2002-2015: For 14 Years The Toyota Camry Has Reigned As America's Best-Selling Car
The streak began in 2002 and remains unbroken. Yes, 2002, which began with the Patriots winning the Super Bowl and ended after George W. Bush’s GOP was strengthened during the first mid-term elections of his presidency.
The Toyota Camry was America’s best-selling car. And the Camry has topped the best-selling cars leaderboard every year since.
In 2015, the Camry’s lead over the second-ranked car grew to 66,000 units from 40,000 in 2014. As U.S. passenger car volume declined in a record-setting year for the auto industry, the Toyota Camry’s sales did not. As midsize car sales slid 2 percent, U.S. Camry volume increased to the highest level seen of America’s most popular car in seven years.
Threats to the Camry’s supremacy in 2016? They stand shoulder to shoulder with the Camry inside Toyota’s own showrooms.
COROLLA
Low fuel prices don’t help compacts if prospective buyers are also considering a slight payment increase to buy or lease an intermediate car instead, but compact car popularity is potentially enhanced by a declining subcompact car category.
RAV4
Just look at Canada, where small SUV popularity has crushed the midsize sector. The Escape outsells the Fusion, Focus, Fiesta, Taurus, and C-Max combined, and the RAV4 has outsold the Camry in seven consecutive years. The year before the RAV4 took over from the Camry, Toyota’s midsize sedan volume was 20 percent stronger. Change happens fast.
CONSISTENCY
Only in six of the last 24 months has the Camry failed to top the passenger car sales leaderboard, and only twice during that period has the Camry failed to hold the title in consecutive months. The Camry doesn’t squeak ahead with a blow-out sale over the holidays every year. Instead, it’s a surprise when a month ends and some other car has generated more showroom activity than the Camry.
MARGIN OF VICTORY
Typically, however, the second-best-selling car in America is the Honda Accord, which ranked first in 2001 prior to the Camry’s streak began. In 2007, when Camry sales shot to a record-high 473,108 units, the margin of victory was at its largest: 80,877 sales. Never has the margin been smaller than in 2003, when the Accord trailed the Camry by only 15,546 units. 2015’s margin, 66,023 units between the Camry and Corolla, marks a three-year high.
MARKET SHARE
That’s the highest level since 2009, when the Camry accounted for 6.3 percent of the new cars sold in the United States.
HONDA CANADA
Moreover, the Civic’s dominance in the car sector is greater in Canada than the Camry’s dominance in America. 9.1 percent of Canada’s car sales in 2015 belonged to the Civic. Indeed, the Civic was even able to unseat the all-conquering Ford F-Series as recently as 2008 to become Canada’s best-selling vehicle overall. The F-Series outsold the Civic by a 1.8 to 1 count in Canada in 2015; the Camry by 1.8 to 1 in the U.S.
RETAIL SEDANS
Keep in mind, also, that Honda markets two bodystyles under the Accord nameplate. Honda doesn’t provide a breakdown of Accord sales by sedan and coupe, but current inventory suggests Honda may have sold approximately 43,000 Accord coupes in 2015 plus 313,000 Accord sedans. Even if Toyota is dependent on fleet – good or bad – for a quarter of all Camry sales and not a single Accord ever ended up in an airport rental lot, the Camry sedan would still have outsold the Accord sedan.
Does it matter? Not likely to two automakers which sell hundreds of thousands of profitable midsize cars every year in America. And the Camry’s numbers — no matter how impressive the totals, the duration of the streak, or its ability to fend off all manner of challengers — won’t change the fact that the Accord is still my favourite midsize car.
Timothy Cain is the founder of GoodCarBadCar.net, which obsesses over the free and frequent publication of U.S. and Canadian auto sales figures. Follow on Twitter @goodcarbadcar and on Facebook.
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- Kwik_Shift_Pro4X '19 Nissan Frontier @78000 miles has been oil changes ( eng/ diffs/ tranny/ transfer). Still on original brakes and second set of tires.
- ChristianWimmer I have a 2018 Mercedes A250 with almost 80,000 km on the clock and a vintage ‘89 Mercedes 500SL R129 with almost 300,000 km.The A250 has had zero issues but the yearly servicing costs are typically expensive from this brand - as expected. Basic yearly service costs around 400 Euros whereas a more comprehensive servicing with new brake pads, spark plugs plus TÜV etc. is in the 1000+ Euro region.The 500SL servicing costs were expensive when it was serviced at a Benz dealer, but they won’t touch this classic anymore. I have it serviced by a mechanic from another Benz dealership who also owns an R129 300SL-24 and he’ll do basic maintenance on it for a mere 150 Euros. I only drive the 500SL about 2000 km a year so running costs are low although the fuel costs are insane here. The 500SL has had two previous owners with full service history. It’s been a reliable car according to the records. The roof folding mechanism needs so adjusting and oiling from time to time but that’s normal.
- Theflyersfan I wonder how many people recalled these after watching EuroCrash. There's someone one street over that has a similar yellow one of these, and you can tell he loves that car. It was just a tough sell - too expensive, way too heavy, zero passenger space, limited cargo bed, but for a chunk of the population, looked awesome. This was always meant to be a one and done car. Hopefully some are still running 20 years from now so we have a "remember when?" moment with them.
- Lorenzo A friend bought one of these new. Six months later he traded it in for a Chrysler PT Cruiser. He already had a 1998 Corvette, so I thought he just wanted more passenger space. It turned out someone broke into the SSR and stole $1500 of tools, without even breaking the lock. He figured nobody breaks into a PT Cruiser, but he had a custom trunk lock installed.
- Jeff Not bad just oil changes and tire rotations. Most of the recalls on my Maverick have been fixed with programming. Did have to buy 1 new tire for my Maverick got a nail in the sidewall.
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Long lasting could also mean an extended stay from your mother-in-law.
I have a 2001 Camry that was among the last imported from Japan, J VIN. It just won't quit. Every time I think it will, I hear from others w/ the same generation that have twice as many miles. It is the last new car I bought. Currently looking for another Toyota from that era & not a new car full of nanny stuff.