America's 10 Best-Selling Cars In October 2014
The Hyundai Sonata was America’s eighth-best-selling car in October 2014, down just one position but 4309 sales compared with October 2013. Among America’s top sellers, the Sonata was not alone in its decline, although the midsize Hyundai’s decrease was notable for its especially drastic nature.
Honda Civic sales slid 12%, the Civic’s fourth consecutive month with declining U.S. volume. Since the beginning of July, Civic sales in the United States have fallen 10%.
The Ford Focus was also off 2013’s October pace, falling 9% to 13,733 units, a 1375-unit decrease. Overall Ford brand car sales were down 11% in October and are down 4% this year even as the brand’s top-selling passenger car, the Fusion, has risen 6% (and 5% in October.)
The Fusion ranked seventh overall in October; fourth among midsize cars.
RankBest-Selling CarOctober2014October2013% Change10 mos.201410 mos. 2013%Change Camry33,16429,14413.8%368,143348,1345.7% Accord27,12825,1627.8%331,510307,2647.9%#3 Toyota Corolla/Matrix24,95923,6375.6%283,764257,18410.3%#4 Chevrolet Cruze24,28916,08751.0%232,403211,8629.7%#5 Honda Civic24,15427,328-11.6%277,584280,889-1.2%#6 Nissan Altima23,54421,7858.1%280,479271,3033.4%#7 Ford Fusion22,84621,7405.1%263,431248,0336.2%#8 Hyundai Sonata15,56319,872-21.7%180,497172,5744.6% Jetta14,60711,71024.7%129,662135,983-4.6% Focus13,73315,108-9.1%189,889203,762-6.8%The majority of America’s best-selling cars, however, posted notable increases in October 2014. Chevrolet Cruze volume jumped 51% from October 2013’s total and 27% compared with October 2012. Volkswagen Jetta sales rose 25% year-over-year; 8% compared with October 2012.
Returning to the normal order after two months away, the Toyota Camry was America’s best-selling car in October 2014, outselling the second-ranked Honda Accord by more than 6000 units and expanding its year-to-date lead to 36,633 sales. 2014 will be the Camry’s 13th consecutive year as the top-selling passenger car in the United States.
That streak began in 2002, a year in which Accord sales fell 4% and Camry volume jumped 11%. Accord sales are on the rise now, as well, but competing sale-for-sale with the Camry requires more than a great product. Toyota’s desire to see the Camry end annual races as the top dog knows few boundaries. Refreshing the Camry for MY2015 and pricing the car very competitively make it more likely than not the Camry will be America’s best-selling car next year, as well.
Timothy Cain is the founder of GoodCarBadCar.net, which obsesses over the free and frequent publication of U.S. and Canadian auto sales figures.
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It's not surprising that Ford car sales are down. The Focus is being refreshed and only carryover 2014 models are available, while the Mustang is all new and dealer inventory is just now starting t flesh out.
I'd be interested in knowing the average transaction price for each model. I don't know this for a fact, but I sense that the on-the-road price of the Fusion is substantially higher than that of the Camry or Sonata. That the Focus or Jetta price is higher than the Corolla. I'm not at all interested in high sales volume, because we all know the tactics automakers engage in that essentially coax people into buying their crap. Selling as many cars as they can, at the highest prices that they can, is what we should be interested in.