Pacifica enjoys strong fourth quarter results in the US.

Article content

The Windsor-built Pacifica enjoyed a record fourth quarter sales increase of 32% compared to a year ago in the US.

Article content

According to sales results released Tuesday by Stellantis US, the company sold 38,821 minivans in the fourth quarter. The company sold 98,323 Pacificas in the US in 2021, representing an increase of five percent.

Stellantis’ total US sales fell 18 percent in the quarter as the global shortage of semiconductor microchips continues to plague the auto industry. For the year, Stellantis’ total US sales were down two percent to 1,777,394 vehicles.

Stellantis’ Canadian sales figures will be released on Wednesday.

The company will also make a major electric vehicle announcement Wednesday morning with the public unveiling of the Airflow crossover at the Consumers Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The new vehicle will be part of the Chrysler brand, which currently includes only the company’s Windsor-built minivan line and the Brampton-built Chrysler 300 sedan.

Article content

General Motor’s sales in the United States fell 42.9 percent in the quarter and 12.9 percent for the year.

For the fourth quarter, all four GM brands were down: Buick was down 34.8 percent, Cadillac was down 47.8 percent, Chevrolet was down 44.7 percent and GMC was down 37.7 percent.

With sales of 2.2 million in the US by 2021, GM lost its position as the top seller in the US for the first time since 1931. Toyota had US sales of 2.3 million. vehicles to claim pole position.

However, Toyota’s sales for December fell 30 percent.

Last year, Toyota’s top seller, which has plants in Woodstock and Cambridge, was the RAV4 despite a 5 percent drop in 2021. Toyota’s Woodstock plant is one of two production facilities in America. North that make the RAV4.

Article content

Ford Motor Company will announce its fourth-quarter results on Wednesday.

However, Ford confirmed Tuesday that it will double annual production to 150,000 units of its new Ford Lightning electric pickup due to demand. It is the second time the company has announced that it will double Lightning production, which was originally supposed to be 40,000 vehicles a year to start.

Ford will begin taking orders for the Lightning on Thursday with deliveries scheduled for this spring.

The cheapest model will be the Lightning Pro with a base price of $ 39,974 US.

Despite its December sales in the United States falling 23 percent for the month, Honda enjoyed an overall increase of 8.9 percent for 2021.

Honda’s CR-V led all company deliveries with an 8.3 percent increase in 2021 and they joined the Civic and Ridgeline pickup as the top sales winners. The CR-V and Civic are among the products made at Honda’s two Ontario plants in Alliston.

Korean automakers Hyundai and Kia suffered declines in December of 23 and 9.8 percent, respectively.

However, the duo enjoyed a strong 2021 with Hyundai’s annual US sales increasing 19 percent and Kia’s by 20 percent.

[email protected]

Twitter.com/winstarwaddell