American Honda capped a roller-coaster sales year with a strong showing in December as light trucks helped fuel just a 0.1 percent drop in overall deliveries from a year earlier. That was a big rebound from November when sales fell 23 percent because of fewer selling days and fierce market competition.

For the year, combined U.S. sales at the Honda and Acura brands fell by 16 percent as Honda passenger car sales tanked while crossovers at both brands did relatively well considering the myriad of disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Volume fell 13 percent at Acura and 17 percent at the Honda brand last year.

Total car sales at American Honda in 2020 dropped 22 percent while light-truck deliveries fell 12 percent. That reflected an accelerated market shift toward pickups, crossovers and SUVs, driven by low-rate financing deals that made it easier for consumers to move up to bigger, more expensive vehicles.

Honda plans redesigns of its light trucks to better reflect consumer tastes, starting with the Ridgeline pickup in early 2021. Acura, meanwhile, is launching a new generation of the MDX crossover early this year, following a redesigned TLX sedan in late 2020.

Brands: In December, Honda sales rose 0.3%; Acura sales fell 3%.

Notable nameplates: Honda Accord, down 0.9%; Honda Civic, down 8.1%; Honda CR-V, up 5.6%; Honda Passport, up 18 percent; Honda Ridgeline, down 17%; Acura ILX, up 8.6%; Acura TLX, down 20 percent; Acura RDX, down 7.1%; Acura MDX, up 7.2%.

Incentives: $2,750 per vehicle in December, up 5.2% from a year earlier, TrueCar says.

Average transaction price: $31,247 in December, up 4.4% from a year earlier, according to TrueCar.

Quote: “While 2020 was a year of unprecedented challenges, through the efforts of our Honda and dealer associates and the continuing loyalty of our customers, we were able to deliver 1.3 million vehicles,” said Dave Gardner, executive vice president of national operations at American Honda. “We remain optimistic that things will improve soon and look forward to the upcoming launches of critical all-new products like the Honda Civic and Acura MDX.”

Did you know? Honda posted record sales of electrified vehicles — 62,982 in 2020 — for the third straight year, on the strength of the newly introduced CR-V hybrid, good for 24,406 deliveries, and the Accord hybrid, which generated sales of 18,229, according to Honda. The Insight, a dedicated hybrid sedan based on the Civic, didn’t fare so well. U.S. sales fell 33 percent last year to 15,932.