Auto industry has best year since '07

Tammy Ballard works on a Chevrolet Sonic at a General Motors plant in Orion Township, Mich. GM held its lead in U.S. auto sales, up 3.7 percent to almost 2.6 million in 2012.
Tammy Ballard works on a Chevrolet Sonic at a General Motors plant in Orion Township, Mich. GM held its lead in U.S. auto sales, up 3.7 percent to almost 2.6 million in 2012. (DUANE BURLESON / Associated Press)
Tammy Ballard works on a Chevrolet Sonic at a General Motors plant in Orion Township, Mich. GM held its lead in U.S. auto sales, up 3.7 percent to almost 2.6 million in 2012.GALLERY: Tammy Ballard works on a Chevrolet Sonic at a General Motors… (DUANE BURLESON…)
By Craig Trudell, Keith Naughton and Tim Higgins, Bloomberg News
Posted: January 05, 2013

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG's BMW sales surged 39 percent in the United States in December to top Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz in luxury-auto deliveries in 2012 in the best year for the auto industry since 2007.

Munich-based BMW boosted its annual total by 14 percent to 281,460 units, edging out Mercedes for a second straight year. Toyota Motor Corp.'s Lexus, the U.S. luxury champ for 11 years until 2011, was third with sales of 244,166 last year.

Growing sales by the top luxury brands helped push the industry to a total of 14.5 million deliveries, the most in a half-decade and the first three-year streak of at least 10 percent increases since 1973.

"The U.S. is ready to become the cash cow again," said Rebecca Lindland, analyst with IHS Automotive in Norwalk, Conn. "Right now, we are the brightest bulb in the chandelier."

In 2012, General Motors Corp. retained its crown as the overall sales leader of the U.S. auto market. For the full year, GM's sales gained 3.7 percent to almost 2.6 million.

In second place was Ford Motor Co., which saw sales increase 4.7 percent to 2.24 million units. Ford's F-Series full-size pickup line was the top-selling vehicle for the 31st consecutive year.

The No. 1 car for the 11th year in a row was the Camry, made by Toyota, which experienced a 27 percent increase in U.S. sales to 2.08 million units - good enough for third place.

Rounding at the top 5, Chrysler Group L.L.C.'s sales climbed 21 percent to 1.65 million, while Honda Motor Co.'s increased 24 percent to 1.42 million.

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