Great races inside November's car-sales numbers

November was a big month for car sales in the United States, up 14 percent from November 2010 to 994,786 units. Analysts expect car sales to total 12.8 million units for the year.

Here's a look at some of the trends behind that big number.

Camaro wallops Mustang

The traditional pony-car race isn't much of a race this year. The Chevrolet Camaro holds a commanding, 16,000-unit lead on the Ford Mustang--81,495 to 65,381--with one month left in the year.

And neither car is backing off the gas. Chevy will launch the Camaro ZL1 next year, while Ford rolled out the 2013 Mustangs at the Los Angeles auto show in November.

Chrysler revs up

The Chrysler Group continued its year of success with a 45 percent sales surge in November, powered by sedans such as the Chrysler 300 and the Dodge Charger, and by the Jeep lineup.

Aside from Honda, all major automakers posted sales gains in November, with Chrysler posting the biggest increase.

Mercedes-Benz closes in on BMW

In the luxury market, Mercedes-Benz outsold BMW by 5,000 cars in November. Mercedes is now just 1,600 units away from leading the luxury category for the year. Car shoppers might keep an eye out for sweeter deals as the German titans race for the finish line.

Toyota Camry is still king

It's been a tough year for Toyota (and Honda, too) as the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in March severely crimped output from its plants.

But the Toyota Camry looks assured to be the best-selling car in the United States for a 10th consecutive year, in spite of a run by the Nissan Altima. With one month to go, the Camry leads the Altima by 32,000 cars. It would take zero Camry sales and a Herculean effort by Nissan to overcome that gap.

The gap between the Altima and the No. 3 Honda Accord is closer, only 8,368 cars. And the No. 4 Ford Fusion is just 8,192 sales behind the Accord. Again, there could be deals for car shoppers as these carmakers jockey for a strong finish to the year.

Buyers load up on pickups

November was a strong month for sales of full-size pickups, and 2011 will be a good year for the segment.

In November, sales of the Ford F-series were up 24 percent, the Chevy Silverado was up 34 percent, the GMC Sierra was up 22 percent and the Ram truck was up 8 percent.

In the fiercely competitive segment, there might have been some help from incentives. General Motors has held big stockpiles of trucks for much of the year.

The Ford F-series is on track to keep its crown as the top-selling truck for another year. With one month to go, sales of Ford's truck totaled 516,639 units.

By Julie Alvin