December may have been the best month for new car, truck and SUV sales in the U.S. since 2006, according to sales estimates from Cars.com.
The consumer research site, owned by McLean-based Gannett Co. Inc. (NYSE: GCI), says new vehicle sales will top 1.5 million in December, up 11.3 percent from December 2013 and up 16 percent from last month.
That would bring the seasonally adjusted annual sales to 16.86 million.
“Bolstered by lower gas prices, SUV and full-sized truck sales have been particularly strong this month, even beyond normal seasonality,” says Cars.com chief analyst Jesse Toprak. “We expect sales to continue on a very positive trajectory, with the industry set to hit 17.1 million units in 2015.”
Fiat-Chrysler, whose Jeep brand sales have skyrocketed in the past year, leads manufacturers with the largest annual gain in sales, up 23.1 percent from 2013. Toyota’s U.S. sales this year are forecasted up 12 percent and General Motors will see an annual gain of 10 percent this year, according to Cars.com.
GM will also lead market share for 2014, with 17 percent of total U.S. sales in December, followed by Ford, Toyota and Chrysler.
