The Complete Sales Breakdown: 2010

January 5th, 2011

Cory Wolfe -- Writer/Photographer CheersandGears.com

Last year, we saw auto sales hit a low not seen in nearly 30 years. General Motors and Chrysler Group both filed for bankruptcy as our government handed out bailouts. In their first full year, post bankruptcy, each automaker rebounded with 21% and 16% increases in total volume, making the most of their respective situations. In contrast, Toyota Motor Co. suffered from a rash of recalls, sorely hurting their sales. Used to seeing nothing but "best-ever" sales, this year the Japanese automaker finished the year with a slight 0.37% decrease in sales. In fact, it's the only multi-brand automaker to post negative numbers this year. Hyundai, one of the few automakers to post gains last year, increased its sales once again for a new personal best, selling 538k vehicles. That's not the case for Suzuki, who's sales plummeted for the third year in a row. After selling 101k vehicles in 2007, Suzuki ended 2010 with a mere 24k vehicle sales. The only brands to post lower sales this past year were Jaguar, Saab, and Smart. The outlook for Suzuki is looking rather grim, with the well-reviewed Kizashi failing to jump start sales. All in all, 2010 was a year of relief for most automakers. The majority posted big gains after two straight years of seemingly never-ending sales decreases. Let's hope 2011 can keep the momentum going.

We'll be sure to continually report whatever ups and downs that may be bestowed upon the automakers for the rest of the year. In the meantime, I've compiled sales totals into some basic lists to break down and analyze 2010's sales.

Top 10 Best-Selling Trucks

1. Ford F-Series - 528,349

2. Chevrolet Silverado - 370,135

3. Ram Pick-Up - 199,652

4. GMC Sierra - 129,794

5. Toyota Tacoma - 106,198

6. Toyota Tundra - 93,309

7. Ford Ranger - 55,369

8. Nissan Frontier - 40,427

9. Chevrolet Colorado - 24,642

10. Nissan Titan - 23,416

Top 10 Best-Selling Sport Utility Vehicles

1. Honda CR-V - 203,714

2. Ford Escape - 191,026

3. Toyota Rav4 - 170,877

4. Chevrolet Equinox - 149,979

5. Ford Edge - 118,637

6. Kia Sorento - 108,202

7. Chevrolet Traverse - 106,744

8. Honda Pilot - 102,323

9. Nissan Rogue - 99,515

10. Jeep Wrangler - 94,130

Top 5 Best-Selling Minivans

1. Chrysler Town & Country - 112,275

2. Honda Odyssey - 108,182

3. Dodge Caravan - 103,323

4. Toyota Sienna - 98,337

5. Kia Sedona - 21,823

Top 5 Best-Selling Sub-Compact Cars

1. Nissan Versa - 99,705

2. Kia Soul - 67,110

3. Honda Fit - 54,354

4. Hyundai Accent - 51,975

5. Chevrolet Aveo - 48,623

Top 10 Best-Selling Compact Cars

1. Toyota Corolla - 266,082

2. Honda Civic - 260,218

3. Ford Focus - 172,421

4. Toyota Prius - 140,928

5. Hyundai Elantra - 132,426

6. Volkswagen Jetta - 123,213

7. Mazda 3 - 106,353

8. Chevrolet Cobalt - 97,367

9. Nissan Sentra - 94,065

10. Chevrolet HHR - 76.401

Top 10 Best-Selling Mid-size Cars

1. Toyota Camry - 327,804

2. Honda Accord - 311,381

3. Nissan Altima - 229,263

4. Ford Fusion - 219,219

5. Chevrolet Malibu - 198,770

6. Hyundai Sonata - 196,623

7. Dodge Avenger - 50,923

8. Subaru Legacy - 38,725

9. Chrysler Sebring - 38,585

10. Mazda 6 - 35,662

Top 5 Best-Selling Full-size Cars

1. Chevrolet Impala - 172,078

2. Dodge Charger - 75,397

3. Ford Taurus - 68,859

4. Nissan Maxima - 60,569

5. Chrysler 300 - 37,116

Top 5 Best-Selling Sports Cars

1. Chevrolet Camaro - 81,229

2. Ford Mustang - 73,176

3. Dodge Challenger - 36,794

4. Chevrolet Corvette - 11,645

5. Nissan 370Z - 10,215

Top 10 Best-Selling Luxury Cars

1. BMW 3-Series - 100,910

2. Buick LaCrosse - 61,178

3. Mercedes-Benz E-Class - 60,922

4. Mercedes-Benz C-Class - 58,785

5. Infiniti G37 - 58,143

6. Lexus ES - 48,652

7. Cadillac CTS - 45,656

8. BMW 5-series - 39,488

9. Audi A4 - 34,672

10. Lexus IS - 34,129

Top 5 Best-Selling Luxury Sport Utility Vehicles

1. Lexus RX - 95,790

2. Buick Enclave - 55,426

3. Cadillac SRX - 51,094

4. Acura MDX - 47,210

5. BMW X5 - 35,776

Top 30 Best-Selling Vehicles

1. Ford F-Series - 528,349

2. Chevrolet Silverado - 370,135

3. Toyota Camry - 327,804

4. Honda Accord - 311,381

5. Toyota Corolla - 266,082

6. Honda Civic - 260,218

7. Nissan Altima - 229,263

8. Ford Fusion - 219,219

9. Honda CR-V - 203,714

10. Ram Pick-Up - 199,652

11. Chevrolet Malibu - 198,770

12. Hyundai Sonata - 196,623

13. Ford Escape - 191,026

14. Ford Focus - 172,421

15. Chevrolet Impala - 172,078

16. Toyota Rav4 - 170,877

17. Chevrolet Equinox - 149,979

18. Toyota Prius - 140,928

19. Hyundai Elantra - 132,426

20. GMC Sierra - 129,794

21. Volkswagen Jetta - 123,213

22. Ford Edge - 118,637

23. Chrysler Town & Country - 112,273

24. Ford Econoline - 108,258

25. Kia Sorento - 108,202

26. Honda Odyssey - 108,182

27. Chevrolet Traverse - 106,744

28. Mazda3 - 106,353

29. Toyota Tacoma - 106,198

30. Dodge Caravan - 103,323

Top 10 Brands

1. Ford - 1,756,439

2. Chevrolet - 1,565,632

3. Toyota - 1,534,266

4. Honda - 1,096,874

5. Nissan - 805,159

6. Hyundai - 538,228

7. Dodge - 383,675

8. Kia - 356,268

9. GMC - 334,981

10. Jeep - 291,138

Top 5 Companies

1. General Motors - 2,202,927

2. Ford Mo. Co. - 1,925,462

3. Toyota Mo. Co. - 1,763,595

4. American Honda - 1,230,480

5. Chrysler Group - 1,085,211

I find it interesting that of the top 10 selling SUVs, only the Traverse and Pilot are close to full size, and the Pilot is probably closer to a midsize than a full size. The SUV market really shifted from bigger SUVs and even the Explorer/Trailblazer size SUVs down to the small guys.

Ford is now officially #2 in America?

I take issue with Autoblog's reporting of Toyota holding the number one spot in sales over Ford and Chevrolet. It's misleading, being based on a never-mentioned retail versus fleet breakdown, with no factual figures backing it.