It seems like even the auto industry has gotten Black Friday fever, as auto sales were very strong in November, and they were particularly strong over the Thanksgiving Day weekend across America. The rush of car buyers enabled the automobile industry post an annual U.S. sales rate of 13.6 million vehicles this past November, the strongest performance since August of 2009 when the “cash for clunkers” program was in effect and helped to turbocharge sales.

What’s driving this in the US? The economy is definitely starting to get better. The news from Europe seems to keep holding things back, but companies seem to be hiring as well as we’ve seen from the better employment numbers. So consumers are definitely feeling better. But we also have a situation where there are fewer used cars after the slump of recent years, so now used car prices are higher. This pushes demand to new cars and also helps with trade-ins. So we’re finally in a good situation for the car industry.

We’re also in a situation where the auto companies have hit a good grove. The products are getting better as everyone has had a wake-up call and unnecessary brands and models have been cut.

In the UK the news isn’t as good, as the economy there is having a tougher time and the situation in Europe can’t be helping consumer confidence. So you have a better chance of finding new car deals over there. As usual, do your homework and read all the UK car reviews if you’re shopping in that market.

Car sales picked up the pace in November but will it last? The annual rate of 13.8 million sales we might have turned the corner to better days ahead. Chrysler was up a staggering 45 percent and that isn’t a misprint.

From the Detroit News:

November shaped up to be a strong month for U.S. auto sales with all major automakers except Honda Motor Co. reporting better results than a year ago.

Honda’s sales of 83,925 were down 6 percent from a year ago, largely on inventory woes due to flooding in Thailand.

Chrysler Group LLC reported a whopping 45 percent sales increase in November in the first results of what is expected to be one of strongest months of the year for U.S. vehicle sales.

Conversely, General Motors Co. only saw sales grow 7 percent compared with a year ago.

Ford Motor Co. sits in the middle with total sales of 166,865, up 13 percent from 2010 results.

Toyota Motor Corp. said its sales were up 6.7 percent in November on volume of 137,960 units.

Chrysler, the biggest gainer for the month, sold 107,172 vehicles in November, the automaker’s sixth consecutive month of best year-over-year sales this year.

“With sales up 45 percent, November was another huge month for the Chrysler Group and our highest year-over-year sales gain of 2011,” said Reid Bigland, head of U.S. sales.

Strong sellers for the Auburn Hills automaker included the Chrysler 300 and 200 sedans, which contributed to the Chrysler brand’s 92 percent hike over last year and best November since 2008. Also boosting sales were the Dodge Charger, Avenger and Durango. The Fiat 500 notched 1,618 sales for the month.

Read the full article.

I’ve been seeing a lot of commercials for the Chevy Volt, and this advertising blitz might be paying off. The Chevy Volt outsold the Nissan Leaf for the first time in October. In October GM sold 1,108 units of the Volt, which is a significant increase over the 723 units sold in September.

The Volt is still running behind GM’s sales targets, and it seems like the company was banking on all the PR buzz around the vehicle to drive sales. Perhaps a marketing push was also needed. The commercials are pretty good. They stress the gas savings of an electric car with some humorous situations at gas stations.

As more and more automakers go electric and introduce plug-in hybrids, it will be interesting to see if this segment really takes off. Right now the sales numbers are miniscule but that could change quickly.

Although the economy continues to lurch toward recovery at a snail’s pace, some automakers are defying expectations, and posting big gains on the sale charts. For the month of October, the big winners were Chrysler and Volkswagen. Chrysler sold 21,244 cars last month, a 28% increase when compared to October of 2010. High demand for the recently revised 200 and 300 sedans and high incentives helped bring traffic to the showrooms.

Volkswagen was another winner. They sold 28,028 cars last month, a 40% increase from October of last year. Volkswagen points to strong sales of their recently redesigned Passat sedan as the reason for drawing more sales. The good news is not expected to stop as November starts either.

Many automakers and analysts expected strong October sales, and are claiming high sales to continue through November. Although the economy is still a blight on auto sales, analysts expect outside variables to drive sales forward. First, they claim there is a lot of pent up demand for new vehicles since the age of the average car in this country is 11 years old. Secondly, inventory levels are returning to pre-quake levels for the Japanese manufacturers. Finally, a combination of high used car prices and incentives on new car purchases may sway consumers to purchase new cars instead of used ones. The fourth quarter of this year for automakers is shaping up to be much better than expected.

Source: Automotive News

Audi News.com announced that Audi’s January sales in the U.S. increased 20%, which set another monthly record.

The strong January 2011 results followed the best year that the luxury brand has seen in the U.S. as sales surpassed 100,000 for the first time to finish the full year at 101,629 vehicles. The 8.6% share that Audi held in overall U.S. imported luxury vehicle sales at the end of 2010 also set a record for the brand.

Audi models have already earned significant awards in the U.S., including the Edmunds.com Technology Breakthrough Award to the 2011 Audi A8, four category winners in the Strategic Vision 2010 Total Value Index and the EyesOn Design “Best Production Vehicle” awarded to the Audi A6, which is scheduled to arrive this Fall.

Read the full press release.

December car sales rebounded from 2009 and 2010 turned into a “decent” year for the U.S. auto industry . All signs are 2011 “should” continue to grow back to pre-meltdown levels. Here is a December 2010 breakdown from AutoBlog.com from each brand and there are a few surprises in there.

December sales ended 2010 on a largely positive note for most manufacturers. You’re probably more interested, however, in how these brands and companies performed for the entire year of 2010. Hold on to your Sirius satellite radios, because those numbers are on their way, but first we have to dispense with December.

There’s actually nothing too shocking in the sales numbers for December, as most manufacturers finished strongly, with an increase in sales versus December 2009, and those that were down were either not down by very much (Lexus, Jaguar, Toyota and Dodge) or are the usual suspects (Mercury, Lincoln, Volvo, Chrysler and Smart).

Dodge and Chrysler are looking forward to selling significantly updated hardware in 2011, while Toyota will continue to work its way out of the dog house with those consumers that lost some faith in the Japanese juggernaut during its recall debacle in 2010. With that in mind, we expect even more brands to be bragging about the blockbuster year of sales they just had when the next new year rolls around.

Read the full article.

Many are hopeful that the federal government’s new cash for clunkers program will provide a much-needed boost to the American auto industry at a time when the recession is crushing auto sales. BusinessWeek, however, calls the new program a “lemon.”

The problem with the law is that it is both underfunded and too narrow to generate a spike in showroom traffic. Standard & Poor’s (MHP) says the most it will do is boost sales by 3% for the year; a similar German program pushed sales up 30% a month this year. “This is a waste of taxpayers’ money,” says analyst John Wolkonowicz of Boston research firm IHS Global Insight (IHS). “There won’t be enough people who can take advantage of it.”

First off, the feds have approved only $1 billion for the program. That could help fund the purchase of just 250,000 cars—not much more than a week’s worth at current sales levels—between August, when the program likely will start, and Nov. 1, when it ends.

Plus, the law makes little sense for most passenger-car owners. The government will cut checks of $3,500 to $4,500 to dealers so they can buy old cars that get 18 miles per gallon or less and then sell the owner a more fuel-efficient replacement. But most cars on the road get more than 18 mpg, so they won’t qualify. And many that are thirsty enough to warrant the deal are luxury models worth a lot more than $3,500 to $4,500. If a consumer can sell the old car for more than what the government will pay, there’s no reason to take advantage of the bill, says Wolkonowicz.

Yes, there are plenty of old cars that do qualify. But many are 10 years old or more, says Edmunds.com CEO Jeremy Anwyl. People driving cars that ancient often buy used, and even with a $4,500 discount, they probably won’t want to take on new-car payments during a time of economic hardship.

This is a pretty downbeat view. The article points out that the program should be bigger, but if it’s successful you can be sure that Congress and the Obama administration will push to expand it.

Reuters takes a much more positive view, pointing out that the law is spurring certain buyers to trade in old vehicles.

Having driven the equivalent of six smoke-belching laps of the planet, Tony Metzler figured his ageing Chevrolet Blazer SUV would not make a good trade for a new car. Until now that is.

With a $1 billion (621 million pounds) federal “Cash for Clunkers” program that pays consumers $3,500 or $4,500 in credit to swap ageing gas-guzzlers for new, more fuel efficient models, he made the plunge.

“It ended up being right place, right time for me,” said Metzler, 42, who traded his eight-year-old sport utility vehicle for a new Chevrolet Equinox this week. “It seemed like a good opportunity.”

The program signed into law by President Barack Obama in June offers a trade-in credit of up to $4,500 to owners of cars built since 1984, with fuel economy of 18 miles per gallon or less.

It also applies to SUV, vans and pickup trucks. Participating dealers assess the discount, apply it to the new vehicle, and then obtain reimbursement from the government. Details of eligibility are available at www.cars.gov.

Metzler, a Phoenix-valley insurance executive, had racked up 150,000 miles (240,000 kilometres) in his old SUV that averaged 17 miles per gallon. He got a $3,500-credit towards his new car, which gets a slender 3 mpg improvement.

The program, which backers hope will arrest the auto industry’s slide and sell 250,000 new vehicles this year, runs through November 1 or until funds are exhausted. It has been broadly welcomed by auto dealers across the country.

For more information on the program, check out Cash for Clunkers Facts.