Pickups, Honda Civic and Accord Winning 2016 Sales Rankings

Consumers, businesses, and government agencies registered nearly 4.1 million new vehicles during the first quarter of 2016. That’s an additional 130,000 new vehicles sales compared to the pace set one year ago, and equals a 3.3-percent year-over-year improvement over a record-setting 2015. But while there’s meaningful sales growth within the industry, passenger car sales continue to tumble and the premium market continues to stumble.

Many aspects of the U.S. auto market are changing, but some corners of the market refuse to reflect any change in the attitudes of consumers. The three best-selling vehicle lines in America in 2015’s first-quarter are the three best-selling vehicle lines in 2016’s first-quarter. All three are pickup trucks.

The Ford F-Series, Chevrolet Silverado, and Ram P/U jointly produced 10 percent of the industry’s first-quarter volume. Overall, pickup truck volume increased by more than 6 percent to earn 15 percent of first-quarter new vehicle sales.

Meanwhile, the Toyota Camry, last year’s best-selling car, is still America’s best-selling car despite a notable 4-percent decline through the first three months of 2016.

The Camry’s closest challenger is now the Honda Civic, which surged from the 12th place a year ago to 5th overall in 2016’s first-quarter thanks to a 31-percent year-over-year rise. Not unpredictably, the new Civic is a hot item, and Honda is additionally blessed with rising Accord sales. Honda is bucking the market’s trend: CR-V and Pilot sales are sliding; Accord and Civic sales are improving.

Detroit’s passenger car efforts are a mixed bag in the early part of 2016. The slow launch of the second-generation Cruze and the consequent loss of fleet sales dragged Chevrolet’s compact down 39 percent in the first-quarter, including a 58-percent, 13,717-unit loss in March. On the other hand, Chevrolet Malibu volume is up 37 percent so far this year, enabling a seven-slot rise in the bestseller rankings.

At Ford, a 6-percent decline in C-Max, Fiesta, and Focus sales is more than counteracted by a 5-percent Fusion uptick and modest Mustang and Taurus sales.

In Auburn Hills, meanwhile, the story we’ve already documented added yet more layers in March. Chrysler 200 sales plunged 68 percent last month; 63 percent in 2016’s first quarter. Fewer than 18,000 200s found new homes in January, February, and March, down from 49,152 a year ago.

But at FCA, there’s always Jeep. Although not a single Jeep nameplate cracked the top 20, Jeeps were prevalent in the next tier. The Cherokee, Grand Cherokee, and Wrangler all ended the first-quarter inside the top 25.

[Image: Ford Motor Company]

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.