2015 Q1's 20 Best-Selling Vehicles In The United States

March 2015 auto sales in the United States didn’t decline as expected, further strengthening a first-quarter in which the industry reported a 5.6% year-over-year improvement.

In other words, Americans registered nearly 211,000 more new vehicles during the first three months of 2015 than during the same period one year ago. Passenger car volume is flat. SUVs and crossovers produced first-quarter growth of nearly 12%, thereby earning market share of 34%, up four percentage points compared with the first-quarter of 2014.

On this list of the 20 most popular vehicles in 2015’s first-quarter, utility vehicles rank seventh, tenth, 11th, 13th, 14th, and 16th. The same six nameplates ranked ninth, 11th, 13th, 15th, 17th, and 19th at this time a year ago.

Pickup trucks don’t generate nearly as much volume as the vast utility vehicle sector, but the main contenders continue to rule the roost on best seller lists. 2014 was the first year since 2003 that the F-Series, Silverado, and Ram ranked one, two, and three. 2015 begins the same way, although the gap between the Ram and Toyota Camry is even slimmer than it was at this time a year ago, down from 2623 sales to 1006.

The fourth-ranked Camry leads all passenger cars, having opened a 9777-unit lead over its nearest competitor through three months. Competitor? Wait a second, the second-best-selling car in America this year isn’t the Honda Accord, nor is it any competing midsize sedan. Toyota Corolla sales are up 17%, year-over-year, and the smaller Toyota leads the next-best-selling Nissan Altima by nearly 4000 units heading into April. The Accord, after a dreadful March in which sales plunged 23%, slid from eighth place at the end of February to ninth at the end of the first-quarter.

Rewind one year to the top 20 list from Q1 2014 and you’ll see the GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Malibu. What’s changed? Sierra sales have grown in 2015, but the 7% rise to 45,173 units is insufficient. Malibu volume is down 12% to 42,401. The Nissan Sentra and Chrysler 200, on the other hand, have both reported significant year-over-year improvements in early 2015, with the 200’s 61% jump tops among the 20 best sellers and the Sentra’s 25% increase surpassed only by the 200, RAV4, Rogue, and Explorer.

Timothy Cain is the founder of GoodCarBadCar.net, which obsesses over the free and frequent publication of U.S. and Canadian auto sales figures.