U.S. Car Sales Stall in December

Sales of cars and light trucks in the U.S. totaled 1.36 million last month, up only 4,300 units from December 2012, as winter storms hampered demand.

Last month's total translates into an annual sales rate of 15.4 million units compared with 16.4 million in November and 15.2 million in December 2012, according to Autodata Corp.

Traditional U.S. brands slipped 0.3% to 605,600 units in December. General Motors slid 6% to 230,200 vehicles, Ford gained 2% to 216,600 units and Chrysler climbed 6% to 157,300 units.

Demand for Asian brand light vehicles advanced only 1% to 602,100 units last month. Gainers included Honda (+2% to 135,300 units), Nissan (+11% to 109,800) and Hyundai (+6% to 63,000). But those increases were largely offset by declines for Toyota (-2% to 190,800), Kia (-14% to 33,600) and Mazda (-16% to 23,000).

Sales of European marques fell 1% to 152,700 units, as demand for segment leader Volkswagen's namesake brand plunged 23% to 34,000 units. It was the fourth consecutive double-digit monthly decline for VW.

December sales for BMW-brand vehicles were flat at 37,400 units. But volume for Mercedes-Benz surged 18% to 35,800 units, propelling the brand's full-year volume ahead of its rival by 25,000 units for the first time since 2010.Other European gainers included Audi (+15% to 17,000), Land Rover (+11% to 5,800) and Jaguar (+47% to 1,500).