America's 10 Best-Selling Cars In July 2014

Timothy Cain
by Timothy Cain

In the prelude to the introduction of Toyota’s revamped 2015 Camry, the current Camry has been selling at a prodigious rate. July 2014 marked the fifth consecutive month that the Camry has been America’s best-selling car; the tenth such month in the last year.

During these last five months, Toyota has averaged 42,000 Camry sales per month, up 17% compared with the average monthly sales output from the same period one year ago.

Although not the most relevant figure when analyzing passenger car volume, the fight in which the Camry is currently participating doesn’t involve the second-ranked Honda Accord, so clear is its number one status. It has quickly become a foregone conclusion that the Camry will end 2014 as America’s best-selling car: the Accord would need to outsell the Camry by nearly 8400 units per month in each of the calendar’s remaining five months to make up the deficit.

Instead, the Camry is tangling with the Chevrolet Silverado to end 2014 as America’s second-best-selling vehicle line overall. The Camry is currently 20,453 sales back of the Chevy pickup. On a monthly basis, the Camry last outsold the Silverado in May. On a yearly basis, the Camry most recently outsold the Silverado in 2009.

RankAutoJuly 2014July 2013% Change7 mos.20147 mos. 2013%Change Camry39,86834,76214.7%262,323242,2448.3% Accord35,07331,50711.3%220,351218,3670.9% Corolla/Matrix30,83323,35732.0%205,122181,98212.7% Civic30,03832,416-7.3%197,135191,1203.1% Altima26,65429,534-9.8%203,107197,3212.9% Fusion23,94220,52216.7%189,440181,6684.3% Sonata22,57718,90319.4%128,924121,9135.8% Elantra22,21323,958-7.3%134,710150,202-10.3% Cruze20,92625,447-17.8%166,264159,1364.5% Focus17,72416,7645.7%138,680151,549-8.5%

Most assuredly, the Chevrolet Malibu is not the top GM rival for the leading Toyota. The Malibu was America’s 16th-best-selling car in an improved July, but sales are down 5% this year after falling 5% (from 2012’s 210,951-unit peak) in 2013.

Chevrolet’s Cruze, on the other hand, has made its way to the top of the passenger car leaderboard in the relatively recent past, if June 2011, can be called recent. (The Malibu was America’s best-selling car in May 2011.) The Cruze ranked second behind the Camry in June of last year. Cruze volume jumped 3% in 2012, 4% in 2013, and sales had risen 18% through the first five months of 2014. Cruze sales then plunged 21% in June.

The Cruze joined three other members of this top ten list – Civic, Altima, Elantra – in recording year-over-year decreases last month. Of those four cars, only one, the Elantra, has recorded a year-over-year decline through the first seven months of 2014. Cruze sales are up by 7128 units so far this year, but maintaining growth has clearly proven difficult over the last two months, what with stop-sale orders and all.

Four different passenger car nameplates generated more than 30,000 July sales, up from three in July 2013 and zero in July 2012. These figures speak to the recent growth in the overall passenger car market, which grew 5% in July.

Overall “light truck” volume was up 14%.

Timothy Cain
Timothy Cain

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  • Mechaman Mechaman on Aug 03, 2014

    I just can't believe that the Altima is outselling ANYTHING. I see one, I recall the old 'RAID!!' insecticide commercials. Oh, it's reliable, so you get to live with the ugly a long time? And this years Camry, I think, will be admired for a long time for its' looks .. this is the first year that I've liked to see one. The monstrosity to come? Not so much at all ...

  • VW4motion VW4motion on Aug 04, 2014

    I know the Camry is middle age winner to so.many. But did some of those buyers cross shop at all ? I've driven many new sedans and the Toyota was close to last on the list. I now know two people that had major issues with their 2013 Camry's and one has already traded it in for a Mazda.

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