The all important December car sales numbers are in and Ford is the big winner. Unit sales increased more than 30% over December, 2008. All in all, this capped off a banner year for Ford sales relative to the rest of the industry. Toyota, Honda and Nissan all showed double digit increases over last December's sales but the other two major U.S. manufacturers registered sales declines. General Motors sales were down nearly 6% and Chrysler showed a 4% decrease.
As you may recall, Ford was the only major U.S. auto company to refuse the government's bailout money. They obviously had a plan and it's working. Unfortunately, we the people are effectively the proud owners of GM and Chrysler through the federal bailouts. Seeing as how these companies were in trouble to begin with and our government has never been known as a model of efficiency ($600 screwdrivers anyone?), I don't have a very optimistic outlook for these companies as quasi-government entities. What do you think about the future prospects for GM and Chrysler's?
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It would not surprise me to see Ford's numbers boosted by end of year fleet dumping to clear lots of 09s and some 10s.