Top 10 Detroit Three vehicles of February 2013

DETROIT- In what is historically one of the worst car sales months of the year, the Detroit Three performed OK.

Each of the Detroit automakers experienced less than 10 percent of year-over-year sales gains from February 2012, but none were in the red.

General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Group LLC combined sold just short of 560,000 cars and trucks last month, led by pickup truck sales.

“A significant tailwind for our industry in new home construction, which is creating jobs and fueling the demand for pickups,” said Kurt McNeil, GM vice president of U.S. sales operations, during a conference call Friday with financial analysts and media. “GM really benefited from these trends.”

For a seventh-straight month, full-size pickup truck sales were above 11 percent of the U.S. auto industry’s retail market share, according to McNeil.

Of the Detroit automakers, Ford led its crosstown rivals with sales of 195,822 vehicles last month, a 9 percent increase compared to last year and its best February since 2006.

"The new Fusion and Escape had a great month and the C-Max pumped in a good amount of incremental sales," said Edmunds.com senior analyst Michelle Krebs in a release. "But Lincoln’s performance was dismal."

Sales of Ford's luxury Lincoln brand were down nearly 30 percent last month compared to February 2012, as the Dearborn-based automaker continues to deliver the redesigned MKZ to dealerships. Ford's namesake brand was up 11 percent in February compared to a year ago.

GM, led by pickup trucks and its luxury vehicle sales, reported sales of 224,314 vehicles in the United States in February, up 7 percent compared with a year ago. Retail sales and fleet sales were both up 7 percent. The fleet mix was 25 percent of total sales, equal to a year ago, officials said.

Led by a 30 percent increase in Dodge brand sales, Chrysler today reported vehicle sales increased 4 percent last month compared to February 2012, just topping 139,000 cars and trucks sold. It marks the Auburn Hills-based automaker 35th-consecutive month of year-over-year sales gains and best February sales since 2008.

Automakers and auto analyst research firms TrueCar.com and LMC Automotive predict U.S. vehicle sales in February to increase about 6 percent from a year ago to 1.2 million.

Experts continue to predict U.S. auto sales to come in between 15-15.5 million vehicles sold in 2013, a 1 million increase from last year.

Below is a look at the best-selling vehicles from GM, Ford and Chrysler in February 2013 in terms of units sold and year-over-year gains.

The top 10 vehicles of the month were relatively unchanged from January, except the Ford Fusion jumped above Ram’s pickups. For a second-consecutive month, the Buick Verano took the No. 1 spot in terms of year-over-year sales.

Top 10 Detroit Three models by units sold in February (2013 sales):

1. Ford F-Series- 54,489 (101,330)

2. Chevrolet Silverado- 41,643 (77,088)

3. Ford Fusion- 27,875 (50,274)

4. Ford Escape- 24,110 (44,049)

5. Ram pickup- 23,289

6. Ford Focus- 20,808 (36,969)

7. Chevrolet Equinox- 20,649 (37,872)

8. Chevrolet Cruze- 17,947 (32,471)

9. Ford Explorer- 16,586 (31,140)

10. Chevrolet Impala- 15,424 (29,577)

Top 10 Detroit Three models by units sold in February (monthly sales):

1. Buick Verano- 147.1% (4,171)

2. Chevrolet Captiva Sport- 68.9% (3,867)

3. Chevrolet Volt- 58.9% (1,626)

4. Ford Explorer- 58.9%- (16,586)

5. ord Transit Connect- 56.6% (3,610)

6. Dodge Avenger- 52% (9,980)

7. Dodge Charger- 41% (10,301)

8. Dodge Durango- 38% (4,749)

9. Jeep Compass- 36% (3,776)

10. Dodge Challenger- 34% (4,911)

Click here for the best-selling Detroit Three vehicles of January.

Email Michael Wayland: MWayland@mlive.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/MikeWayland  

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