Ford Motor Company’s December 2009 sales were up 33 percent from December 2008. By comparison, Chrysler’s sales were down 4 percent. GM has yet to report. One factor is almost certainly the quality of Ford’s product — my wife certainly loves her Ford Edge and hopes we’ll get another when the lease runs out — but I suspect Ford’s position as the only major U.S. automaker to neither go bankrupt nor take bailout money is another.
UPDATE: GM December sales were down 6 percent. Most foreign automakers posted December gains. Honda, for instance, reported a 24 percent increase in December sales; Nissan an 18 percent gain.