Vehicles from Ford, Chevrolet and Toyota are among the top consumer preferences this holiday season, according to a study from U.S. personal finance website ValuePenguin.com.
“Whether people are buying it for themselves or as a gift for another, Ford, Chevrolet, Toyota, Honda and Nissan rank as the brands most likely to show up in people’s driveways this month,” said ValuePenguin.
“December tends to be the biggest month for car sales, as the top brands sell a combined average of almost 1.7 million vehicles in December,” said ValuePenguin, adding that some brands have larger sales than others during this period.
In fact, December is the largest single sales month for more than 60 per cent of the top car brands in the U.S., but discounts and other incentives from dealers who are looking to get rid of existing inventory to clear inventory (and/or meet annual sales goals) also play a part.
The company reviewed data from U.S. auto sales spanning from 2015 through 2018, and considered 29 OEM auto and light truck brands. Tesla was among the 29 brands, but it was also excluded from the analysis due to its rapid sales growth over the past couple of years.
Ford did make the list and sold an average of 222,534 vehicles in December alone and in the most recent three-year period, making up for 13.6 per cent of all sales from ValuePenguin’s sample brands. The F-Series is the most popular in the lineup.
Chevrolet sold 202,852 vehicles on average during the last four Decembers, for a 12.4 per cent share of the sample brands for this analysis. The Silverado is the top seller.
Toyota sold an average of 191,602 over the past several Decembers, with an 11.7 per cent share of the sample brands. The top seller is the RAV4.
Honda sold 137,499 per December (on average), for an 8.4 per cent share of the sample brands. The big seller is the CR-V.
And in fifth place, Nissan managed an average 127,814 sales in December during the past four years — with a 7.8 per cent share of sample brands. Its top selling model is the Rogue.
For other brands such as Lexus, Infiniti, Cadillac, Volvo and Land Rover, December makes up the biggest share of its annual sales.
