2013 Auto Sales: Hybrid Deliveries Cool Down Considerably in December

Although much of the country is "enjoying" temperatures well below zero today, the ol' polar vortex swept through the auto industry last month. After a relatively robust first 11 months of the year, total sales were essentially flat in December, marking a bare .3 percent advance, and this time around, the challenges extended to the hybrid, plug-in and diesel segments. The former were particularly hard hit, as total volume for unplugged hybrids in December was down by a steep 17.2 percent, reflecting 36,155 deliveries according to the HybridCars.com dashboard, from which all these numbers have been plucked.

That shaved some 3.5 percent off of the category's overall growth rate, as hybrid sales for the year reached 495,685 units—still up by 14.1 percent over 2012. Also, there were some notable hybrid gainers in December, including the 2014 Kia Optima. No. 12 for volume last month, the Optima chalked up another 990 sales for a 31.8 percent gain in December; the midsizer ended the year in place in the traditional hybrid segment, with a 38 percent advance on 13,919 deliveries.

The December hybrid top 10 (with full-year results in parentheses):

1. Toyota Prius liftback—9,881 sales, down 21.2 percent (145,172 sales, down 1.6 percent)
2. Toyota Prius C—2,810 sales, down 10.8 percent (41,979 sales, up 17.5 percent)
3. Ford Fusion Hybrid—2,768 sales, down 14.7 percent (37,270 sales, up 164.3 percent)
4. Toyota Camry Hybrid—2,726 sales, down 38.6 percent (44,448 sales, down 2.6 percent)
5. Hyundai Sonata Hybrid—2,121 sales, up 13.2 percent (21,761 sales, up 4.8 percent)
6. Toyota Prius v—2,110 sales, down 29.5 percent (34,989 sales, down 14 percent)
7. Lexus CT200h—1,787 sales, up 11.8 percent (15,071 sales, down 14.7 percent)
8. Lexus ES Hybrid—1,706 sales, down 8.6 percent (16,562 sales, up 135.2 percent)
9. Toyota Avalon Hybrid—1,480 sales, up 98.1 percent (16,468 sales, up 2,105 percent)
10. Ford C-MAX—1,201 sales, down 64 percent (28,056 sales, up 156.6 percent)

2013 Auto Sales: Plug-ins Achieve Peak Volume

Now, December was a tough month for EVs and plug-in hybrids, too, but the segment still rang up a 26 percent advance over its December 2012 volume to deliver 9,790 units. On the one hand, it was enough for a new segment sales record for the month, yet it also was well under the category's full-year growth rate of 80.9 percent. Speaking of which, much of that, along with most of the segment's 96,602 deliveries, continues to come from just a handful of entries.

Consider the December EV and plug-in leaderboard for sales (with full-year results again in parentheses):

1. Nissan LEAF—2,529 sales, up 69.8 percent (22,610 sales, up 130.3 percent)
2. Chevy Volt—2,392 sales, down 9.2 percent (23,094 sales, down 1.6 percent)
3. Tesla Model S, estimated—1,700 sales, up 70 percent (18,650 sales, up 611.8 percent)
4. Toyota Prius Plug-in—919 sales, down 32.5 percent (12,088 sales, down 5.2 percent)
5. Ford C-MAX Energi—827 sales, down 14.8 percent (7,154 sales, up 201.3 percent)
6. Ford Fusion Energi—791 sales in its first December (6,089 annual sales)
7. Smart fortwo EV—167 sales in its first December (923 sales, up 564 percent)
8. Ford Focus EV—158 sales, down 5.4 percent (1,738 sales, up 153.7 percent)
9. Chevy Spark EV—76 sales in its first December (539 annual sales)
10. Honda Fit EV—51 sales, up 168.4 percent (569 sales, up 511.8 percent)

A further highlight: The 2014 Cadillac ELR, not scheduled to go on sale until this month, found its way to six customers in December.

2013 Auto Sales: Audi Advance Continues in Diesel Segments

The diesel segments were the least affected by the December sales slowdown, selling 12,045 units last month for a 9 percent gain that was right in line with its annual sales growth of 9.5 percent. However, last year's 137,633 diesel sales included deliveries from eight new products that weren't available at this time in 2013; in other words, a key factor in the diesel growth in 2013 was the growing number of diesel-powered vehicles on the market. And keep in mind that, at this stage, the diesel-powered Ram 1500 and Jeep Grand Cherokee have yet to officially post their first sales.

As for the current crop, it's the four-rings brand that is seeing the strongest performances. The Audi Q5 TDI jumped up two spots in the December top-10 sales list, while the Audi Q7 TDI climbed five. And Audi's diesel-motivated sedans, not on sale in 2012, all scored month-over-month gains in December.

Here's the December top-10 sales list for diesel vehicles (with, one more time, annual results in parentheses):

1. VW Jetta TDI—2,894 sales, down 13.5 percent (43,983 sales, down 8.6 percent)
2. VW Passat TDI—2,209 sales, down 15.8 percent (34,963 sales, up 32.1 percent)
3. BMW 328d—1,322 sales in its first December (3,595 sales, up 404.9 percent)
4. Audi Q5 TDI—768 sales, in its first December (2,965 annuals sales)
5. Audi Q7 TDI—655 sales, up 58.2 percent (4,308 sales, up 28.8 percent)
6. Chevy Cruze Diesel—495 sales in its first December (2,995 annual sales)
7. BMW 535d—471 sales in its first December (1,134 annual sales)
8. Mercedes-Benz ML350 BlueTEC—458 sales, down 5.8 percent (4,886 sales, down 7.6 percent)
9. VW Golf TDI—434 sales, down 16.2 percent (7,558 sales, down 24.7 percent)
10. Mercedes-Benz GLK250 BlueTEC—429 sales in its first December (3,402 annual sales)