Sales of new cars and trucks in August were higher than many pundits expected. The naysayers expected the gloomy economic news and the hurricane to impact sales. Overall sales of cars and trucks were up by over 7 percent compared to August last year.
The increase in sales was driven mostly by GM and Chrysler. However, despite the cost of gasoline most of the sales increases were for trucks and SUVs.
Sales of import nameplates were down but it was almost entirely due to a decline in sales reported by Honda and Toyota. Nissan continued to buck the trend of its bigger brothers by reporting another increase in sales.
The Nissan Altima is the second best selling car so far this year, behind the Toyota Camry, which despite a model changeover has managed to hold its lead. Last year the Altima was only the fifth best selling car. Sales of the Chevrolet Cruze continue to be impressive as it has been the best selling compact car now for the past four months.
One month’s sales are not necessarily significant, but they do show a trend with former top sellers, like the Toyota Corolla and Honda Accord, losing steam as the year progresses. The Honda Civic, the fourth best seller last year, fell out of the top ten in August as it goes through a model changeover. It’s actually lying in eighth place for the year to date. Likewise the Ford Focus, which is in tenth place for year-to-date sales, did not do as well as expected in August due to a shortage of cars caused by problems at its factory.
Rank Sales Rank Sales
Aug Model Aug YTD YTD
1 Toyota Camry 30,185 1 204,670
2 Nissan Altima 23,016 2 176,198
3 Chevrolet Cruze 21,807 4 169,427
4 Hyundai Sonata 20,682 9 149,729
5 Honda Accord 18,439 6 162,375
6 Ford Fusion 17,925 5 168,929
7 Chevrolet Malibu 17,840 7 160,152
8 Toyota Corolla 16,420 3 170,744
9 Hyundai Elantra 15,054 12 122,092
10 Volkswagen Jetta 14,500 13 121,965
With another four months of sales for 2011 it’s a sure bet that the Camry will still be the best selling car in the US. Which car, though, will take second place? Judging by the sales trends of the past few months it looks as if it’ll be tough for the Accord to retain second place, a spot it has enjoyed for several years. I bet Toyota will really pump up sales of the Corolla now production is back on stream to give the Altima a run for its money during the remainder of the year.
Related posts:
- Chevrolet Malibu Top Selling Car in May
- Shift Toward Smaller Cars Continues to Grow
- Quick Drive: 2012 Volkswagen Passat
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