…the Ford F series pickup…again.

The honored F was redone for ’09.  But once the shining child of the American auto market, the F is far from its prime.  The pickup achieved its high-point in ’04 with almost 940,000 units sold.  The number for ’09?  Well under 414,000.  With all the cash, advertising, and labor put into it, the F couldn’t break out of the recession’s pull.  The Chevrolet Silverado (#3) was well behind it with 317,000, and Dodge Ram (#10) came in with a rather weak 177,000 units.

The big truck losers?  The GMC Sierra came nowhere near the Silverado’s numbers (112,000), making the argument for us that it’s time to assimilate the damn thing into the Chevy line.  The Toyota Tundra, Nissan Titan, Honda Ridgeline, and Ford Explorer were nowhere to be seen.  The smaller Tacoma, Escape, and RAV4 all did well, however.

The Toyota Camry was the top car and #2 overall.  The sale decline with the Camry was small, as the sedan managed to push out 357,000 units.  Behind it were the Corolla with 297,000, the Honda Accord with 290,000, and Civic with 260,000.  The only American car to break into the top ten was Ford’s Fusion.  That came in at #9 with 181,000.chevy silverado for sale

So much for Toyota dependability: the Japanese automaker had the most recalled vehicles in 2009.

Of the approximately 4,870,000 vehicles pulled from the road, the vast majority were related to “unintended acceleration.”  The exact cause is unknown, but it was initially claimed to be from poorly designed floor mats, though Toyota did push ahead with gas pedal replacements.  About 110,000 Toyota trucks were also recalled due to prematurely rusting frames, resulting in Toyota extending its warranty coverage to fifteen years.  Before that, Toyota had to settle a case against it over charges of oil sludge buildup within its engines.

Consumer Reports, a longtime supporter of Toyota, was forced to concede its practice of automatically recommending the company’s vehicles would have to cease.  Both the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration and Insurance Institute for Highway Safety have placed Toyota vehicles under review. Toyota Tacoma

Hyundai’s new Sonata clearly looks more creative than the old.  The radical styling takes many cues from the Mercedes CLS-class–and we’re not complaining.  No V-6 will be available for the Sonata; instead, Hyundai will be pushing ahead with improved safety, interior amenities, and fuel economy.  Weight is down to a total range between 3,100 and 3,400 lbs.–an astonishing figure for the growing mid-size range.

The standard engine will hover around variations of a 2.4 L direct-injection unit averaging just under 30 mpg and achieving 190+ hp.  Engines will be linked to either a 6-spd. manual or automatic transmission.  Interior space and luggage capacity are both greater than their top competitors from Honda and Toyota.  Hyundai will be making a “Blue Drive” gas-electric hybrid system available for preview soon after the regular sedan’s release.  A more powerful turbo-charged 2.4 will be offered for drivers seeking output in a V-6 range.

Looks like the announcement earlier this week that VW was the world’s top-selling automakers was premature.  Turns out Toyota still holds the crown.  The VW numbers included sales from partner companies, including those which the German giant holds only a small stake in.  By using the same standard, Toyota’s overall sales would run at a rate of just under five million vehicles–or a half-million more than VW.  Anyone else think this is over-complicating a very simple question: Who’s selling the most cars?

Looks like all that factory money that went into NASCAR didn’t pay off.

Toyota’s US operations, long a bastion of profit, have now sunk to a new low.  Toyota is now losing a fortune in its American investment: sales losses for the first half of this year are down 38%.  That’s actually three percent more than the national sales average.  Even worse, the NUMMI factory, a joint-effort with American industry, may shut down due to the rapid losses the company is suffering.

(Let’s see Thomas Friedman promote Toyota now.)