For the second year in a row, automakers set an all-time record for new vehicles in the United States, selling 17.5 million cars and light-duty trucks. Depending on the source (we refer to WardsAuto and Automotive News), the final tally was between 17.47 million and 17.54 million, or between 0.3 and 0.4 percent better than 2015. Let?s take a look at the factors at play in another record year, including 2016?s winners and losers.

Sales of the Volvo XC90 more than doubled.
Trucks and Cars
Trucks, SUVs, and crossovers continued their dominance over cars, taking 61 percent of the market, higher still than last year?s 57 percent. Overall car sales dipped 9 percent from 2015, and the full-size-sedan segment really stunk. Even the Toyota Camry, the best-selling passenger car in the country, was down 10 percent. Compact crossovers and mid-size pickups once again were the fastest-growing segments (each up 26 percent), although they cooled off from their 2015 levels due to fewer new entries (the biggest being the redesigned 2017 Kia Sportage). Non-luxury mid-size crossovers rose 3 percent, while mainstream-brand large crossovers sank 13 percent. Among luxury brands, the action was in the mid-size and larger segments. Compact luxury crossovers dipped by 1 percent despite a redesigned BMW X1 and the arrival of the Infiniti QX30. The mid-size and large segments, in contrast, each jumped 19 percent. New or redesigned entries such as the Audi Q7, Jaguar F-Pace, Buick Envision, and Cadil...