SECOND DEEPER LOOK AT THE AMERICAN MARKET

Although the large pickup market fell 7% last year, Chevrolet Silverado sales were down just 3.1%. That leaves the Silverado with 618,257 units sold; more than a quarter of all Chevy’s.

Nissan is beginning to successfully ride the coat-tails of Toyota and Honda. The midsize Japanese duo should really be considered a trio now, with Altima sales up 22.1% in ’07 to 284,762.

General Motors bosses were rewarded for making obvious (and correct) decisions with Saturn sales in 2007. Few would be surprised by the fact that sales were up 5.7%. The lineup is completely different than it was just a couple years ago. L-series now equals Aura. Ion was replaced with Astra. Vue is new. Outlook is Enclave-lite. Sky never used to be. Expect Saturn to improve again this year, or in case of economy troubles, to struggle less than other domestics.

That note above about Silverado sales not falling as sharply as the sector it competes in? Ford’s F150 tumbled 13.5% last year. Ouch. Officially, the F150 is still the best-selling vehicle in America with 690,589. Technically, the combined effort of what is basically the same truck (Silverado and GMC Sierra) forms 826,500. So, Ford has the single best-selling vehicle, but General Motors sells more light-duty pickups.

In 2007, Hummer sales were down 22%. Enough said. Well, actually, for more on that, click here for The Good Car Guy’s test drive of an H2.

Nissan’s luxury brand, Infiniti, could use some help from the G35’s teammates. With the FX35 and FX45, M35 and M45, QX56, and new EX lux-cute-ute, the G’s 54,015 units sold seems fine. But last year, the other non-Good 12-winning elements of Infiniti’s lineup combined for just 73,023 vehicles sold. That needs to improve.