The press releases have been rolling in all day from auto manufacturers around the world with December 2008 as well as year-end sales figures. As was predicted, the numbers are bleak. Here are a few highlights or should I say lowlights?

Domestic Automakers

Chrysler, Ford and General Motors all posted losses for December and cumulatively for the year. Chrysler LLC saw a jaw-dropping drop in sales in December 2008. The automaker sold 53.1% fewer vehicles in December 2008 than they did in December 2007. Their overall decline for the year was 30% when compared to 2007.

Ford Motor Company posted a 34.4% drop in December 2008; up from a 32.6% decline in November 2008. Ford finished the year with a 21.8% decline in sales.

General Motors, the company that appeared to be in immediate need of bailout funds per the CEO’s testimony, experienced a 31.2% decline in sales in December 2008. This is much better than the 45.1% decrease seen in October 2008 and 41.3% drop seen in November 2008 but it is still a significant decline. GM ended the year posting a 22.7% drop in sales over 2007.

Imports

Toyota is the largest automaker in Japan and is experiencing difficult times along with the rest of the industry. In December 2008, Toyota sales in the United States were 36.7% lower than they were in December 2007. The company sold 15.4% fewer vehicles in 2008 than it did in 2007.

American Honda saw a 34.7% decrease in December 2008 and an overall decline in sales for the year of 7.9%. Nissan posted a 30.7% loss for December 2008 and ended the year with a 10.9% drop in sales.

The Winners

Yes, there are a few winners. Subaru sold 187,208 vehicles in 2007 and 187,699 in 2008 that represents a 0.3% increase in sales.

The big winner was Aston Martin. This luxury automaker sold 1,202 vehicles in 2007 and 1,600 in 2008. This 33.1% increase in sales is in stark contrast to the trend that the majority of automakers faced.

At the time of this post, figures for Hyundai, Mazda and Suzuki were not available.

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