A Snapshot Of January Sales: Honda Civic Is America's Third Best-Selling Car

Derek Kreindler
by Derek Kreindler

One month is far too premature to make any predictions about 2012’s sales race, but we still got our hands on the data, thanks to independent analyst Timothy Cain. As usual, the Ford F-Series and Toyota Camry were the top dogs.

The top 5 best-selling cars were the Camry, followed by the Nissan Altima and the critically panned Honda Civic. The Toyota Corolla and Chevrolet Impala rounded out the Top 5, though I’d bet my life on the vast majority of Impala sales being fleet-based (Cain claims that it’s impossible to get the data, but GM mysteriously stopped publishing it some time ago, once reports on the fleet/retail breakdowns were being published by analysts such as himself). Just missing the cut is the Chevrolet Cruze.

On the truck side (or shall we say, truck/utility) the F-Series, Chevrolet Silverado and Honda CR-V are atop the podium, followed by the Dodge Ram and the Ford Escape. The re-designed CR-V is evidently off to a strong start, and it will be interesting to see how buyers take to the 2013 Escape when it launches later this year.

Check out the full breakdown here

Derek Kreindler
Derek Kreindler

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  • Sector 5 Sector 5 on Feb 02, 2012

    Talking of people & size I'm a moderate 5' 11". I couldn't find enough headroom in the Civic. The rear was impossible with the moonroof. I wonder how many Americans are driving their new Civic with a Spiro Agnew neck crimp?

  • Joe_thousandaire Joe_thousandaire on Feb 03, 2012

    I saw a documentary on the hair band Motley Crue on VH1, they said back in the '80s they all decided to stop taking showers to see how bad they would have to stink before the groupies would stop wanting them. I think Honda is doing the same thing with their cars.

  • NormSV650 NormSV650 on Feb 03, 2012

    Honda in general is not doing well, worse in California where GM & Ford passed HMC up. http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120130/RETAIL01/120139987/1490

  • Silverkris Silverkris on Feb 03, 2012

    Confession: My wife traded in her 2000 Civic for a current 2012 model. I'll admit that the interior materials don't seem to be as nice as the old car, but it's offset by some very important features in the new car. First, it gets better fuel economy than the old one. The new car has LATCH for child safety seats - yes we have a kidlet, whereas the old one doesn't. The new car has a more powerful engine, so it has a bit more zip than the old 1.6 car, and it is quieter and smoother. Yeah, maybe the aficianados don't like it, but it works for my spouse.

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