U.S. Auto Sales Brand-By-Brand Results: April 2016 YTD

Timothy Cain
by Timothy Cain

The U.S. auto industry once again reported gains in excess of three percent in April 2016, thanks to significant improvements at Honda, Nissan, and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.

General Motors continued to de-emphasize fleet sales. FCA continued to emphasize incentive spending, with TrueCar pegging their average April incentive per vehicle at a hair under $4,000. Only BMW’s was higher.

BMW is at the forefront of the luxury downturn — sales at the namesake brand slid seven percent in April and are down 10 percent through the first one-third of 2016. Mercedes-Benz led all premium brands in April and in year-to-date terms.

Ford’s F-Series produced its second consecutive 70,000-plus sales month, and truck sales jumped at General Motors and Ram, too. Sales of smaller trucks were up at Toyota and Nissan, as well. The pickup truck market rose 12 percent to 232,647 units in April. The Honda Civic was America’s top-selling car. Toyota’s RAV4 led the SUV/crossover category for a sixth consecutive month. Totals below for Porsche, and thus the Volkswagen Group and the overall market, have yet to be finalized.

Auto BrandApril 2016April 2015% Change2016 YTD2015 YTD% ChangeAcura 16,20614,8749.0%54,08154,518-0.8%Alfa Romeo6038 57.9%229255-10.2%Audi 17,80116,8275.8%59,76156,9255.0%BMW 24,95126,952-7.4%95,564105,444-9.4%Buick 17,72018,224-2.8%72,00768,7214.8%Cadillac 11,23615,801-28.9%46,86952,976-11.5%Chevrolet 183,442187,837-2.3%656,172664,393-1.2%Chrysler 22,84327,704 -17.5%88,349109,637-19.4%Dodge 43,57544,906 -3.0%184,084168,4179.3%Fiat 3,0453,756 -18.9%12,05414,794-18.5%Ford 219,963 213,518 3.0%836,645 783,940 6.7%GMC 47,15947,194-0.1%168,207167,0050.7%Honda 132,623115,19415.1%452,451409,49310.5%Hyundai 62,21368,009 -8.5%235,543240,038-1.9%Infiniti 10,4329,9794.5%43,09243,821-1.7%Jaguar 1,0871,0790.7%6,0845,41512.4%Jeep 84,29871,759 17.5%293,895250,508 17.3%Kia 56,508 53,2826.1%202,829194,3824.3%Land Rover 5,1885,311-2.3%25,99322,28716.6%Lexus 24,88225,876-3.8%99,103103,056-3.8%Lincoln 9,7768,13420.2%34,68129,61217.1%Maserati 1,0661,0600.6%3,3162,98910.9%Mazda 26,19524,1238.6%90,838102,165-11.1%Mercedes-Benz ° 29,23629,184 0.2% 105,005 107,340 -2.2% Mercedes-Benz Vans ° 2,5892,764 -6.3% 9,829 8,323 18.1% Total Mercedes-Benz ° 31,82531,948-0.4%114,834115,663 -0.7%Mini 4,7965,476-12.4%15,63518,253-14.3%Mitsubishi 9,6748,216 5.6%34,86632,0068.9%Nissan 113,42999,86913.6%480,973433,65510.9%Porsche 5,4105,2173.7%17,64816,6476.0%Ram 45,81040,864 12.1%172,123151,27013.8%Scion 6,6404,30954.1%24,88216,28752.8%Smart 466480-2.9%1,7662,013-12.3%Subaru 50,38047,2416.6%182,777178,5222.4%Toyota 179,603173,1443.7%656,219659,606-0.5%Volkswagen 27,11230,009-9.7%96,426109,248-11.7%Volvo 6,1694,63633.1%22,53018,35822.7%————— ——BMW-Mini 29,74732,428-8.3%111,199123,697-10.1%Fiat Chrysler Automobiles 199,631189,027 5.6%750,734694,8818.0%DaimlerAG32,29132,428-0.4%116,600117,676-0.9%Ford Motor Co. 229,739221,6523.6% 871,326 813,552 7.1%General Motors 259,557269,056-3.5%943,255953,095-1.0%Honda Motor Co.148,829130,06814.4%506,532 464,0119.2%Hyundai-Kia 118,721121,291 -2.1% 438,372 434,420 0.9%Jaguar-Land Rover 6,2756,390-1.8%32,077 27,70215.8%Nissan Motor Co. 123,861109,84812.8%524,065477,4769.8%Toyota Motor Corp.211,125203,3293.8%780,204 778,9490.2%Volkswagen Group * 50,433 52,295 -3.6% 174,207 183,602 -5.1%———————Industry Total 1,506,4311,455,4683.5% 5,593,6115,412,6213.3%

Source: Manufacturers

[Image Source: General Motors]

* Volkswagen Group includes sales figures for Audi, Bentley, Porsche, and Volkswagen brands

° Mercedes-Benz USA releases sales figures for the Mercedes-Benz brand in the conventional sense, vans excluded, as well as totals for the Metris and Sprinter vans. The complete picture is included here.

** Industry total takes into account Automotive News figures/estimates for brands such as Tesla (2,250 April units) and other low-volume, high-priced manufacturers.

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

Timothy Cain
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  • Jeff S Jeff S on May 04, 2016

    I think one of the reasons why there are not affordable competition to the GM body on frame GM SUVs is that they do not sell in the volume that they did 20 years ago. Toyota Land Cruisers, Toyota Sequoia, Nissan Armada, Ford Expeditions, and Lincoln Navigators all come fully equipped. GM and the other manufacturers figure that those who want a large body on frame suv will be willing to pay for the fully equipped ones. The closest body on frame suvs that are more affordable are the Toyota 4 Runner and the Nissan Hardbody which is in its last year. Much easier to sell crossovers. The manufacturers have even made it harder to get a basic pickup truck. It is easier and more profitable to sell a full size crew cab pickup with all the bling. Also many more buyers are leasing instead of buying new vehicles and typically they lease a more expensive vehicle than they could afford to buy.

    • See 1 previous
    • Drzhivago138 Drzhivago138 on May 04, 2016

      Nissan Hardbody? That pickup hasn't been around for almost 20 years.

  • Wallstreet Wallstreet on May 04, 2016

    LOL, Scion up 50+% .

    • Mcs Mcs on May 04, 2016

      >> @wallstreet LOL, Scion up 50+% . My son was part of that! They seem to be trying to purge them from Toyota dealers. He got about 20% off of the sticker on the rebadged Mazda2 4 door sedan, the iA. It's not a bad car for the $13k he ended up paying. It was the end of the month and the car was a 6-speed manual, so they were ready to deal. It has the Japanese/European Miata's 1.5L, a decent interior for the price with fake stitched leather (black with blue stitching) on the dash. Power windows, power locks, cruise, push-button start, keyless entry, bluetooth, backup camera, 2 years maintenance, and automatic braking. It seems to be fairly quiet too. The front isn't quite as ugly in person when you're looking at it from standing height. The real kicker was the financing. Their college/trade school grad program offers automatic best rate financing, so he qualified for 60 months 0% or a low lease rate with no security deposit. The pre-collision system seems to have helped with the insurance rate. Not bad for a 23 year-old. They finally might have the right cars and may have figured out how to sell to youth just in time to shut things down. The little sedan is going to get tagged with the Yaris name, so good luck with that.

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