GM North America Production (Model) : 2017-18

GM is following the local USA brand trend of abandoning car production. Light trucks are the future and they can't get back to the future quick enough.

USA: Cars still account for 24% of the total, bu that's down from 30% the year previous. Cars have drpped 28% and 22% the past two years so on the out for certain. Meanwhile, light trucks were up 1% for the comparative period. That put both

FCA North America Production (Model) : 2017-18

The Fiat Chrysler Automobiles company makes vehicles in all three of the NAFTA nations. What may be surprising is that cars are now almost non-existent. Less than 8% of the total in fact.

USA: Cars are no longer made here, although light trucks are doing just fine. Nearly 1.5 million of then rolled down production lines in 2018. That was comprised of 62% Jeep  and 38% Dodge/Ram.





USA

Ford/Lincoln NA Production (Model) : 2017-18

Ford has made no secret of its desire to end car production (the Mustang will stay) and concentrate on light trucks, or utility vehicles. The idea is there is little money in cars but there is more to the picture than that, unless you are an accountant.

Cars promote foot traffic in dealerships. Take cars away and people that may have gone to buy a car but been talked into a light truck will

Subaru/Tesla US Production (Model) : 2017-18

Two brands that have no connection but as both are not large operations, I combined them.

USA: Production grew 22% in 2017, but came to a halt in 2018, despite the Ascent truck arriving on the scene. The Outback remains the main model. With an impressive 680,000 vehicles sold in the US in 2018, it is a net importer.





USA Production – Subaru


Model
2018
%
+/-

Honda Nth America Production (Model) : 2017-18

Honda produces vehicles in the USA, Canada and Mexico. Its premium brand Acura is only assembled in the US.

USA: Car volumes have fallen -23% and -9% the past two years. Meanwhile trucks were up +14% and +12% and now constitute 61.7% of the units manufactured. Two new models were introduced during the year and UK Civic production will be added when Honda pull out of European assembly. 1.6

Nissan/Infiniti US/Mexico Production (Model) : 2017-18

Nissan's North American assembly plants are to be found in the USA and Mexico. In both cases the numbers involved are impressive.

USA: After years of growth, the past two years have seen declines, -8% and now -10%. Cars have been the main reason but trucks too haven't been spared. The range of trucks is varied, with eve an Infiniti model. With Nissan and Infiniti sales in the US at 1,494,000,

Toyota Nth America Production (Model) : 2017-18

Only Toyota and Honda are import brands that have plants in all three of the NAFTA region countries. What is amazing is how close the total production is for each of the three countries.

USA: 1.24 million is the total, down 2% on 2017, which was down 9%. Cars were the issue in 2017 (-19%) but in 2018 there was little in it. The highlander model is closing in on a quarter of all production.

Volkswagen US/Mexico Production (Model) : 2017-18

VW assemble cars in both the USA and Mexico, but mostly south of the border. In both cases, volume was up strongly in 2017, but slipped in 2018.

USA: Just one car and one SUV are involved here. A 9% fall was due to the car dropping 37%, while the truck went up 34%. With VW selling 350,000 cars and light trucks in 2018, clearly VW import many more than they make in the US.





USA

BMW/Mercedes US Production (Model) : 2017-18

Both of these companies make some vehicles in the US. So which models do they assemble? Let's find out.

BMW: Various SUV models are all that they do, totaling about 350,000 units in 2018. In comparison, 310,000 vehicles were sold in the US. That makes it a net exporter from here. For the past two years the total has dropped slightly.





USA Production - BMW


Model
2018
%

USA / China JLR Comparison : 2010-18

Two very different markets despite being similar in size. Over the past nine years, the USA has averaged 15.6 million sales and China 18.2 million. The US started out in this period as the bigger market for JLR but China took over. However, a sales slump in China for 2018 has the US back as the bigger market for JLR.

The data:

The USA has seen solid growth over the time with the split

USA Premium Sales Comparison : 2016-18

I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay...


Premium sales have been consistent in the US for the past few years, with tiny incremental gains. Total sales were 2,239,941 in 2018, +2.4%. BMW took the top spot from Mercedes which I'm sure pleased them. Lexus has been slowly losing out for some years now and while still a very successful marque, not as much as it was. It hasn't chased every conceivable

USA / China JLR Comparison : 2010-16

When I decided to put the US and China together in a Jaguar Land Rover comparison, the first issue was China doesn't include imported cars in it's figures. Why on earth not? Something for another time. So I had to estimate the figures.

From 2010 to 2016 the US averaged 15 million, sales, China 18 million as best I could establish. So was there much difference? Amazingly no. Land Rover is more

Honda / Acura Production - US Plant : 2016

About 1.1 million Honda brand cars were made in the US in 2016, up 3.5% on 2015. There are four plants and five models made. In addition three plants make a total of five Acura models. That amounted to 191,000 units, down 8%. The total made for both marques is nearly 1.3 million which was +1.6% for 2016.

European readers may be surprised at the popularity of Honda and Acura in North America.

USA Car/Light Truck Sales By Brand : 2010-14

The empire strikes back could have been the title of this article. Well, maybe overstated but US car makers took the fight to the Asian competition and did OK. Toyota was top in 2009, but went straight back to third in 2010. Hyundai's market share fell from 5.1% in 2011 to 4.4% in 2014, so that assault was blunted.

Therefore, a small victory for the US Big Three as they rationalised their

USA Car/Light Truck Sales By Nameplate : 2005-09

America had fallen in love...with the Camry. Is it that good?


The economic downturn of the late 90's really hurt car sales Stateside. Out of that carnage, Toyota became the top nameplate. Nissan passed Dodge while Hyundai and Kia saw off GMC and Jeep. Pontiac fell from 7th to 18th over the decade, while Chrysler went from 7th in 2007 to 19th in 2009! From the year 2000 Buick went from 11th to

USA Car/Light Truck Sales By Nameplate : 2000-04

The Ford Taurus. Was it just bull?

This was a testing time for US brands due to pressure from Asia. Ford started the decade well ahead in the sales by nameplate stakes, but quickly slipped. The Ford Taurus Model went from 382,000 in 2000 to 248,000 in 2004 or 134,000 less in those years. The Toyota Camry through the same period held its sales volumes so Ford was feeling the heat from Japanese

US Car Production By Make : 2000-09

The Sonata assembled in Alabama, USA from 2005


Times were tough for US car production. The big economic downturn late in the decade sent volumes plummeting. Out of that sudden shift in 2009, Toyota became the largest car maker in the US, passing GM while Honda moved into third at the expense of Ford. Nissan and Hyundai were now ahead of Chrysler.

The three US car companies accounted for just

US Car Production By Make : 1990-99

The first US assembled Subaru, the Legacy


The 1990's were a continuation of the previous decade, with US car makers losing production volume as the Japanese companies moved in. The truck/SUV side of the industry was roaring ahead and profits were better there too. That is where the US automakers were heading, increasingly leaving the car side to foreign brands. So production numbers are not

US Car Production By Make : 1980-89

The Honda Accord was the first US made car for the company


Things were changing in the 1980's. Trucks were making a mark (which are not included here) and the Japanese manufacturing invasion was underway. Total car sales were declining and AMC had gone, leaving just the three local car makers. While Ford and Chrysler actually managed small increases, GM's production volume was much lower.

US Car Production By Make : 1970-79

1979 Chevrolet Malibu 


US car production rose from 7.9m to 9.4m in this ten year period. However, this was the decade of GM as share rose from 46.5% to 57.4% and units made went from 3.7m to 5.4m. Ford only just grew numerically but the Ford nameplate fell. It relied on Mercury and Lincoln for the increase.

Chrysler and AMC went backwards. For the Chrysler Group Dodge and especially Plymouth