The Toyota RAV4 weathered a strong month from the Honda CR-V to take the compact crossover sales crown for February, while the Jeep Renegade leaped ahead of the Subaru Crosstrek in subcompact crossover sales.
The RAV4 had a strong month across the board, with an 18 percent increase over February 2015 and a 12 percent increase for the year. It beat out the CR-V by less than 300 sales, as the Honda bounced back from a disappointing January with a year-over-year increase of more than 30 percent.
CR-V sales are still slightly down for the year thanks to its weak January showing, with a two percent drop over 2015. Only the GM twins – the Chevrolet Equinox and the GMC Terrain – join the CR-V with an overall sales drop from last year.
Ford’s Escape also had a strong month to take third place, while last month’s second-place winner, the Nissan Rogue, dropped to fourth.
Jeep’s evergreen Patriot and Compass continue to sell well despite their aging platform. The Patriot’s sales are up 28 percent for the month and six percent for the year, while the Compass is hovering around a 40 percent increase for both the month and the year.
Hyundai’s all-new Tucson is stomping all over the previous-generation’s sales, with increases of 89 percent for the month and 82 percent for the year.
Compact Crossover Sales
| Feb 2016 # | Jan 2016 # | Feb ’16/Jan ’16 % | Feb 2016/2015 | YTD 2016 # | YTD 2016/2015 % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toyota RAV4 | 25,523 | 21,554 | 18.4% | 16.3% | 47,077 | 12.7% |
| Honda CR-V | 25,250 | 19,208 | 31.5% | 13.2% | 44,458 | -2.3% |
| Ford Escape | 23,854 | 19,219 | 24.1% | 14.1% | 43,073 | 5.1% |
| Nissan Rogue | 21,561 | 19,762 | 9.1% | 0.7% | 41,323 | 11.5% |
| Chevrolet Equinox | 19,825 | 18,574 | 6.7% | -8.7% | 38,399 | -7.0% |
| Jeep Cherokee | 15,017 | 15,347 | -2.2% | 7.0% | 30,364 | 4.0% |
| Subaru Forester | 12,239 | 11,904 | 2.8% | 6.8% | 24,143 | 6.5% |
| Jeep Patriot | 10,637 | 8,273 | 28.6% | 3.0% | 18,910 | 6.0% |
| GMC Terrain | 8,232 | 8,835 | -6.8% | -24.2% | 17,067 | -13.4% |
| Dodge Journey | 7,979 | 8,456 | -5.6% | 3.0% | 16,435 | 11.0% |
| Mazda CX-5 | 7,579 | 7,063 | 7.3% | 1.8% | 14,642 | 9.3% |
| Hyundai Tucson | 7,336 | 5,218 | 40.6% | 89.6% | 12,554 | 81.8% |
| Jeep Compass | 7,203 | 5,089 | 41.5% | 54.0% | 12,292 | 37.0% |
| Kia Sportage | 5,860 | 4,803 | 22.0% | 72.0% | 10,663 | 65.0% |
| VW Tiguan | 3,245 | 2,528 | 28.4% | 78.4% | 5,773 | 75.4% |
| Mitsubishi Outlander | 2,121 | 1,543 | 37.5% | 80.5% | 14,134 | 0.8% |
Over in the subcompact crossover market segment, the successful Renegade leaped ahead of the Crosstrek to lead for the month and the year.
The Renegade is too new to compare to 2015, but the Crosstrek’s sales were slightly off for the month and are down slightly for the year.
Buick’s surprise hit, the Encore, took third and outclassed its sister car, the Chevrolet Trax, even though the Trax outpaced it in percentage increase.
Sandwiched between the GM siblings is the Honda HR-V, which had a strong month but, like the Renegade, it’s too new to compare to 2015.
Subcompact Crossover Sales
| Feb 2016 # | Jan 2016 # | Feb ’16/Jan ’16 % | Feb 2016/2015 | YTD 2016 # | YTD 2016/2015 % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeep Renegade | 6,757 | 6,362 | 6.2% | NEW | 13,119 | NEW |
| Subaru XV Crosstrek | 6,129 | 6,448 | -4.9% | -4.3% | 12,577 | -2.7% |
| Buick Encore | 5,873 | 4,920 | 19.4% | 19.3% | 10,793 | 28.7% |
| Honda HR-V | 4,940 | 4,177 | 18.3% | NEW | 9,117 | NEW |
| Chevrolet Trax | 4,814 | 3,746 | 28.5% | 26.0% | 8,560 | 51.2% |
| Mitsubishi Outlander Sport | 2,591 | 2,233 | 16.0% | 8.2% | 4,824 | 3.5% |
| Nissan Juke | 1,863 | 1,510 | 23.4% | -14.7% | 3,373 | -19.4% |
| Mazda CX-3 | 1,793 | 1,375 | 30.4% | NEW | 3,168 | NEW |
| Fiat 500X | 1,547 | 1,018 | 52.0% | NEW | 2,565 | NEW |
| MINI Countryman | 581 | 504 | 15.3% | -38.1% | 1,085 | -35.5% |
Check out this TFLcar video for everything you want to know about the 2016 Toyota RAV4:
