Like the Saviors They Are, Two Compact Crossovers Lifted Their Struggling Brands in October

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

It might not be the reality we want, but it’s the only reality we have. As car sales continue to dwindle (they’re down to roughly 30 percent of new vehicles sold), light trucks have picked up the torch at most brands, though some aren’t arriving fast enough to satisfy jittery executives in today’s stagnating market.

At two premium Japanese brands, the arrival of two crossovers in the scorching compact segment had exactly the effect their creators hoped for. Acura and Infiniti, faced with declining sales in recent years, had reason to smile in October. The recipe is working.

Acura’s third-generation RDX burst onto the scene this summer with a fairly aggressive level of content and a splashy launch that featured journalists getting tail-happy in the turbo, 10-speed ‘ute. This, plus the vehicle’s edgier design, clearly drew the attention of CUV-hungry buyers.

In October, the RDX posted a sales increase of 75.3 percent, year over year, with volume up 18.9 percent, year to date. It’s the only high-volume Acura model not in the red on a YTD basis (the RLX doesn’t count). The RDX’s 6,193 sales last months makes it by far the best selling model in the lineup, and October was the model’s second-best sales month after June 2018.

As for the Acura brand, the RDX’s performance was more than enough to compensate for a slipping MDX and TLX, the second- and third-best selling Acura models. Year over year, the brand rose 7.3 percent in October, and volume over the first 10 months of the year is now in the black, up 1 percent. (Acura nudged above this mark in September.)

It was a similar story for Infiniti. In late spring, the brand launched the redesigned QX50, a model bearing the unique VC-T four-cylinder engine. Whether it was the new skin or the variable compression mill, buyers responded in comparative droves for a model they were never all that fond of. Sales rose — wait for it — 141.8 percent last month, and there wasn’t anything weird happening in October 2017 to diminish the victory. Last month was by far the QX50’s best sales month, with the model’s 3,160 sales falling just short of the top-selling QX60. Year to date, QX50 sales are up 41.6 percent.

With the QX50 selling in greater numbers and the refreshed QX80 land barge posting its own 101.5 percent YoY increase, Infiniti’s volume rose 15 percent compared to the same month a year ago. This, while the Q50, Q60, and Q70 continue their respective declines.

While October’s light truck sales were good news for Infiniti, the brand hasn’t yet managed to pull its overall volume into the black. However, it’s getting there (though perhaps not by the end of the year). Through the end of October, Infiniti sales were 5.5 percent shy of last year’s marker — but compare that figure to September’s 7.4 percent YTD loss, or August’s 8.2 percent drop.

As for Toyota’s Lexus division, no new crossovers showed up to lure new buyers. The RDX and QX50’s main rival, the Lexus NX, saw its sales fall 7.9 percent last month. Year to date, the NX has a slim lead of 2.5 percent over last year’s YTD figure.

[Images: Acura, Infiniti]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • Cbrworm Cbrworm on Nov 07, 2018

    Both of those cars look interesting to me, but they are too small for my needs. I wonder how that variable compression engine is holding up, I'll have to do some research. I sure see a lot of them running around all of the sudden.

  • Speedlaw Speedlaw on Nov 08, 2018

    I'm still a car guy, even if any trip to "the city" means truck, and truck only. The combination of traffic and roads that don't deserve the name mean that stability at 90 is a fantasy (seeing 90, that is) and that you credit ability to eat a manhole raised in the road as much more important than transient response from cornering. I get why the masses buy trux. My next car is a car, but the city runs...the 10 year old SUV, because that 3 -d road is nastier than anything the German engineers can conceptualize.

  • Jpolicke In a communist dictatorship, there isn't much export activity that the government isn't aware of. That being the case, if the PRC wanted to, they could cut the flow of fentanyl down to a trickle. Since that isn't happening, I therefore assume Xi Jinping doesn't want it cut. China needs to feel the consequences for knowingly poisoning other countries' citizens.
  • El scotto Oh, ye nattering nabobs of negativism! Think of countries like restaurants. Our neighbors to the north and south are almost as good and the service is fantastic. They're awfully close to being as good as the US. Oh the Europeans are interesting and quaint but you really only go there a few times a year. Gents, the US is simply the hottest restaurant in town. Have to stand in line to get in? Of course. Can you hand out bribes to get in quicker? Of course. Suppliers and employees? Only the best on a constant basis.Did I mention there is a dress code? We strictly enforce it. Don't like it? Suck it.
  • 1995 SC At least you can still get one. There isn't much for Ford folks to be happy about nowadays, but the existence of the Mustang and the fact that the lessons from back in the 90s when Ford tried to kill it and replace it with the then flavor of the day seem to have been learned (the only lessons they seem to remember) are a win not only for Ford folks but for car people in general. One day my Super Coupe will pop its headgaskets (I know it will...I read it on the Internet). I hope I will still be physically up to dropping the supercharged Terminator Cobra motor into it. in all seriousness, The Mustang is a.win for car guys.
  • Lorenzo Heh. The major powers, military or economic, set up these regulators for the smaller countries - the big guys do what they want, and always have. Are the Chinese that unaware?
  • Lorenzo The original 4-Runner, by its very name, promised something different in the future. What happened?
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