Honda’s all new Civic may have lost out to the Toyota Camry as the best selling car in the land, but it continued to increase its sales lead in the compact car segment despite a strong challenge from the Camry’s brother, the Corolla.
Civic sales were up a healthy 2.7 percent for the month, no small feat as there were fewer sales days this May than there were in 2015. For the year, sales are up 22 percent.
Only two other cars saw sales gains for the month. The Kia Forte’s sales were up 15.4 percent, while the Subaru Impreza’s sales were up 5.1 percent.
The Corolla may have increased its sales from April to challenge the Civic’s lead, but its sales were still down 5.2 percent from May of 2015. For the year, sales are also down 5.2 percent, and the Corolla trails the Civic by nearly 7,000 cars.
The Hyundai Elantra leapt over three cars to take the bronze medal position. Sales may be down for the month by more than five percent and for the year by nearly 28 percent, but month-over-month, no car was better than the Elantra.
On the other end of the spectrum, the Dodge Dart sales continue to fall, down 48 percent for the month and 39 percent for the year. The Dart has been all but abandoned by Fiat-Chrysler as they make room to manufacture more crossovers and SUVs.
The Chevrolet Cruze is giving the Dart a run for its money in the biggest loser race, down almost 30 percent for the month and more than 35 percent for the year. However, since the new model has been released, monthly sales have gone up, so all is not lost for Chevy in the compact car market.
Compact Car Sales – May 2016
May 2016 # | Apr 2016 # | May ’16/Apr ’16 % | May 2016/2015 | YTD 2016 # | YTD 2016/2015 % | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Honda Civic | 35,396 | 35,331 | 0.2% | 2.7% | 158,030 | 22.0% |
Toyota Corolla | 34,872 | 32,111 | 8.6% | -5.2% | 151,243 | -5.2% |
Hyundai Elantra | 22,168 | 12,361 | 79.3% | -5.4% | 73,892 | -27.6% |
Nissan Sentra | 20,204 | 19,145 | 5.5% | -2.0% | 102,293 | 15.3% |
Ford Focus | 17,455 | 15,983 | 9.2% | -27.1% | 83,653 | -12.0% |
Chevrolet Cruze | 16,671 | 14,153 | 17.8% | -29.8% | 68,065 | -35.4% |
VW Jetta | 10,945 | 10,694 | 2.3% | -15.0% | 49,662 | -11.2% |
Mazda 3 | 10,127 | 10,772 | -6.0% | -1.8% | 42,982 | -5.8% |
Kia Forte | 9,910 | 9,740 | 1.7% | 15.4% | 43,572 | 23.5% |
Subaru Impreza | 5,928 | 4,836 | 22.6% | 5.1% | 24,771 | -5.6% |
Dodge Dart | 4,514 | 4,392 | 2.8% | -48.0% | 25,774 | -39.0% |
VW Golf | 4,475 | 5,108 | -12.4% | -29.1% | 21,716 | -11.6% |
Subaru WRX | 2,327 | 3,096 | -24.8% | -19.6% | 12,876 | 0.1% |
Buick Verano | 2,070 | 2,399 | -13.7% | -36.2% | 12,694 | -16.9% |
Scion iM | 1,743 | 1,542 | 13.0% | NEW | 7,511 | NEW |
Mitsubishi Lancer | 929 | 1,023 | -9.2% | -36.5% | 7,406 | -20.9% |
Check out this TFLcar video review of the all-new 2016 Chevy Cruze: