• by Karl Greenberg , January 4, 2011

Hard to believe after 2000 -- the year from hell for the auto industry -- but it seems 2010 has finished up with most of the automakers looking like Manny Pacquiao after 12 rounds with Antonio Margarito, or Mayweather after 12 rounds with Shane Mosley -- victorious with nary a scratch. Now if we could just get Pacquiao in the ring with Mayweather instead of Mosley, we'd have a great 2011. That's about as likely to happen this year as Ford Motor bringing back the Lincoln Blackwood as a 2012 model

Toyota is the exception, but even Toyota with its troubles this year was only flat versus last year. The Torrance, Calif. company's December sales are off 2%, with full-year sales the same as in 2009.

Volkswagen had its best overall sales year since 2003. Subaru finished December with 2010 being its best year ever. So did Kia and its sibling, Hyundai. Nissan sales were up 27.7% in December, and 18% for the year. Ford posted a 19% increase in sales for 2010 versus 2009. General Motors reports that its full-year sales were up 21% in 2010. Chrysler posted a 16% increase in sales for December and 17% for the full year.

For General Motors, December was the best month of the year. The automaker said its four brands sold 223,932 vehicles in December, 27% or 118,435 vehicles more than the month last year.

The automaker sold 2,202,927 vehicles last year, with Chevrolet sales up 16% for the year, while Buick posted a 52% increase for 2010, giving the division the biggest increase of any major auto brand. GMC sales increased sales 29% for the year, and Cadillac sales grew 35% last year.

Ford said its December retail sales increased 17%, with Ford division retail sales up 20% and Lincoln up 3%. Mercury -- which the company has officially terminated -- saw a 29% drop, while Ford's car retail sales increased 26%. The Ford Fiesta accounted for 5,212 deliveries last month. Ford says it also set a record for Fusion, whose sales were 22,629.

Nissan also set a December record with monthly sales up 26.3%. Sales of its luxury sibling Infiniti were up 37.3% versus the December 2009.

Volkswagen, which saw a 17% increase for December and 20% increase versus all of 2009, is kicking off marketing for 2011 with a comic Web series, "Inside the VW Academy," starring "Saturday Night Live" comedian Bill Hader. The webisodes will have him paired with a real Volkswagen product specialist as well as "SNL" writer John Mulaney. The automaker will run the 18 videos on its YouTube and on its website, which it has revamped.

Hyundai Motor America's own Web efforts, a holiday-themed video series starring Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn of polymath musical/ performance-art duo Pomplamoose, helped give the automaker a 54% boost last month versus Dec. 2009. The 44,802 units for Hyundai Motor America helped lift the automaker's tally to 538,228 vehicles for the year, an increase of 103,164 vehicles or 24% versus 2009.

"December was the capstone to a good year for Hyundai, with our total sales results actually understating the more important gains we made at retail, where we added a full point of market share," said John Krafcik, president and CEO, Hyundai Motor America, in a statement. "While we grew total volume 24%, retail volume through our 800-strong dealer network climbed 35%, or 115,786 units, with 90,349 of that retail gain coming from ... the 2011 Sonata."

Hyundai said December sales of Elantra, Sonata, and Tucson increased 127%, 52%, and 348%, respectively.