For the first time in recent memory, the best-selling car in the land isn’t a car, but a crossover.
The Honda CR-V has been battling the Toyota RAV4 all year long for compact crossover sales supremacy, but following a record July, it not only beat its rival, but it beat all others for the month.
More than 36,000 CR-Vs left dealer lots in July, a 13 percent monthly gain over July 2015. It lead the second-place Nissan Rogue by nearly 3,000 sales and also beat out the Toyota Camry by nearly 2,000 sales to make it the best-selling non-pickup.
The Rogue had a strong month with a near-33 percent increase over 2015. The RAV4, despite its third-place finish, also had a strong month with a 19 percent increase, and it held onto the overall lead by 2,700 over the CR-V.
Sales were strong in the segment across the board. The Korean siblings – the Hyundai Tucson and the Kia Sportage – both had high gains over 2015, with the Tucson nearly doubling its sales, both for the month and the year.
The Dodge Journey is finally succumbing to parent Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ plan to either radically change, or potentially kill off, the Dodge brand. The usual strong seller had the biggest drop for the month with a 31 percent decrease. Staying in the FCA family, the Jeep Cherokee, one of the strongest sellers last year, was down 12 percent, and now sits behind both the Wrangler and the Grand Cherokee for yearly brand sales.
Compact Crossover Sales – July 2015
| July 2016 # | June 2016 # | July ’16/June ’16 % | June 2016/2015 | YTD 2016 # | YTD 2016/2015 % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Honda CR-V | 36,017 | 29,615 | 21.6% | 13.3% | 195,092 | 0.1% |
| Nissan Rogue | 33,298 | 29,246 | 13.9% | 32.8% | 182,181 | 13.5% |
| Toyota RAV4 | 31,871 | 27,365 | 16.5% | 19.3% | 197,771 | 16.1% |
| Ford Escape | 26,260 | 29,003 | -9.5% | -10.2% | 181,638 | 3.4% |
| Chevrolet Equinox | 21,882 | 19,582 | 11.7% | 1.3% | 143,202 | -14.4% |
| Jeep Cherokee | 15,451 | 16,243 | -4.9% | -12.0% | 116,424 | -5.0% |
| Subaru Forester | 14,856 | 12,029 | 23.5% | -6.0% | 95,111 | -1.6% |
| Jeep Patriot | 11,288 | 12,050 | -6.3% | 11.0% | 71,926 | 3.0% |
| Mazda CX-5 | 10,831 | 9,227 | 17.4% | 13.7% | 62,442 | -0.7% |
| GMC Terrain | 9,375 | 8,062 | 16.3% | 6.4% | 56,252 | -11.0% |
| Kia Sportage | 8,111 | 8,549 | -5.1% | 53.3% | 50,340 | 72.1% |
| Hyundai Tucson | 7,728 | 7,193 | 7.4% | 97.7% | 50,392 | 90.0% |
| Jeep Compass | 7,005 | 8,840 | -20.8% | 31.0% | 57,565 | 72.0% |
| Dodge Journey | 6,376 | 9,785 | -34.8% | -31.0% | 54,051 | -13.0% |
| VW Tiguan | 3,379 | 3,066 | 10.2% | 40.4% | 23,935 | 48.4% |
| Mitsubishi Outlander | 1,952 | 1,991 | -2.0% | 10.3% | 15,428 | 67.2% |
Check out this TFLcar video of the strong-selling 2016 Hyundai Tucson:
