Honda, long a fixture in the upper reaches of rolling YTD sales charts, has been well and properly knocked off its pedestal by now, with its best-seller, the Accord, just barely making it into the top ten at number nine. Civic came in at 11th, while CR-V was 14th. And Honda’s not the only long-reigning volume champ that’son its way down: compared to last year, Toyota’s Corolla and Camry have shed about eight percent of their volume, and right below them the Altima and Fusion are both growing at around 17.5%. By the end of this month, Toyota could easily have only one vehicle in the top five (and could even be knocked out altogether), Honda could be completely out of the top ten, and Ford, Chevy and Nissan could be dominating the upper reaches of our YTD chart. Ch-ch-ch-changes…
[UPDATE: Old Codger-friendly version in gallery below]
I have to wonder if part of the problem with Honda and Toyota is that both the Accord and Camry are getting a little long in the tooth and are due for a complete redesign. Is there any word on the street as to when Honda will be redesigning the Accord? I’d be curious to see what they can cook up.
2013 model year is the next new Accord.
I think a lot of the issue for Honda and Toyota is the lost volume. I know Honda was running half volume from the tsunami until about end of July. Their total volume forecasts for the year are about the same as before the tsunami, Honda will be making up the lost volume from here on out. I would say the year end results may look a little different…
Camry intros a all new redesign aug 23.
Be stunned and amazed …
http://www.caranddriver.com/news/spied/11q3/2012_toyota_camry_camry_hybrid_spy_photos-future_cars
It looks better in person.
Pictures for the Camry (linked by th009) appear to me to be a cross between a stretched Corolla and a VW Jetta/Passat. Not exactly exciting, but I guess that’s what Camry owners want. Makes the Kia Optima look almost Jag-like…
On thing about these “redesigns” is that they do not always work. Also, look at the Ford Escape. How old is that thing?
Yea, I didn’t know they were selling that well. Guess folks still like the truck part of this suv
Problem? Sure, Honda might be having issues with the Accord and Civic, but despite the “blah” nature of the Camry and Corolla, Toyota seems to be doing quite well with both of them. Maybe that’s why when I was in the parking lot of a rather large store the other day, in one row of 35 or so cars, I counted 12 Camry models of varying years.
Things are really looking up for Chrysler! At least the Ram made the list…
Actually they are. The Ram has always been the sales leader for Mopar. The minivans are right behind the top 25 with 63,455 for the Caravan, which up 10% from year-ago and 52,711 for the Town & Country. If you put them together (they are badge engineered rather than platform shared) the total is 116,166 which would place them 16th on the list. The Honda Odyssey in case you are wondering has 59,300 units sold. If it weren’t for the Dodge Journey which replaced the short wheel based Caravan in the lineup the sales number would be higher.
We’ll see when the supply situation improves from Japan if T&H can come back, or if the customers who bought a competitor’s product will be happy and that’ll be that.
An interesting thing is happening in Canada. Toyota and Honda are free-falling, and have been since the ’08-’09 recession. Hyundai is ascendant, handily outselling Honda and nipping at the heels of Toyota.
Ford is solidifying their lead, while Chrysler is handing out a lot of deals… and we really like our Caravans up here.
The Hyundai Sonata is an amazing value for the money. During a recent trip to Southern California, luck of the draw got me a normally-aspirated 4-cyl-automatic 2011 Sonata rental with 400 miles on the odometer out of Lindbergh Field in San Diego.
I drove it east on I-8 and then north on I-15 to Temecula and was impressed with the ride and handling. The Sonata easily kept up with traffic and had plenty of power to spare for passing and high-speed cruising (75mph).
That’s incredible for a car that stickers and retails for around $20K. To get the same from Toyondasan you’d have to pay at least four grand more.
On the way back I didn’t check mileage or how much gas it needed. I just turned it in at the rental return and let them fill it up and complete the paperwork. I was very satisfied with how the Sonata had performed for me. Just as good as any Toyondasan of the same trim level, at a lower price, and with a better warranty.
Any way you look at it, this is not accurate as far as sales history goes, due to the Japan earthquake and subsequent tsunami. Maybe next year will be a better test.
It certainly would be nice if this were indicative of the (finally!) ascension of the American auto industry once again!
Agreed. The Detroit 3 have all stepped up their game, but this year is the very definition of anomalous.
Interesting how the poster child for dramatic rebirth followed by slow but steady improvement is settling comfortably into its place in the top ten. I’m referring to the Nissan Altima, which ten years ago had hardly any brand equity thanks to being a minor player in the midsize segment with no V6 and not enough interior room. Its 2002 reinvention gave it a fighting chance for the first time, and now look where it is. There must be a lesson or two in there somewhere, at the very least about holding onto an old name even after a thorough remake.
I’m not sure what the lesson is from the Altima. It’s a decent enough midsizer, but I think much of its success owes to:
1. calamity at its two largest rivals
2. discount pricing
3. fleet sales
I’ve mentioned it here before, but I believe it bears repeating. My state (New Mexico) replaced many state employee cars with Nissan Altima 3.5V6 equipped cars. You read that right. They replaced many Ford Focus and Chrysler Sebrings with high performance Altimas. Those employees must have thought they won the lottery! From 4cyl to a 6cyl capable of smoking the front tires with the t/c off.
The one that surprises me: the Kia Sorento. It’s a Hyundai Santa Fe restyled to resemble a first-gen Acura MDX, on a platform that’s quite dated at this point, yet it’s outselling the Santa Fe and nearly every other three-row crossover.
Your comment about the Sorento looking vaguely like an MDX makes me feel a little less stupid because I’ve gotten these confused multiple times from several carlengths behind.
Also, oddly enough I’ve figured out the only way I can tell a new Sorento from a Sportage, when looking at the front, is to figure out which has the bigger grille (the Sportage has a huge grille, to my eyes).
I think I saw an ad in Sunday’s paper for Sorentos at $18K. Whatever they are trading at, it is low compared to rivals.
I presume this includes fleet sales. I’m yet to see a Cruze without a rental car sticker on it, I’ve actually seen more Volts in private ownership.
Where do you live? 147k units can’t all be to fleet. The Cruze sells like hotcakes. While the fleet percentage I don’t believe is posted anywhere officially, the vast majority of they are going to retail buyers.
The Cruze looks nice but it is not that great of a car – actually quite a disappointment compared how well the Malibu was an improvement over its older model. The Cruze’s engine is just lackluster and the 1.4 turbo is just adequate. The various Cruze’s I’ve had as rentals would only get high 20’s with a 50/50 mix of city / highway.
I have yet to get a Cruze rental. Focus SE, on the other hand, is quite popular at National (both hatchbacks and sedans abound).
@jaje
The engines are both more than adequate. I have driven both. For this size of car, they are just fine. My dad owns one and averages 32mpg with his mix of 50/50 city /highway. He has a 1.4L Turbo with an automatic.
While the hp/tq numbers don’t seem to be high, and they aren’t, they power comes so quickly that they are quick enough off the line for the people who will buy them. These engines aren’t intended to compete with a Civic Si or anything.
Fleet sales are not what they once were. The rental companies have to actually BUY thier cars now. Sure, they get a discount, but it is not like the bad old days when Hertz, Avis and National were actually owned by the big three and served as garbage dumps.
I think at this point, TCO is the over-riding concern of the rental industry. They are keeping cars MUCH longer, so are looking at reliabilty and resale value JUST as much as what they can buy cheaply.
Most of the rentals I got over the past three years were foreign brands. For me it’s just luck of the draw. I don’t ask for a specific size or class, just take what they have available when I get there. One place even rented me an F150 when they ran out of sedans.
Best rentals I had were a Mazda5, a Mazda3, a Hyundai Elantra and a Hyundai Sonata. The Toyota, Honda and Nissan rentals just weren’t up to par to the Mazda and Hyundai rentals. The Malibu and the Dodge sedans just didn’t ride well and were not fun to drive when I was tired, fighting traffic on the way back to the airport. The Aveo was the worst!
My vote for best rentals goes to Mazda and Hyundai. Whoever decided to buy those cars for the rental company…. did good!
Not here (NH). I have a Cruze, and the local dealer has been turning his very quickly. The engine is not torquey at all, but I’ve been averaging just under 39mpg with my manual Eco, which makes up for a lot. (If I want torque, I’ll drive my GTO!)
With gas climbing to $4 we have roughly 2.2 million cars and 932k trucks. That is a healthy trend. (I counted the Escape and the RAV4 with the cars.)
the Rav4 and Escape ARE cars. Tall cars.
I can’t believe how well the Escape continues to do. The design is what a decade and a few years old? I think Ford is making a mistake getting rid of it right now. Why not continue it for a few years alongside the Kuga? There’s no guarantee that someone who would have bought an Escape will automatically buy a Kuga. I think people buying Escapes like the truck-like styling or the space inside it, or at worst believe it actually is a truck because it has square corners.
Either way – I dont see why Ford wants to kill a very successful vehicle like this aside from hoping to bump Kuga sales upward, which doesnt seem like sound reasoning to me. But that could just be me.
Ford isn’t replacing the Escape with the Kuga, it’s replacing both the Escape and the Kuga with a new CUV(Previewed by the Vertrek concept shown back in January in Detroit). Considering the sales success of the Escape, it wouldn’t surprise me if they continue with the Escape name in the US (and the Kuga name in Europe, although I don’t know how will that CUV does, it doesn’t really get a lot of press…).
Anyways it is no surprise that the Escape continues to sell well. Its affordable, generally efficient, and as you said a lot of people actually think that it a real SUV (due to its styling). Ford has also been fairly good at keeping it updated in terms of content, it really hasn’t been languishing around. Plus I’m pretty sure it is the most efficient hybrid SUV/CUV on the market.
The current Escape can trace it’s roots back a while, but it has been heavily revised recently. The body and interior were redone in ’08, along with suspension and handling upgrades, and in ’09 it got major engine and transmission upgrades.
sorry about the Vertek/Kugo confusion … i thought i read somewhere they were going to axe the escape in favor of something more modern looking.
So, are they? Will the Escape be around as a new car (with psuedo boxy trucky styling) next year or in a couple years? I was under the impression that Ford was planning on cutting it and now I am under the impression that the car’s sales are better than anticipated.
Hopefully someone from Honda reads the message boards. Lesson learned – mediocre products with awful styling does not sell. I wonder when people will start getting fired / forced retirement in the Executive ranks as Honda has been doing a terrible job the last 10 years. Can we get a passionate, brilliant Engineer who still has is not blind to run this company again and crack the whip?
They made the Accord bigger to fight Camry. Camry is on top, Accord is in the doghouse.
How does it feel to be beat by Chevy Cruz?
Come on, Honda, wake up!
I wish that were true, but the Corolla and Camry continue to do well!
I think we also have to realize that Honda was caught out by the tsunami worse than Toyota or Nissan supposedly. Recent reports noted that Honda thought they’d weather storm but some microchips were backlogged significantly at a plant in Japan that it literally sapped Honda’s production capabilities. I find it surprising since Honda typically has a very good view and flexibility in their production chain but were caught out by this and even stated they would weather the storm better than their home country rivals.
> Can we get a passionate, brilliant Engineer who still has is not blind to run this company again and crack the whip?
Certainly part of the Honda mythology, like the group of engineers that kept working on the v-12 F-1 car after they pulled out in the 90’s. But Soichiro also had a philosophy of “letting the engineers work in the attic, but giving them a ladder to come down with”… in other words, it all comes back to sales.
Not really a comment but a request. Old codgers like me have trouble reading black lettering against a red background. Would you consider changing the letters to white or the background to a lighter color and/or shade?
Much appreciated.
Jake
@Jake
Click directly on the graph then blow it up to 200%
Hooray for the old-codger update!
I concur, old boy.
Nothing to read.
Toyota and Honda are king of retail sales. Since Toyota and Honda have so few cars to sell because of the earthquake, Toyota and Honda buyers have to keep their power dry and wait.
Detroit is king of rental and fleet sales. But, some midwest union types buy Detroit cars because they have a hate for Toyota and Honda.
Been to a rental lot recently and noticed all the Toyotas hanging around there?
Will the new Passat reach the sales levels of the Jetta and take a bite out of the midsized sedan numbers?
I actually want to see the lower volume numbers since I’m really curious about how well the overpriced Lexus CT200h is doing (saw a dark gray one on the street the other day, and it looks decent: more like one of those tricked-out, Japanese tuner cars, although not as extreme).