The all-new 2016 Honda Civic stormed out of the gate in January, topping all other compact cars in January sales while also being the monthly top-seller for the company, beating out perennial sales leaders Accord and CR-V.
The Civic beat out the second-place Toyota Corolla by over 4,000 sales and was the best-improved vehicle as well with a 43 percent increase over January 2015.
The new Civic is bigger and better in every way than its predecessor and was named North American Car of the Year at the Detroit auto show.
Nearly every other car on the list saw sales dip from 2015. The Dodge Dart had the biggest slip, down 42 percent from last year. Apart from the Civic, only the Buick Verano, with a three percent increase, and the aging Mitsubishi Lancer, with a 0.5 percent increase, avoided the drop.
Compact Car Sales – January 2016
| Jan 2016 # | Dec 2015 # | Jan ’16/Dec ’15 % | Jan 2016/2015 | YTD 2016 # | YTD 2016/2015 % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Honda Civic | 26,741 | 32,796 | -18.5% | 43.0% | 26,741 | 43.0% |
| Toyota Corolla | 22,362 | 32,445 | -31.1% | -18.3% | 22,362 | -18.3% |
| Nissan Sentra | 16,144 | 19,760 | -18.3% | 12.2% | 16,144 | 12.2% |
| Chevrolet Cruze | 14,362 | 16,849 | -14.8% | -23.2% | 14,362 | -23.2% |
| Ford Focus | 12,977 | 11,005 | 17.9% | -29.8% | 12,977 | -29.8% |
| Hyundai Elantra | 9,885 | 14,242 | -30.6% | -19.2% | 9,885 | -19.2% |
| VW Jetta | 8,177 | 14,073 | -41.9% | -8.8% | 8,177 | -8.8% |
| Mazda 3 | 7,551 | 9,838 | -23.2% | -4.4% | 7,551 | -4.4% |
| Kia Forte | 5,329 | 5,411 | -1.5% | -17.0% | 5,329 | -17.0% |
| Dodge Dart | 4,748 | 6,731 | -29.5% | -42.0% | 4,748 | -42.0% |
| Subaru Impreza | 4,382 | 6,059 | -27.7% | -14.0% | 4,382 | -14.0% |
| VW Golf | 3,993 | 5,715 | -30.1% | -4.9% | 3,993 | -4.9% |
| Buick Verano | 2,859 | 2,545 | 12.3% | 3.0% | 2,859 | 3.0% |
| Mitsubishi Lancer | 1,523 | 1,324 | 15.0% | 0.5% | 1,523 | 0.5% |
| Scion iM | 1,250 | 1,245 | 0.4% | NEW | 1,250 | NEW |
The Kia Soul and the Nissan Versa picked up where they left off in 2015, leading the subcompact car sales chart with a commanding lead over the rest of the field.
The Soul had a strong month with a nearly 13 percent sales increase over 2015. The Versa, while still selling strong enough to take second place, was down 24 percent over last year.
The third-place Hyundai Accent also had a strong month with a near-14 percent increase. The rest of the field was mostly down from 2015, the exceptions being the Chevrolet Sonic and two MINIs, the 4-door Hardtop and the all-new Clubman.
The Scion iA, which will wear a Toyota badge after 2016, continued to see month-over-month increases and was the best-selling Scion model. It also trounced its future sibling, the Toyota Yaris, selling at about a 3.5:1 ratio.
Subcompact Car Sales – January 2016
| Jan 2016 # | Dec 2015 # | Jan ’16/Dec ’15 % | Jan 2016/2015 | YTD 2016 # | YTD 2016/2015 % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kia Soul | 9,191 | 12,159 | -24.4% | 12.9% | 9,191 | 12.3% |
| Nissan Versa | 8,006 | 11,058 | -27.6% | -24.1% | 8,006 | -24.1% |
| Hyundai Accent | 5,050 | 2,718 | 85.8% | 13.8% | 5,050 | 13.8% |
| Chevrolet Sonic | 3,678 | 7,293 | -49.6% | 4.5% | 3,678 | 4.5% |
| Honda Fit | 3,095 | 4,197 | -26.3% | -46.7% | 3,095 | -46.7% |
| Ford Fiesta | 2,560 | 3,550 | -27.9% | -25.9% | 2,560 | -25.9% |
| Scion iA | 1,840 | 1,808 | 1.8% | NEW | 1,840 | NEW |
| Kia Rio | 1,430 | 997 | 43.4% | -9.0% | 1,430 | -9.0% |
| MINI Cooper 4-door | 1,232 | 1,247 | -1.2% | 82.5% | 1,232 | 82.5% |
| MINI Cooper 2-door | 1,216 | 956 | 27.2% | -18.6% | 1,216 | -18.6% |
| Fiat 500 | 1,207 | 1,501 | -19.6% | -49.0% | 1,207 | -49.0% |
| Chevrolet Spark | 1,121 | 1,340 | -16.3% | -64.6% | 1,121 | -64.6% |
| Mitsubishi Mirage | 963 | 1,262 | -23.7% | -43.5% | 963 | -43.5% |
| Toyota Yaris | 548 | 377 | 45.4% | -62.0% | 548 | -62.0% |
| Fiat 500L | 369 | 308 | 19.8% | -58.0% | 369 | -58.0% |
| MINI Clubman | 277 | 464 | -40.3% | 277.0% | 277 | 277.0% |
Check out this TFLcar MPG review of the segment-leading 2016 Honda Civic:
