November Sales: Hyundai, Nissan Have a Thanksgiving Feast

The U.S. auto industry continued to show signs of growth last month, with nearly all of the mainstream players able to claim year-over-year sales increases in November. Of course, in some cases this did require a bit of lexicological maneuvering around the word "claim."

Team Hyundai didn't have to resort to playing games with the statistics, though. The Hyundai brand saw November sales shoot up 45.9 percent compared to the same month last year, with Kia notching an impressive 18.3 percent jump of its own. It's particularly impressive to see the Hyundai Sonata growing sales by 52 percent last month, considering the 2011 model just premiered in L.A. The Kia Soul, Kia Rio and Kia Forte also appear to be gaining traction, and it turns out that the 2011 Kia Sorrento has been named official vehicle of the NBA, making its success a likely slam dunk when it comes to market next year (sorry, I couldn't resist).

Nissan gets kudos for a successful November, with a 21 percent sales increase. The good news is that the Nissan brand itself was up nearly 30 percent, with the Nissan Versa, Nissan Altima, Nissan Maxima and Nissan Z cars all posting gains. The bad news? Nissan's luxury division, Infiniti, saw its numbers fall by 26 percent. At least the brand is having a pretty good time of things in Los Angeles, where it showed off the next generation of its Infiniti M flagship.

Despite some distinctive products — like the Nissan Cube, the Z cars and the Nissan Murano — and a relatively strong manufacturing presence in the U.S., this is a company that really hasn't been able to separate itself from the pack in the hearts and minds of American consumers. That's where the Nissan LEAF, the company's low-cost electric vehicle, is supposed to come into play, and I think it's already doing the job, with the LEAF's buzz already helping to get more people interested in Nissans.

Subaru and Volkswagen also continued to roll, with November sales of the former up nearly 24 percent and those of the latter moving ahead by about 13.7 percent. VW again calls out its clean diesel models for contributing to its growth, with TDI versions of the Volkswagen Jetta, Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen, Volkswagen Golf, and Volkswagen Touareg combining to account for almost a quarter of VW's November sales.

All of the U.S. automakers surpassed analysts' expectations, although it takes some picking and choosing to put the best spin on things. For example, GM sales were down about 2 percent overall, but all of its core brands were up, led by serious gains on the crossover front.

Now, I know this isn't totally apples vs. apples, as the comparisons involve some all-new vehicles, but get a load of these numbers: Cadillac SRX, up 207.8 percent; Chevrolet Equinox, up 273 percent; and Chevrolet Traverse, up 140.3 percent. The Buick Enclave and GMC Acadia saw increases of "only" 33.6 percent and 46.9 percent, respectively. Oh, and the GMC Terrain was good for another 3,683 sales, a number that, as GM helpfully points out is 418 percent higher than last November's sales of the Pontiac Torrent, which the Terrain has "replaced."

Ford also requires some special pleading. Sales were flat compared to November 2008, but that's because the company's 14 percent rise in car sales and 25.9 boost on the crossover side was effectively cancelled out by a 20.8 percent drop in the purchases of body-on-frame SUVs and and truck sales that slipped 18.4 percent.

The Ford Focus, Ford Fusion and Ford Taurus all saw healthy gains, with the Fusion setting a yearly sales record with most of December still to go. On the other hand, sales were off at both Mercury and Lincoln, and this is a situation that the Blue Oval needs to address immediately. With the new Ford Focus and Ford Fiesta on their way, the Ford division proper is soon going to boast one of the best car lineups on the planet. But Ford, the company, absolutely has to do something to help Mercury and Lincoln or they will be outshone to the point of total eclipse.

Sales results at Toyota and Honda were also a mixed bag. The numbers for Toyota were essentially flat, likely the result of an improving U.S. market being counterbalanced by the bad mojo around the company's recall problems. The Honda division seems to be stumbling as well, with sales falling about 4.5 percent. The problem here, IMHO, is a lineup of vehicles that has suddenly gotten stale. The Honda Civic and Honda Accord, though still great cars, have been around for a while now — at least as measured in "car years" — while new products like the Honda Accord Crosstour and Honda Insight have yet to find customers in any significant numbers.

And unlike some of the other OEMs mentioned here, Honda's big intro at the L.A. Auto Show won't be able to turn things around any time soon, if ever. The Honda P-NUT, a three-passenger Personal-Neo Urban Transport vehicle, looks to be right out of a video game or sci-fi movie, and at the risk of going all Keanu Reeves here, I don't see this Neo as being "the one" that changes Honda's fortunes.