There is no doubt that the main stream three-row crossover segment is the fastest growing in the United States right now. Just look at the table below. All but one of these large crossovers are showing monthly and year-over-year growth, and some are growing by huge bounds. The redesigned 2013 Nissan Pathfinder has more than tripled April sales over a year ago. And the 2013 Dodge Durango grew by 65% in April. No matter how you slice it, the 2013 Ford Explorer is still the king. The Explorer did not grow by a huge margin, but no other ute in this list can even come close to the 62,853 units that it sold so far in calendar 2013. KIA Sorento is struggling a bit. It’s been refreshed for the 2014 model year, but it will likely need a full redesign to regain momentum in this highly competitive segment.
| April 2013 # | April 2013 / 2012 % | YTD 2013 # | YTD 2013 / 2012 % | |
| 2013 Chevrolet Traverse | 8,405 | 8.4% | 34,817 | 18.3% |
| 2013 Dodge Durango | 5,386 | 65.0% | 18,956 | 33.0% |
| 2013 Ford Explorer | 14,204 | 5.8% | 62,853 | 33.6% |
| 2013 GMC Acadia | 6,681 | 9.8% | 28,503 | 22.7% |
| 2013 Honda Pilot | 10,613 | 20.2% | 38,839 | 13.7% |
| 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe * | 6,940 | 8.9% | 26,386 | 20.9% |
| 2013/2014 KIA Sorento | 8,909 | -7.8% | 34,864 | -2.1% |
| 2013 CX-9 | 1,694 | 11.2% | 10,685 | 41.5% |
| 2013 Nissan Pathfinder | 6,473 | 214.7% | 28,839 | 180.9% |
| 2013 Toyota HighLander | 9,793 | 4.7% | 39,321 | 11.1% |
* Hyundai Santa Fe numbers include the 5 passenger model.
If you think that the large body-on-frame SUV is dead, not so fast! Check this list of unexpected movers and shakers. These four have been redesigned in many years, yet most are enjoying a comfortable sales growth. Is this one of the signs of better economic times? Chevrolet can take their sweet time with the full redesign when their 6 year old Tahoe can still post a 54,9% month-over-month growth. Nonetheless, expect to see redesigns of these and other behemoth SUVs within the next year or two.
| April 2013 # | April 2013 / 2012 % | YTD 2013 # | YTD 2013 / 2012 % | |
| 2013 Chevrolet Tahoe | 9,052 | 54.9% | 25,824 | 31.2% |
| 2013 GMC Yukon XL | 2,752 | 131.6% | 7,817 | 61.6% |
| 2013 Lincoln Navigator | 680 | 26.6% | 2,507 | -5.5% |
| 2013 Toyota Sequoia | 962 | 9.1% | 4,346 | 5.7% |
Check out this snowy TFLcar video review of the 2013 Ford Explorer Sport:
Andre Smirnov is a life-long automotive enthusiast, software engineer, writer, and reporter. He has been writing and reporting at TFLcar since 2011. When not working or spending time with the family – you can find him tinkering in the garage or scouring the internet and other media for various automotive, mechanical, and computer related information.
