U.S. Car Market Grows 9%

Passenger vehicle sales in the U.S. climbed to 1.25 million units in November from 1.14 million a year earlier, propelled by strong demand for domestic brands.

Sales of traditional domestic nameplates grew 12% to 542,500 units, and Asian brands rose 8% to 565,900 units last month, according to Autodata Corp.

But demand for European marques was flat at 136,900 units. A 16% drop at Volkswagen offset big gains for European luxury cars and crossovers.

VW's 16% decline to 30,700 vehicles left it in third place among European brands after Mercedes-Benz (+14% to 36,400 vehicles) and BMW (+2% to 301,800 units). Sales rose 13% to 13,600 units for Audi, advanced 25% to 4,600 units for Land Rover and doubled to 1,400 cars for Jaguar. But volume plunged 31% to 4,200 vehicles at Volvo.

Among Asian carmakers, November sales climbed 10% for Toyota, 11% for Nissan, 5% for Hyundai, 11% for Kia and 30% for Subaru. Demand was flat for Honda and fell 4% for Mazda.

Autodata says light-duty trucks maintained their 52% share of the American market for the second consecutive month.