U.S. Auto Sales Brand-By-Brand Results: September 2016 YTD
September 2016 auto sales slid nearly 1 percent, not as rough an outcome as projected by many industry analysts but more proof that the auto industry may have peaked in calendar year 2015.
Despite bright spots from Ram, Buick, and Infiniti, most of the year-over-year improvements reported by automakers in September were modest in size. Porsche, Lincoln, Toyota, Honda, Audi, and Volvo all combined for sub-2-percent increases. Mercedes-Benz, Subaru, Cadillac, Hyundai, and Lexus couldn’t quite manage 4-percent upticks.
Yet in a market that slowed for a second consecutive month, many of the gains produced by pickup truck sales still weren’t strong enough to bring more buyers into showrooms than in September 2015.
Acura, Smart, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, and Fiat — along with discontinued Scion — all reported double-digit losses. General Motors, Ford Motor Company, and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles all recorded fewer sales this September than last. Acura’s sharp decline was strong enough to cancel out Honda’s gains. The Volkswagen Group, despite improvements at Audi and Porsche, fell 3 percent as a result of Volkswagen’s 8-percent drop.
Of course, pickup truck sales improved, albeit largely on the backs and in the beds of midsize trucks. But if ever there was a symbol of the market’s slowdown, Jeep, after 35 months of growth, reported a 3-percent drop. Yes, the one volume brand featuring a lineup filled only by SUVs and crossovers tumbled.
The Toyota Corolla was America’s best-selling car in September. Ford’s F-Series led all pickup trucks and all vehicles overall. Honda’s CR-V was tops among SUVs/crossovers. While FCA’s minivan market share improved, the Toyota Sienna was the top-selling individual minivan nameplate.
Auto BrandSeptemberSource: 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.
° Scion’s sales figures are now folded in to Toyota’s, but the Scion brand here includes sales of outgoing Scions as well as Scions that are becoming Scions. We have included the complete picture for clarity’s sake.
** Industry total takes into account Automotive News figures/estimates for brands such as Tesla (2,250 September 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.
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- ToolGuy First picture: I realize that opinions vary on the height of modern trucks, but that entry door on the building is 80 inches tall and hits just below the headlights. Does anyone really believe this is reasonable?Second picture: I do not believe that is a good parking spot to be able to access the bed storage. More specifically, how do you plan to unload topsoil with the truck parked like that? Maybe you kids are taller than me.
- ToolGuy The other day I attempted to check the engine oil in one of my old embarrassing vehicles and I guess the red shop towel I used wasn't genuine Snap-on (lots of counterfeits floating around) plus my driveway isn't completely level and long story short, the engine seized 3 minutes later.No more used cars for me, and nothing but dealer service from here on in (the journalists were right).
- Doughboy Wow, Merc knocks it out of the park with their naming convention… again. /s
- Doughboy I’ve seen car bras before, but never car beards. ZZ Top would be proud.
- Bkojote Allright, actual person who knows trucks here, the article gets it a bit wrong.First off, the Maverick is not at all comparable to a Tacoma just because they're both Hybrids. Or lemme be blunt, the butch-est non-hybrid Maverick Tremor is suitable for 2/10 difficulty trails, a Trailhunter is for about 5/10 or maybe 6/10, just about the upper end of any stock vehicle you're buying from the factory. Aside from a Sasquatch Bronco or Rubicon Jeep Wrangler you're looking at something you're towing back if you want more capability (or perhaps something you /wish/ you were towing back.)Now, where the real world difference should play out is on the trail, where a lot of low speed crawling usually saps efficiency, especially when loaded to the gills. Real world MPG from a 4Runner is about 12-13mpg, So if this loaded-with-overlander-catalog Trailhunter is still pulling in the 20's - or even 18-19, that's a massive improvement.
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Is Genesis included in the Hyundai-Kia total?
Despite all the consternation about Cadillac sales (and sedan sales in particular), Cadillac sold 4,794 of the CT6, CTS and XTS. Sales of the CT6 was only 430 units from sales of the ATS.