2008 winners and losers

[SVT666]

2008 winners and losers

The year isn?t quite over yet, but it?s close enough to ring the final bell on the winners and loser of 2008. This year was tumultuous, to say the least, with the industry first struggling through record high gas prices and then a complete collapse of the new car market. But despite the ups and down, auto sales seemed to have leveled out on the whole, with only a few surprises on either list.

We?ll start with the winners. Despite $4 gas, the Ford F-150 retained its top spot on the list ? where it has been for the last 27 years ? selling almost 474,000 units through the first 11 months of the year. The F-150 was followed by Chevrolet?s full-size pickup, the Silverado, which managed to find a home with 431,000 buyers through November, according to Forbes.

The next three sports were filled by vehicles that reflected that $4 a gallon gas period, the Toyota Camry and the Honda Civic and Accord, respectively.

Not surprisingly, the fuel-efficient Toyota Corolla/Matrix took the number six spot with 328,000 sales, followed by Nissan?s Altima with just over 250,000 sales. The Chevy Impala, Dodge Ram and Ford Focus rounded out the top 10.

This year?s biggest loser was the Hyundai Entourage, which found only 5,400 buyers ? a 67 percent drop from the same period last year. The relatively unknown Mitsubishi Endeavor wound up in only 5,700 driveways, while the fuel-chugging Hummer H2 managed to find 5,721 buyers.

Chrysler?s lame duck Pacifica took home the title of the 4th worst-selling car of 2008 ? with 6,200 sales ? followed by the Nissan Armada, Hummer H3 and Dodge Durango. The GMC Envoy, Jeep Commander and Toyota FJ Cruiser rounded out the best of the worst for 2008.

[ChrisV]

On that worst selling list, is that merely recording worst total sales, or worst sales compared to predicted sales? 'cause I'd postulate that there are a number of supercars and halo cars that sold worse.

[ifcar]

Where's this from, and what did they base their "losers" category on? There are obviously cars that sell less than 5,400 units per year.

[SVT666]

Where's this from, and what did they base their "losers" category on? There are obviously cars that sell less than 5,400 units per year.

Judgin by what they included on the list, I'm guessing they onlu included what can be considered "mainstream".  It's from Leftlanenews.

[Byteme]

2008 winners and losers


This year?s biggest loser was the Hyundai Entourage, which found only 5,400 buyers ? a 67 percent drop from the same period last year. The relatively unknown Mitsubishi Endeavor wound up in only 5,700 driveways, while the fuel-chugging Hummer H2 managed to find 5,721 buyers.

Chrysler?s lame duck Pacifica took home the title of the 4th worst-selling car of 2008 ? with 6,200 sales ? followed by the Nissan Armada, Hummer H3 and Dodge Durango. The GMC Envoy, Jeep Commander and Toyota FJ Cruiser rounded out the best of the worst for 2008.

About half of those FJ's must be in Houston.  I see those eyesores all the time.

[Yawn]

oh yeah I saw that too.. it was on the yahoo business section

http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2008/12/05/f-forbes-carssales.html

[Vinsanity]

I'm guessing that the losers are based on % decline from last year's sales

[Galaxy]

All in all Audi is a winner. They expect to sell more then 1 million cars in 2008 for the first time ever.

[the Teuton]

There's one Japanese company that is up 3% on the year.  Otherwise, every other company is down except Ferrari in America (they are down 9% worldwide, though). 

I don't see 5700 being a bad number for the $60,000 Hummer H2.  Is it?