American Car Sales Climbed 9% in December

Sales of new light vehicles in the U.S. grew to 1.36 million units in December from 1.24 million units a year earlier, according to Autodata Corp.

Last month's total translates to an annual selling rate of 15.37 million vehicles compared with a pace of 15.54 million units in November and 13.61 million units in December 2011.

Analysts say December demand was bolstered by sales of vehicles to replace those destroyed by superstorm Sandy.

Domestic brands hiked U.S. volume 5% to 607,300 vehicles last month. Sales climbed 10% to 148,700 units at Chrysler, 5% to 245,700 units at General Motors and 2% to 212,900 units at Ford.

Demand for Asian makes rose 10% to 594,800 vehicles in December, led by Honda's 26% jump to 132,700 units. Also posting gains were Toyota (+9% to 194,100 vehicles) and Hyundai (+17% to 59,400 units). Subaru (+9% to 36,700 units) recorded its strongest month ever. Sales dipped 2% to 99,300 vehicles at Nissan and fell 10% to 39,200 units at Kia.

European marques boosted volume in the U.S. 26% to 153,900 vehicles last month, paced by the Volkswagen brand's 35% sales spike to 44,000 units. BMW's 39% surge to 37,400 vehicles in December propelled it past Mercedes-Benz (+13% to 15,400 units) to capture the 2012 American luxury sales crown by about 7,400 units.

BMW ended the Lexus brand's 11-year streak as the country's luxury leader in 2011. Mercedes, which aimed to knock its German rival from that perch this year, outsold BMW through November by a steadily narrowing margin.