The monthly market share for new trucks climbed in December to 52.7%—the highest for the segment this year—likely reflecting in part the precipitous drop in fuel prices in November and December. For the year (inset), passenger cars retained the advantage gained during the months of very high gasoline prices. Click to enlarge.

For the full year, light duty vehicle sales were down 18% to 13,244,018 units, according to Autodata. Passenger car sales dropped 10.4% to 6,785,587 units, while light truck sales dropped 24.7% to 6,458,431 units. For the full year, light trucks held a 48.8% marketshare—the lowest for that segment since 2000.

Both December 2007 and 2008 included 26 selling days. There were 308 selling days for 2008, versus 307 for 2007. All percentages in this post are by volume, not by adjusted daily selling rate (DSR).

General Motors. GM delivered 221,983 vehicles in December, down 31% compared with December 2007. GM December car sales of 87,506 were off 24.9% and truck sales of 134,477 were down 34.8% compared with the year before. GM’s percentage loss in passenger car sales was the lowest of the top six OEMs for the month.

December 2008 year-on-year percentage loss in passenger car and light truck sales for the top six OEMs in the US. Click to enlarge.

For the year, GM delivered 2,980,688 vehicles while maintaining an expected market share just above 22%. Annual deliveries were down 23% compared with 2007.

Despite the weak market in December, Chevrolet Malibu posted sales up 43% compared with the prior year (17,355 units), and up 39% for the entire year (178,253 units), making it the highest percentage gainer in the top 20 vehicles sold in America with a volume increase compared with 2007.

GM hybrid sales continued to increase, with a total of 2,555 GM hybrid vehicles delivered in the month, making GM the second largest seller of hybrids in the US behind Toyota for December 2008. Hybrid sales included: 981 Chevrolet Tahoe, 442 GMC Yukon and 306 Cadillac Escalade 2-mode hybrid SUVs; 454 Chevrolet Malibu; 34 Saturn Aura; and 338 Vue hybrids. In 2008, GM sold a total of 14,439 hybrid vehicles.

Toyota. Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), USA reported December sales results of 141,949, a decrease of 36.7% from the same period last year. Sales of cars were down 34.8% to 79,259 units (the second-worst drop in passenger car sales for the month, behind only Chrysler); sales of trucks were down 39% to 62,690 units. Toyota had about a 17% market share for the month.

For the year 2008, total Toyota sales were down 15.4% to 2,217,662 units. Total car sales for the year were down 10.3% to 1,358,573 units; total truck sales were down 22.4% to 859,089 units. The only year-on-year gainer for Toyota in the monthly results was the LX truck, up 284.8% to 508 units. For the year, Toyota posted a 20.7% gain in Yaris sales to 102,328 units; Corolla and Camry were both down on the year, -5.5% and -7.7%, respectively. The Sequoia full-size SUV turned in a strong performance for the year, with a 31.9% increase in sales to 30,693 units.

In December 2008, TMS posted sales of 12,201 hybrid vehicles, down 49.7% from December 2007. In December 2007, the Prius alone accounted for 14,212 units; in December 2008, it posted 7,859—a drop of 44.7%. Prius sales were off 12.3% for the year to 158,884 units. For the full year, TMS sold 241,405 hybrids, down 13.1% from the year before.

Ford. Ford, Lincoln and Mercury US sales in December 2008 totaled 134,114, down 32% compared with the prior year. Sales of cars were down 26.4% to 43,087 units, crossovers were down 31.8%, SUVs were down 51.8%, and trucks and vans were down 29.7% Total light truck sales were down 33.9% to 91,027 units.

For 2008, Ford, Lincoln and Mercury sales totaled 1.9 million, down 20% versus a year ago. For the full year, car sales were down 11.2%, crossovers were down 10.8%, SUVs were down 42.4% and trucks and vans were down 25.0%.

Ford estimated its Q4 market share at 15.0%, up 0.9 points versus a year ago—the first time since 2001 that the company’s Q4 market share was higher than that of the preceding year. For the full year of 2008, Ford, Lincoln and Mercury’s market share is estimated at 14.2%, down 0.4 points versus a year ago. This marks the company’s smallest decline in market share this decade.

Ford’s gainers for December 2008 were the Lincoln Town Car (up 605% to 1,368 units); the Mariner (up 41% to 3,148 units). The Ford Flex crossover utility finished 2008 with its best sales month of the year, netting 2,685 sales.

The Ford Focus posted full-year sales of 195,823, the small car’s highest sales year since 2004 and up 13% versus full-year 2007—the sole gainer among Ford, Lincoln and Mercury models for the full year. Focus sales in December were down 16.8%.

Honda. American Honda Motor Co., Inc., reported December sales of 86,085, a decrease of 34.7% year on year. For 2008, Honda reported sales of 1,428,765, a decrease of 7.9% percent compared to 2007 results.

Car sales dropped 30.4% for the month to 50,918 units, while truck sales dropped 40% to 35,167 units. For the year, car sales were down 0.5%, while truck sales were down 17.7%.

For December, Honda had no gainers. December Civic sales dropped to 17,302, down 36.4%. Civic hybrid sales for the month plummeted 67.9%, to 1,036 units. For the year, sales of the Fit increased 41.4% to 79,794 units. Sales of the Civic increased 2.5% during the year to 339,289 units. Sales of the Civic Hybrid dropped 3.9% for the total year to 31,297 units.

Chrysler. Chrysler LLC reported total December 2008 US sales of 89,813 units, down 53% from the same month in 2007. For the year, Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge US sales decreased 30% (1,453,122 units) compared to total 2007 sales (2,076,650 units).

Total car sales in December dropped 59.2% year-on-year to 20,535 units; total truck sales dropped 50.9% to 69,278. Total car sales for the year dropped 28.7%, while total truck sales were down 30.5%.

Chrysler’s two gainers in December were the Viper and the Journey, the latter which just began sales in December 2007.

Nissan. Nissan North America, Inc. (NNA) reported sales for December of 62,102 units versus 89,555 units a year ago, a decrease of 30.7%. Passenger car sales dropped 26.8% to 38,507 units; light truck sales dropped 36.1% to 23,595 units.

For the 2008 calendar year, combined sales of Nissan and Infiniti totaled 951,350 units, a 10.9% decrease from 2007. Passenger car sales dropped 6.7% for the year, while light truck sales were down 17.2%.

Nissan’s December gainers were the Rogue, the Murano, and the Infiniti EX—up 10% to 6,916 units, 53.9% to 6,461 units, and 187.5% to 877 units, respectively. Sales of the Altima were down 31.2% in December to 17,311 units, while sales of the Altima hybrid dropped 26.3% to 710 units.

For the year, the Versa posted a 7.2% gain to 85,182 units.