Winning! These Are America's Best-Selling Cars, Trucks, SUVs, Vans, and Luxury Autos In 2016's First Half

by Timothy Cain

Published: July 5th, 2016

We’ve reached the halfway marker. After new vehicle sales soared to record levels in calendar year 2015, the volume produced by automakers competing for market share in the United States continued to expand through the first six months of 2016.

Between January and June, the 30 most popular new vehicle nameplates in the United States generated half of all auto sales, leaving more than 250 other vehicles to fight over half the market. Many of those popular vehicles own a far greater chunk of the market than entire manufacturers. The top-selling Ford F-Series line of pickup trucks, for instance, outsells every auto brand aside from Toyota, Chevrolet, Nissan, Honda, Jeep, and Ford itself. The 30th-ranked vehicle, Subaru’s Outback, outsells whole mid-tier premium brands such as Cadillac, Infiniti, Lincoln, and Jaguar-Land Rover.

In other words, popular vehicles are very popular indeed.

These are the most popular of the popular, the podium finishers in five broad categories through the first half of 2016.

winning these are america s best selling cars trucks suvs vans and luxury autos

PICKUP TRUCKS

Ford F-Series | +11% | 395,244

At the current pace, Ford will sell more than 800,000 pickup trucks in America in 2016, a figure not matched by any vehicle since Ford sold 901,463 F-Series’ in 2005.

Chevrolet Silverado | -1% | 273,652

Although U.S. sales of pickup trucks grew 7 percent in the first-half of 2016, the Silverado is heading in the wrong direction. Combined, the Chevrolet and its GMC Sierra twin produced 380,118 first-half sales.

Ram P/U | +9% | 231,405

The Ram’s hold on third place, not just among pickups but in terms of overall vehicles, appears secure. If the three trucks hold the three top spots for another six months, 2016 will be the third consecutive year in which a pickup truck trio owned the overall sales podium.

CARS

Toyota Camry | -7% | 199,760

The Camry’s 7.4-percent year-over-year decline, valued at 16,056 lost sales compared with the first six months of 2015, is essentially on par with the passenger car market’s 7.9-percent drop.

Honda Civic | +20% | 189,840

Launched at the tail end of 2015 in all-new, tenth-generation form, the Honda Civic predictably exploded with an increase of 31,539 sales in the first six months of 2016. The 20-percent year-over-year leap is bettered among best-selling cars only by the eighth-ranked Chevrolet Malibu’s 25-percent improvement.

Toyota Corolla | -4% | 182,193

Overshadowed by the new Civic in early 2016, the Corolla remains a hugely popular car, outselling the Nissan Altima, Honda Accord, and Ford Fusion by 9,498, 12,839, and 35,360 units, respectively.

SUVs & CROSSOVERS

Toyota RAV4 | +16% | 165,900

Since 2007, only two vehicles have ever managed to claim top spot in America’s SUV/crossover sector: the Ford Escape, and the current holder of the crown, Honda’s CR-V. Rapid RAV4 sales growth could alter the traditional pecking order in 2016, particularly if the CR-V continues to decline.

Honda CR-V | -2% | 159,075

To be fair, the CR-V is only 6,825 sales behind the top-ranked RAV4. It’s far too early to count out the CR-V, America’s top-selling utility vehicle in the last four years. After seven consecutive months atop the leaderboard, the RAV4 fell into fourth spot in June and the CR-V was top dog.

Ford Escape | +6% | 155,378

The Escape is two spots out of the number one position, but the 10,522-unit deficit is not insurmountable if Escape sales continue to elevate as they have in the last couple of months. With the revamped 2017 model coming on strong, Escape sales jumped 12 percent in May and June.

VANS

Ford Transit | +36% | 78,480

The best-selling van in America is very much a true-blue (or more likely, white) van. The Transit generates four out of every ten U.S. full-size commercial van sales. Together, the Transit, along with its E-Series and Transit Connect cohorts, own more than half the commercial van category.

Dodge Grand Caravan | +94% | 71,523

A dreadful first-half of 2015 caused by a plant shutdown (to retool for the new Chrysler Pacifica) skews the Grand Caravan’s year-over-year gain. But there’s no denying that the FCA minivan family’s market share is on the mend. In June, the Grand Caravan, Pacifica, and departing Chrysler Town & Country owned 47 percent of the minivan market.

Toyota Sienna | -4% | 68,225

The Grand Caravan/Town & Country slowdown in 2015 opened up an avenue for huge Toyota Sienna van success last year. Matching that pace in 2016 has not proven possible, though the Sienna is still on pace for its second-best year since 2007.

PREMIUM BRAND AUTOS

Lexus RX | +12% | 49,412

The global auto market’s turn toward SUVs and crossovers is emphasized in the luxury sector, and it’s further emphasized in Lexus showrooms in the United States. Lexus car sales are down by a fifth already this year. The RX and its smaller NX sibling have fortunately added nearly 8,400 sales through six months.

Mercedes-Benz C-Class | -14% | 37,305

America’s top-selling premium car earns its place with help from BMW’s relatively recent nomenclature change. Combined, the 3 Series and its 4 Series offshoot outsold the C-Class by nearly 15,000 units in 2016’s first-half.

BMW 3 Series | -23% | 32,976

The 3 Series’ huge 23-percent year-over-year decline was distinct in its severity in 2016’s first-half, but not entirely out of keeping with the premium car market. Car sales at Acura, Audi, Bentley, Cadillac, Infiniti, Lexus, Lincoln, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, and Volvo declined as well.

[Images courtesy of automakers; graph by Timothy Cain]

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.

#AutoSales #BestSeller #BestSellingCars #June2016Sales #PopularCars #U.S.AutoSales

Timothy Cain

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20 of 73 comments

Dal20402 on Jul 05, 2016

So, between Ford's EcoBoost experience and its aluminum experience, now we know how the pickup market works. Pickup buyers howl and moan about any post-1960s technology before introduction, predicting it means The End for the manufacturer that introduces it. Then they avoid the first year of production while continuing to howl and moan. But when there are a few hundred thousand of the new-technology trucks in service, benefiting from the new technology, it starts seeming "normal" and the buyers come back.

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- VoGo on Jul 05, 2016
  
  Exactly. Where are all those luddites now who were predicting Ford's demise for embracing aluminum and turbos? I have yet to read a single post admitting how wrong they were. Will they learn from their errors, or proceed with predicting that Ford will destroy the F150 with 10 speed transmissions?
  
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- Scoutdude on Jul 05, 2016
  
  Ford had no problem with the first year sales of the EcoBoost F150's, in fact they sold far better than Ford predicted and left them scrambling to meet the demand. If sales were left on the table or went elsewhere it was because the Ford someone wanted wasn't in stock and wouldn't be for some time. The Aluminum thing did cause a bit of a drop but again a lot of that was due to limited availability due to the slow down in production caused by the lengthy shut downs for the change over and a slow ramp up of production. So no the majority of people who actually buy new pickups have not stayed away because of new technology, they have actually embraced it from the start to the point where Ford couldn't keep up.
  
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- Mark Stevenson on Jul 05, 2016
  
  To be fair, 2015 was a rough year for F-150 production, which translated to a rough year for sales. Now that Ford has turned up the wick on production, we are back to the status quo.
  
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- Dal20402 on Jul 05, 2016
  
  @Mark Stevenson There were incentives, sometimes large, on the 2015 F-150 at various points during the year. If the drop in sales were entirely because of the production issues, I wouldn't have expected that.
  
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- Dal20402 on Jul 05, 2016
  
  @Scoutdude With the EcoBoost, Ford's planning was even more conservative than its buyers. They didn't really have that option with the aluminum body.
  
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- Highdesertcat on Jul 05, 2016
  
  @dal20402 "There were incentives, sometimes large, on the 2015 F-150 at various points during the year." Not just the F150 which had incentives in my area exceeding $10K. But also the F250 and F350. That's how my son was able to purchase a left-over 2015 F350 XLT SuperCrew DRW 4x4 LongBed for less than $70K, out the door.
  
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- Drzhivago138 on Jul 05, 2016
  
  @highdesertcat Less than $70K? I tried making an F-350 4x4 DRW SuperCrew on the website with everything added to an XLT; it came out to not quite $50K.
  
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- Highdesertcat on Jul 05, 2016
  
  @highdesertcat Yup, it was a bit less than $70K. It wasn't anything fancy, but it can seat six and carry 4x8 sheets of construction material in the bed. He bought it at Don Chalmers in Albuquerque, last year. The only place to go for a nice selection. What may have cost extra was the towing gear for fifth-wheel, and gooseneck, and Class IV self-leveling with Kelsey-Hayes controller. Hell of a truck!
  
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- Drzhivago138 on Jul 05, 2016
  
  @highdesertcat My $48K price included a fifth-wheel and gooseneck underneath, but no self-leveler. Is it really $22K extra for that?
  
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- Highdesertcat on Jul 05, 2016
  
  @highdesertcat Where do you live? Prices tend to be higher in the Rockies, and often West of the Mississippi. Getting an F350 for $48K, not possible in my area. Many F150s top $50K with a lot less capability, in my area.
  
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- Drzhivago138 on Jul 05, 2016
  
  @highdesertcat I did it online with the ZIP code 12345, like always. Don Chalmers seems to have a lot of Lariat F-350s (albeit SRW) for just under $60K (MSRP around $67K). The one DRW XLT was priced at $54K (MSRP $60K).
  
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- Highdesertcat on Jul 05, 2016
  
  @highdesertcat Water under the bridge now. Seemed like a great deal to him and his business partner, when he bought the truck.
  
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- Drzhivago138 on Jul 05, 2016
  
  @highdesertcat I'd like to think your son didn't get fleeced, so I'll say it might have been a different economic climate last year. You know the situation better than I do.
  
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- Highdesertcat on Jul 05, 2016
  
  @highdesertcat Actually, I don't. After he bought my 2011 Tundra for his own use, he still needed a heavier duty truck (a la F350) for the hauling and towing for the cattle business. His former father-in-law and business partner already had an old F350 DRW and it was perfect for what they needed to do with it. I don't think he got ripped off. He's no fool. Don Chalmers and Shamaley in El Paso are stand-up dealers with stellar reputations for sales&service, and cater to the professionals while also trying to please the hordes of light-duty buyers that come to their premises. Of course, the pricing you found is one thing. Actually being able to buy a real truck with those specs for the money could be very different.
  
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- Carlson Fan on Jul 05, 2016
  
  Give Ford credit, they continue to push new technologies in the 1/2 ton PU arena versus resting on their laurels and it's paying off. Good for them. Now it sounds like buyers will have even another engine choice with the new diesel coming out. GM needs to step up their game quickly or they are going to find themselves fighting for the #2 spot in sales, forget #1.
  
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- Lou_BC on Jul 05, 2016
  
  dal20402 - so true. Human behaviour 101. People feel safer hanging out at the fur bearing end of the human genome.
  
  Like
Inside Looking Out on Jul 05, 2016

Why bicycles are not included in article? It is now the preferred type of transportation in our area. You guys talk only about trucks. Whats so hot about them? I cannot get it.

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- See 1 previous
- Lou_BC on Jul 06, 2016
  
  "You guys talk only about trucks. Whats so hot about them? I cannot get it." If you have to ask, you won't understand the explanation.
  
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- JohnTaurus on Jul 06, 2016
  
  Its so hard to ascertain sarcasm on the internet, but I sincerely hope that was your intention.
  
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