2024 US "Car" Sales Data Is Out -- Some Surprises -- The Biggest Surprise? Mazda -- January 3, 202

Locator: 44605AUTOS.

Updates

January 5, 2025: the top 16 popular pick-up trucks in the USA as reported by Wall Street 24/7 one year ago, thus looking at 2023 figures. Link here. Again, sales figures for 2023:

• vehicle sales (in US in 2023): 15.5 million
• pickups against that figure: 2.75 million
• cars: 3.2 million
• SUVs: make up most of the rest
• the pickups
  
• 16: Nissan Titan: 19,000 sold; starts at $46,000
• 15: Rivian R1T: 19,410 sold; starts at $69,900
• 14: GMC Canyon: 22,458 sold; starts at $36,000
• 13: Ford Ranger: 32,334 sold; starts at $32,670; y/y sales dropped; worrisome for Ford
• 12: Hyundai Santa Cruz: 36,675 sold; starts at $26,000; 5,000 max capacity -- not good;
• 11: Honda Ridgeline: 52,001 sold; starts at $40,000 (2024); 5,000 max towing capacity, also
• 10: Jeep Gladiator: 55,187 models; questionable design; 4,500 max towing capacity; starts at $39,790 (2024)
• 9: Nissan Frontier: 58,134 models sold; $30,030 starting price; towing capacity, 6,690 pounds
• 8: Chevrolet Colorado: Chevy's second most popular pickup; 71,082 modesl sold; $29,500 starting price! Towing capacity of 7,700 pounds -- getting more and more curious about the Ford F-150.
• 7: Ford Maverick: 94,058 models sold; $23,815 starting price; 1,500 pounds towing capacity; say what?
• 6: Toyota Tundra: 125,185 models sold; $39,965 starting price; a whopping 11,175 pounds towing capacity.
• 5: Toyota Tacoma: slightly smaller; 234,768 models sold; $39,400 starting price; towing capacity, 6,500 pounds
• 4: GMC Sierra: arguably the most luxurious pickup in this list; 295,738 models sold; starting price, $38,300; towing capacity, 13,300 pounds
• 3: RAM pickup: 444,927 models sold; towing capacity starts at 12,750 pounds; $39,420 starting price;
• 2: Chevrolet Silverado: 555,148; towing capacity, 13,300 pounds; $36,800 starting price;
• 1: Ford F-Series: 750,789; 13,500 pounds towing capacity; $36,570 starting price; 

The 2024 stats, reported January 4, 2025: 765,649 F-Series pickups sold in 2024, up 2%.

Link here for 2024 sales:

• mid-size trucks:
• Chevrolet Colorado: just fell short of 100,000; up 38%
• GMC Canyon: 38,215 units sold; up 70%
• Nissan Frontier: 68,155 units; up 17%
• Ford Ranger: 46,205; up 43%
• Ford Maverick: 131,143; up 39%
• Toyota Tacoma: led the segment, at 192,813, down 18%
• Jeep's Gladiator: also struggled; 42,000; down 24%

For bigger pickup trucks, link here:

• Ford F-Series: 765,649, but only because of huge discounts in the 4th quarter to pull this off; full year, a paltry 4.1% increase;
• Chevy Silverado + GMC Sierra: 874,679 models sold;
• Chevy Silverado: 549,649
• GMC Sierra; 324,734; for full year, an
• Ram Trucks: 373,120; down 7.1%
  

Original Post

$100,000 cars and light truck sales are increasing, and the meme? The US economy is not doing well.

Link here.

The WSJ article is the best I've seen so far today.

The whole story bores me so I won't be posting much on the blog regarding auto sales but ...

... having said that, this is perhaps my favorite graphic:

Unfortunately we're not told the average downpayment paid, but my hunch: the minimum. Also, we're not told the average length of the loan, and then the actual amount of money folks spend on a new car over time. 

The question is: how do folks pay for these $75,000 vehicles?

This is how.

When I was growing up, my dad, the single wage earner in our family for most of our childhood years, had to pay for college for six children.

Today, the American average number of children: 1.66.

And unlike the 50's and 60's it's not uncommon to have two wage-earners.

Today, college is costing tens of thousands of dollars every semester. And that's for state colleges. A "real" college is costing upwards of $100,000 / year for four years, and maybe even five years. And then graduate school.

Bottom line: a new car is much less expensive than paying for college.

Also not mentioned in the article: cost of insurance. Even if rates had not increased (and they have), insurance premiums are a lot less for a $25,000 sedan than a $100,000 Cybertruck.

And, of course, it goes without saying, that the story about EVs is being mis-reported. Really mis-reported. Outright obfuscation in most cases. 

I'll be tracking this story elsewhere; I'm not going to clutter the Bakken with this nonsense.