Top-20 best selling cars of August 2011

[ifcar]

Camry still at the top of passenger cars, along with Altima; other Japanese models are struggling. Full sales charts for the month and YTD at link:

http://www.examiner.com/cars-in-national/top-20-best-selling-cars-of-august-2011


And best-sellers by class are now available: http://www.examiner.com/cars-in-national/best-selling-cars-of-august-2011-by-class

[WookieOnRitalin]

By next month, GM will have sold more Cruzes than Toyota sold Matrix/Rollas. Talk about a swing.

[Atomic]

By next month, GM will have sold more Cruzes than Toyota sold Matrix/Rollas. Talk about a swing.

good to see chevy FINALLY having a competitive small car. will be interesting to see how things will heat up when toyota and honda rebound from low inventories (will post on this -- including an interesting article i will include in a 'spin post later today or over the weekend... currently at work). in a related story, toyota will be shipping 2012 camry's in mid-september opposed to in early october, as many '11 models were never produced, secondary to the earthquake and retooling factories to usher in the '12 model. so cool to see such strong competition from the big three 

[Atomic]

some additional information to one of the most diverse "TOP 20" in quite some time

AUGUST U.S. AUTO SALES: Chrysler, Nissan, GM Lead Industry to 8% Gain

- SAAR of 12.13 million slips from July

- GMC led GM brands with a 41 percent jump over August 2010.

BY: Dave Versical

FROM: Automotive News -- September 1, 2011 - 10:05 am ET/UPDATED: 9/1/11 4:40 pm ET

DETROIT -- Chrysler Group, Nissan North America and General Motors led the industry to an 8 percent U.S. sales gain in August.

The seasonally adjusted sales rate slipped to 12.13 million from July's 12.24 million as a stagnant economy, last week's U.S. hurricane and lingering vehicle shortages from the March earthquake in Japan took a toll.

"There is still a lot of pent-up demand," said Don Johnson, GM's vice president of U.S. sales operations. "Consumers are being cautious, but they are not out of the market. We think that will continue the rest of the year."

Chrysler Group, with a 28 percent rise, now has had increases of 20 percent or more in six of the year's first eight months. GM's 18 percent gain marked its biggest jump since April. Ford Motor Co. rose 11 percent.

Honda, Toyota effected most by earthquake, short supplies

American Honda plunged 24 percent and Toyota Motor sales fell 13 percent, as the companies continued to deal with vehicle shortages. Subaru, which has also been crimped by tight supplies, posted a 6 percent decline, its fourth straight monthly drop.

Nissan North America, which avoided much of the earthquake damage that hit its Japanese rivals, rose 19 percent and said things would have been better had it not been for Irene. Hyundai/Kia rose 16 percent, thanks to a 27 percent jump at Kia.

Analysts had said August, like the past few months, would fall short of the sales pace set at the start of the year. They cited a decline in consumer confidence and dimming prospects for strong economic growth. Hurricane Irene paralyzed most of the Eastern seaboard last weekend, leaving floods and power outages in its wake.

"There's no doubt the storm affected August auto sales, but for GM, it was only about a thousand units and those can be recouped in September," GM's Johnson said during a conference call today.

Nissan estimated that the storm had cost it about 3,300 sales for its mainstream and Infiniti brands because of the company's relatively heavy exposure to sales in the Northeast.

"The economic news never impacted me during the month. What did impact me was losing the last weekend on the Eastern Seaboard," said Al Castignetti, who heads Nissan brand sales in the United States.

Storm damage

Paul Taylor, chief economist at the National Automobile Dealers Association, estimated the storm and its aftermath trimmed sales by 10 percent in the 10 states hit hardest by Irene. That translates into a 3 percent reduction in overall U.S. demand, he said.

GMC led GM brands with a 41 percent jump over August 2010. Chevrolet rose 16 percent and Buick was up 12 percent. Cadillac was up 4 percent after three consecutive monthly declines.

GM said the Chevrolet Cruze topped 20,000 sales for the fifth straight month. The new entry was helped by lingering shortages of small cars at Toyota and Honda.

Jeep climbs

Chrysler continued to benefit from the performance of its Jeep brand, which was up 58 percent in August and is up 50 percent for the year. Chrysler ran a no-payments-for-90-days promotion for some buyers of 2011 and 2012 Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge and Ram models during the month.

Ford-brand sales rose 16 percent. Lincoln, up 25 percent, jumped for the third straight month following six straight months of decline.

The automaker also said today that it has scheduled a 9 percent rise in North American production for the fourth quarter from year-earlier levels. Output through July was up 12 percent.

Prior to today's reports, August sales were projected to run at a 12.1 million seasonally adjusted annual rate, according to the average estimate of 14 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The pace averaged above 13 million through April of this year and dropped below 12 million in May and June before rising to July's 12.24 million.

[Payman]

I used to love Honda. I really did. But the last desirable model was the S2000, and the one promising model, the CR-Z, they fucked up royally. Sad, really.

[Madman]

I used to love Honda. I really did. But the last desirable model was the S2000, and the one promising model, the CR-Z, they fucked up royally. Sad, really.

Honda has completely lost the plot.  The new Civic is virtually indistinguishable from the old one, the Accord could be marketed as a cure for insomnia and the Crosstour it too horrible for words!  Only the Fit and CR-V have managed to retain any sort of cred.  Everything else in their model range is a lesson in second-rate mediocrity.

Having once worked at a Honda dealership, I think I can't pinpoint the moment things started to go wrong.  That moment was the introduction of the 1994 Accord.  Honda replaced a classically handsome sedan with something that looked like a bloated Civic.  The wagon and coupe were able to mask that bloatedness to a certain degree, but the sedan was an ungainly and ill-proportioned car.  Sadly, Honda's styling (and engineering) has gone further downhill since then.

[afty]

Why is the Altima selling so well now?  It never used to outsell the Accord, and it's about to be redesigned.  Are there a lot of incentives on it?

[ifcar]

Why is the Altima selling so well now?  It never used to outsell the Accord, and it's about to be redesigned.  Are there a lot of incentives on it?

I'm sure it's incentives in part; the other half is that the Accord sales have gone down so far.

[ifcar]

Honda has completely lost the plot.  The new Civic is virtually indistinguishable from the old one, the Accord could be marketed as a cure for insomnia and the Crosstour it too horrible for words!  Only the Fit and CR-V have managed to retain any sort of cred.  Everything else in their model range is a lesson in second-rate mediocrity.

Having once worked at a Honda dealership, I think I can't pinpoint the moment things started to go wrong.  That moment was the introduction of the 1994 Accord.  Honda replaced a classically handsome sedan with something that looked like a bloated Civic.  The wagon and coupe were able to mask that bloatedness to a certain degree, but the sedan was an ungainly and ill-proportioned car.  Sadly, Honda's styling (and engineering) has gone further downhill since then.

I think you're going in a little too early. 1994 was still Honda's upward trajectory, when the Taurus and Escort or Cavalier rather than a Japanese car were the best-sellers. I'd put its peak at 1999-2000, before the downgraded 2001 Civic and then the rattly, tiny-trunked, droopy-reared 2003 Accord, and when the Odyssey began to take over the minivan market, and before the CR-V had much real competition.

And in today's lineup, I'd put the Odyssey before the CR-V. It's a class standout in vans; the CR-V is no class standout among SUVs. Agreed on the Fit, though; it's a classic Honda.

[Madman]

The 2001 Civic was definitely a step backwards but the 2003 Accord was hideous beyond belief.  The bosses at Honda must have been totally convinced people would still buy this garbage anyway, just because it had an "H" on the grille.  Sadly, to a large extent, they were right!

I'm sure the newer Odysseys go down well with people who want a massive bus but I just can't get that exited about them.  I think the Chrysler Town & Country and Kia Sedona are much more attractive mommymobiles.  I really wish Honda still made a smaller, more car-like minivan like my '97.  Mine can probably carry 90 per cent of what today's Greyhound-sized Odysseys can but it still feels like a normal car when you drive it.

But I still say the 1994 Accord was where the rot began.  The wagon and coupe looked okay, but the sedan was not pretty at all.  It looked like the designers took a photo of the then-current Civic and stuck it into a photocopier and pressed the "increase 20 per cent" button.  Except the paper jammed on the way out and the resulting deformed copy became the blueprint for the '94 Accord.  After the elegant 1990-93 model, the 1994 was a shock to the eyes.

[ifcar]

It sounds like you're counting Honda's successful move into the mainstream as "rot," which I'd disagree with (as would they, I imagine). Where they started to fall apart was later, when they were mainstream and then weren't doing even that as well as competitors. "Garbage" is too extreme, though, even for its weakest current product.

And according to the specs, FYI, the first-generation Odyssey holds more like 65 percent of what a 2011 does. Still better than I expected, though, considering the size difference.

[Atomic]

Why is the Altima selling so well now?  It never used to outsell the Accord, and it's about to be redesigned.  Are there a lot of incentives on it?

a few reasons, i.e., incentives... other possible factors:

- severe shortages at honda, toyota, subaru
- costs less then the sexy maxima and near luxury/luxury infiniti models at far lower prices
- it looks hot, yet not as "swoopy" as newer kia and hyundai models
- less conservative in appearance that honda accord and camry models
- the vw passat may not be what people wanted or expected + they are just arriving at dealers
- most importantly, they are great cars -- rated highly by CR (some shoppers use this bias source)
- 2012 altima's arrived early in the model year
- there is a sedan AND coupe, unlike with the camry, sonata, legacy, optima

[ifcar]

"- the vw passat may not be what people wanted or expected + they are just arriving at dealers"

The only ones shipped to dealers in August were not-for-sale demos, at least according to a salesperson I spoke to Wednesday.

[Atomic]

"- the vw passat may not be what people wanted or expected + they are just arriving at dealers"

The only ones shipped to dealers in August were not-for-sale demos, at least according to a salesperson I spoke to Wednesday.

in fact, that's all that i have seen... now that you mentioned it. i read where a sunroof is standard across the board except on "pre-production" models and 1 of the 2 at our dealership is without a sun/moonroof.

[ifcar]

Best-sellers by class:

Subcompact cars: Nissan Versa
Compact cars: Chevrolet Cruze
Midsize cars: Toyota Camry
Large cars: Chevrolet Impala
Entry-luxury cars: BMW 3-Series
Luxury cars: Mercedes-Benz E-Class
Compact SUVs: Ford Escape
Midsize SUVs: Chevrolet Equinox
Large SUVs: Chevrolet Traverse
Entry-luxury SUVs: Lexus RX
Luxury SUVs: Mercedes-Benz GL
Vans: Dodge Grand Caravan
Pickups: Ford F-Series

Top-10 sales charts for each class: http://www.examiner.com/cars-in-national/best-selling-cars-of-august-2011-by-class