Car buyers were out in force last month. Unit sales of light motor vehicles during November jumped 8.7% m/m (14.7% y/y) to 15.54M (SAAR) according to the Autodata Corporation. The latest figure surpassed the Consensus estimate for 14.8M sales, according to Bloomberg.

Auto sales gained 8.0% m/m (21.7% y/y) to 8.04M. Domestic car sales gained 7.4% to 5.55M (28.1% y/y) while imports rose 9.5% (9.4% y/y) to 2.49M. Light truck sales increased 9.4% (8.0% y/y) to 7.50M. Domestic light truck purchases increased 8.5% (9.4% y/y) to 6.49M while sales of imported light trucks rose 15.9% (-12.4% y/y) to 1.00M, which was roughly unchanged y/y.

Imports' share of the U.S. light vehicle market ticked up to 22.5% in November. (Imported vehicles are those produced outside the United States.) That share was down from its peak of 29.9% in Q1'09. The lower foreign exchange value of the dollar played a role as it made imports relatively more expensive. Imports' share of the U.S. car market gained to 31.0% but remained down from its 37.8% monthly peak in 2010. Imports' share of the light truck market increased to 13.4% last month, down from its 23.9% peak in early '09.

The U.S. vehicle sales figures can be found in Haver's USECON database.