Trucks Are Tops Again; Nip Cars at the Finish Line

Trucks are back on top with American vehicle buyers. With a torrid finishing kick in December, light trucks outsold cars by fewer than 22,000 units in 2011, a 50.1-49.9 split.

In 2010, cars beat out light trucks by almost 400,000 units, a 51.7-48.3 split.

Analysts credit an improving economy, stable fuel prices and more efficient truck powertrains for the surge in trucks. In December alone, trucks outsold cars by more than 100,000 units.

"With fuel prices tame, pickups sales should outpace the rest of the market in 2012," said Anthony Pratt, Polk's top analyst.

For decades, cars far outsold light trucks, even after the emergence of minivans and more comfortable SUVs in the 1980s. In 1990, cars accounted for 67 percent of the U.S. market.

But trucks gradually closed the gap and during the go-go years from 2002 to 2007 outsold cars, peaking in 2004 with a margin of more than 1 million units -- a 54.2-45.8 split.

But as sales collapsed in 2008 under the dual weight of soaring gasoline prices and an economic crash, cars regained the majority.

(Source: Automotive News, 01/09/12)