Chrysler Dodges Detroit's December Decline

Chrysler was pleased to be the exception that proved the rule as Detroit carmakers ended a miserable year with miserable December sales figures.

Plummeting sales of pickups, sport utility vehicles, and minivans punished GM with a 9.7 percent year-over-year decline for December; Ford saw sales fall 12.8 percent. Alone among Detroit automakers, Chrysler Group (as distinct from parent DaimlerChrysler) achieved a 1 percent increase over the previous December — though not without controversy, as the New York Times reports [registration required]:

In recent weeks, Chrysler has stepped up rebate deals and other offers to clear out inventories of cars and trucks that had piled up on showroom lots.

The automaker was criticized this fall because it kept as many as 100,000 vehicles in an order bank, meaning they were not spoken for by dealers or customers. Chrysler officials vowed last month to reduce the figure to about one-tenth that number, but said they would not eliminate the order bank completely.

"Analysts say 2007 may not be any easier for the industry," adds the Times. George Pipas, head of sales analysis at Ford, said he expected the pickup truck market "to look very much like a sumo wrestling match: there is going to be pushing and shoving."

The sumo metaphor is painfully apt: Toyota and Honda both posted increases for December (16.6 and 3 percent, respectively), and Toyota is expected to pass Ford permanently in 2007 to take the No. 2 spot in the US. "Meanwhile," notes the Times, "Toyota will introduce the biggest version yet of its Tundra pickup next month."