some of the industry’s lowest inventory levels, with Lexus sales now dropping 11 straight months.
Stellantis said fourth-quarter volume skidded 16 percent behind a drop of 18 percent at Jeep, 39 percent at Chrysler and 15 percent at Ram. Only Dodge posted a sales gain, 15 percent, in the final quarter.
Volume also declined 25 percent or more at two of the company’s smaller brands: Fiat and Alfa Romeo. Sales at Jeep and Ram, FCA’s biggest brands, have now dropped six consecutive quarters. Stellantis’ overall U.S. deliveries dropped 13 percent in 2022.
Jeff Kommor, head of U.S. sales for Stellantis’ FCA US unit, cited “production constraints and a disruption of parts and materials in general,” as well as “market conditions that carried across 2021 into 2022,” for negatively impacting the company’s results.
Honda Motor Co., still struggling to secure chips for key models to rebuild depleted stockpiles, said December sales dropped 11 percent, with the Honda division down 11 percent and Acura off 5.5 percent. The company’s 2022 sales skidded 33 percent, one of the steepest declines among major automakers last year. The company said it is starting 2023 with about 40,000 new vehicles in inventory and has advised dealers that stockpiles won’t return to normal levels untill fall 2023 at the earliest.
“Like the rest of the industry, we aren’t out of the woods yet with supply issues,” said Mamadou Diallo, vice president of auto sales for American Honda Motor Co. “But we begin 2023 with roughly double the on-hand inventory of 2022 and the expectation that this will mean a healthy sales increase this year.”
Nissan Group’s fourth-quarter U.S. sales dropped 2 percent to 191,012 vehicles, with the Nissan brand off 3.6 percent, its sixth straight quarterly decline, while Infiniti deliveries rose 24 percent.
Volume rose 40 percent last month to a December record of 72,058 at Hyundai Motor America, driven by a 27 percent rise in retail deliveries. Hyundai said it was its fifth straight month of record retail sales, with utility vehicles accounting for 74 percent of retail volume.
