Prepare For August With This July 2011 Auto Sales Recap For America And Canada

Automobile manufacturers will be revealing their August 2011 sales data tomorrow. With that in mind, here are the most important facts you need to know from GoodCarBadCar.net's rundown of July 2011's auto sales data as we head prepare for tomorrow's reports.

In America, Ford ended the first seven months of 2011 with a 149,961-unit lead over Chevrolet, its nearest rival. Toyota was down 6.2% year-to-date (down 22.8% in July) while July's fifth-ranked brand, Honda, was down 28.5% and 2.4% year-to-date. Through July, America's best-selling premium brand was Mercedes-Benz, but July was in fact BMW's month as the Munich-based brand beat the Stuttgart-based brand by 671 vehicles. The U.S. Auto Sales By Brand post for July is here.

The Chevrolet Camaro out-sold the Ford Mustang. Though sales fell 22.9% the Toyota Camry was the best-selling car in the United States in July. The Ford Escape was the best-selling SUV in America; 60% of the 10 top-selling SUVs were built by the Detroit Three. As the best-selling truck in America the Ford F-Series topped combined Chevrolet Silverado/GMC Sierra sales by 3387. 20.3% of all new vehicle sales in July occurred in General Motors showrooms. America's worst-selling vehicle was either the Acura ZDX, Mazda RX-8, or Lexus LFA, depending how you look at it. The BMW 3-Series was easily the most popular premium car in July.

Together, America's 20 most popular vehicles owned 39.2% of the overall market. Luxury brands owned 10.8% of the overall market. The Saab 9-4X found a few buyers. And 19 vehicles found themselves with more than 100,000 sales through seven months.

Meanwhile, Ford continued to be the top selling brand in Canada. The Blue Oval's year-to-date lead over Dodge/Ram expanded to 56,335 units. As in the United States, BMW beat Mercedes-Benz in July but still ended the month behind on year-to-date terms. Ford/Lincoln and Chrysler Canada both held greater market share than General Motors in July.

For the fifth time in 2011 the Hyundai Elantra was the best-selling car in Canada. Ford Escape sales were down 6.1% but the antiquated Ford manhandled the much-improved Dodge Journey, beating it by 1200 sales. Canada's seven best-selling trucks, including the top-ranked Ford F-Series, all suffered year-over-year sales declines in July.

Canada's 20 most popular vehicles grabbed just under half of all new vehicle sales last month. Although BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi held the top three spots among premium brands, restoration began for Japan's three luxury automakers. BMW's 3-Series was the best-selling luxury vehicle; the best-selling luxury utility vehicle was the Mercedes-Benz GLK, sales of which fell by three units. Depending on your angle, July's worst-selling vehicle in Canada was either the Acura RL, Honda Insight, or Kia Borrego.

Check out August 2010's U.S. auto sales data here; August 2010's Canadian sales stats here. Now you can consider yourself ready to drink in August's data. You're now asking why there are pictures of the Ferrari 458 Spider all over this post. You should be asking, "Why aren't there always pictures of the Ferrari 458 Spider plastered all over GoodCarBadCar?"

Top 20 Most Improved Cars In America Through July 2011

Establishing this list of the most improved vehicles in America so far in 2011 wasn't difficult. We're simply sorting sales. However, there are a bunch of qualified candidates, particularly near the top of the list, which are unfairly stealing the limelight.

Sales of Dodge Durango came to a halt a long time ago... mostly. But because there were still a few previous-generation Durangos (46, to be exact) sold in the first seven months of 2011, the new Durango didn't come on stream like a brand new vehicle. Instead, to spreadsheet software, the Durango looks like a replacement, one which had room for improvement. That's not entirely untrue. Through the end of July Dodge Durango sales were up 62,802% in America. The Nissan Quest's story is very similar - 169 of the old Quests were still available to be purchased in the first seven months of 2010. And they were.

The Mazda 2, Ford Fiesta, and Buick Regal were all newcomers last year. In the Buick's case, this means seven months of 2011 selling is being compared in year-over-year fashion with just three months of 2010 selling. In the Fiesta's case, seven months is up against just two months from 2010. The Mazda 2 only went on sale in July of 2010. Of course there will be improvements. In Saab's case, the maker of the 9-5 and 9-3 was escaping death. Fancy that, the Swedes are trying to sing the same tune a year later. 

Exclude those vehicles and the most improved car sales numbers are owned by the Audi A8, sales of which rose 597.7% in the first 58% of 2011. The third-generation A8 has brought in an extra 2827 sales for Audi so far this year. On year-over-year percentage gains terms, that sounds great. 598% is a big number. But feel free to use the Ford F-Series as an example of true improvement. 

Sales of the F-Series truck line are up 7.7%, which sounds like nothing when contrasted with the Audi A8's 598% jump. But 7.7% for the F-Series means 22,389 more sales in the first seven months of 2011 than there were in the same period of last year. In other words, the F-Series' improvement alone is worth nearly seven times more sales to Ford than the A8's total is to Audi. 

Consider that perspective while scanning this list of America's 20 most improved auto sellers through July of 2011. It's a list which, we must point out, does not include the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter. It was up 122% through July, however. But it would've meant the Mitsubishi Galant was going to be kicked off. And we can't have that.

TOP 20 MOST IMPROVED VEHICLES IN AMERICA

Rank	Vehicle	% Increase	2011 YTD
#1	Dodge Durango	+62,802	28,935
#2	Mazda 2	+22,300	8512
#3	Nissan Quest	+3816	6618
#4	Buick Regal	+1074	25,512
#5	Ford Fiesta	+984	47,425
#6	Saab 9-5	+714	806
#7	Audi A8	+598	3300
#8	BMW X3	+274	14,932
#9	Saab 9-3	+191	3032
#10	Mitsubishi Endeavor	+188	6546
#11	Kia Sportage	+180	29,302
#12	Kia Optima	+148	43,389
#13	Porsche Cayenne	+134	8219
#14	Audi R8	+128	682
#15	Jaguar XJ	+123	3431
#16	Jeep Compass	+123	25,191
#17	Mitsubishi Eclipse	+110	6102
#18	Jeep Grand Cherokee	+107	63,869
#19	Ford Explorer	+98	75,720
#20	Mitsubishi Galant	+90	11,896

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Top 10 Worst-Selling Cars In America - July 2011
Top 20 Best-Selling Cars In America - July 2011
Top 30 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In America - July 2011

America's 100,000 Vehicle Sales Club Through July 2011

Selling more than 100,000 of anything requires a bit of planning. We saw kids trying to redirect lemonade buyers to a cul-de-sac with illegible signs. It was a grey day; it wasn't hot at all. Their marketing wasn't very good. They're location was dreadful. As a result, I can't even tell you if the product was any good. They probably didn't sell 100,000 cups. Sorry kids; it's not as easy as it looks.

Through the first seven months of 2011 eight automakers have sold 19 different vehicles on more than 100,000 occasions. More than 200,000 sales have already been reached by two automakers with their pickup trucks. Ford has topped the 300K mark with America's favourite truck. This doesn't happen by designing any old four-wheeled machine in your garage. Billions of dollars have been spent to make the 19 vehicles listed in the chart below successful products worthy of your attention and the attention of hundreds of thousands of others new car buyers. Just as hundreds of hours of hard work would go in to recording an album for 100,000 listeners.

There are four new models in the 100,000 club that didn't make it in the first seven months of 2010. The Volkswagen Jetta, Chevrolet Equinox, Hyundai Elantra, and Chevrolet Cruze/Cobalt are newcomers. The other 15 were all present at the end of July 2010 as well, although sales of Honda Accord, Honda Civic, Toyota Camry, and Toyota Corolla and Matrix were lower through July 2011 than they were in July 2010.

Of course the Ford F-Series is the most popular vehicle nameplate in America. But 68% of this group of 19 vehicles are passenger cars in the traditional sense. Their leader, not surprisingly, is the Toyota Camry.

CLICK CHART FOR LARGER VIEW

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
America's Best-Selling Cars, SUVs & Trucks - January-July 2011
America's Complete July 2011 Auto Sales Rundown
Top 10 Worst-Selling Cars In America - July 2011

Charting U.S. Sales Declines For Toyota and Honda In 2011

Honda and Toyota sales fell 28.5% and 22.8%, respectively, in July 2011. It's not as though the U.S. auto market is in prime operating condition, but America's two favourite Japanese automakers aren't struggling to sell vehicles because of economic concerns in the United States.

Ever since Japan's March 11 Tōhoku earthquake, corporations of all kinds have faced the same kind of problems ordinary Japanese citizens have encountered. Getting life, or production, back to normal in the wake of the post-quake tsunami and evacuations which can be traced back to a nuclear disaster isn't a task for the fainthearted.

Year-to-date, through seven months of 2011, Toyota is down 6.2% and Honda is down 2.4%. (Toyota's premium Lexus brand is off 18.6%. Toyota's youth-oriented Scion brand is up 17.4%. Honda's premium division, Acura, is down 5.5%.) The first quarter wasn't the problem. It was the second quarter and the beginning of the third quarter, a period in which supply at Toyota and Honda dealerships was scarce, which really harmed their ability to report normal sales levels. How can a company report level or increasing sales when they don't have cars to sell?

It's not as though Toyota and Honda are the only ones struggling to succeed during the last few months. Japan's prime minister just resigned, for example. Nevertheless, it's fair to say that the troubles faced by Toyota and Honda over the last three months have provided an opportunity for other automakers to grab market share, just as Prime Minister Kan's resignation opens the door for Yoshihiko Noda. Evidence of that fact is obvious. Rather than their standing amongst global rivals, what Toyota and Honda really want to see recover are the sales volumes of years past. 

The charts below imagine falling sales as if falling sales are coloured columns which rise and... er, fall. You'll see five different Toyotas, four different Hondas, and the Acura division as a whole. May 2009, May 2010, and May 2011 can be seen in blue, chronologically; moving from the left to right. June is red. July is green.

The declines are obvious. If the numbers from Best Seller lists and U.S. Auto Sales By Brand posts weren't grabbing you, these charts will go a long way to convincing you that supply issues at Toyota and Honda dealerships over the last three months or so have utterly crushed the autumn vacation dreams of many salesmen. That news shouldn't be taken lightly. Automotive News says August won't be much better.

CLICK EITHER GRAPH FOR A LARGER VIEW

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
U.S. Auto Sales By Brand - July 2011
U.S. Auto Sales By Brand - June 2011
U.S. Auto Sales By Brand - May 2011
U.S. Auto Sales By Brand - 2010 Year End
Top 20 Best-Selling Cars In America - July 2011

America's Best-Selling Cars, Trucks & SUVs In 2011 - January Through July

One month ago GoodCarBadCar.net published a list of the 100 best-selling vehicles in America for the first half of 2011. It was interesting. This month The Good Car Guy compiled year-to-date best-selling vehicle information again but split it under vehicle segment headings: cars, SUVs/crossovers, and pickup trucks. 

To start, check out America's 25 best-selling cars in 2011 from January through July. You'll find much of this information elsewhere in the July 2011 rundown of U.S. auto sales, but here the 25 most popular passenger cars in America are gathered together and ranked by year-to-date volume, not on July's sales figures alone.

Once you've studied the intricacies of the first table, check out the 20 best-selling sport-utility vehicles in the United States. The Ford Escape is ranked first, as faithful readers would expect. But which vehicle slots into 20th spot? It's relative popularity will disappoint you.

Finally, check out America's 16 best-selling trucks. Incidentally, America's 16 favourite trucks happen to be the only 16 trucks on sale in America, which is convenient for list assembly. Why 25, 20, and 16? Each list in this post simply stretches GoodCarBadCar.net's normal Best Seller length to include the vast majority of products which have been included in the monthly 20/10/10 lists.

                 TOP 25 BEST-SELLING CARS IN AMERICA                  

Rank	Car	January-July 2011	% Change
#1	Toyota Camry	174,485	-7.8
#2	Honda Accord	155,454	-16.6
#3	Toyota Corolla/Matrix	154,324	-8.1
#4	Nissan Altima	153,182	+17.5
#5	Ford Fusion	151,004	+17.4
#6	Chevrolet Cruze/Cobalt	148,455	+75.2
#7	Chevrolet Malibu	142,312	+10.5
#8	Honda Civic	141,577	-9.7
#9	Hyundai Sonata	135,898	+26.9
#10	Hyundai Elantra	118,482	+56.4
#11	Ford Focus	112,913	+7.3
#12	Chevrolet Impala	110,971	+9.3
#13	Volkswagen Jetta	107,465	+63.6
#14	Toyota Prius	74,427	-7.1
#15	Nissan Sentra	73,860	+33.2
#16	Kia Soul	65,118	+77.6
#17	Mazda 3	60,832	-7.9
#18	Subaru Outback	59,612	+18.8
#19	Chevrolet Camaro	56,432	+4.8
#20	BMW 3-Series	52,502	-6.4
#21	Nissan Versa	51,245	-17.7
#22	Kia Forte	50,582	+25.4
#23	Ford Fiesta	47,425	+983.5
#24	Ford Mustang	45,846	-3.5
#25	Kia Optima	43,389	+148.2

                 TOP 20 BEST-SELLING SUVs IN AMERICA

Rank	SUV	January-July 2011	% Change
#1	Ford Escape	147,018	+29.3
#2	Honda CR-V	124,859	+16.8
#3	Chevrolet Equinox	112,932	+46.9
#4	Toyota RAV4	81,969	-15.5
#5	Ford Explorer	75,720	+106.7
#6	Kia Sorento	75,040	+25.5
#7	Ford Edge	69,685	+6.6
#8	Nissan Rogue	69,171	+29.7
#9	Jeep Wrangler	67,591	+20.3
#10	Chevrolet Traverse	64,310	+3.3
#11	Jeep Grand Cherokee	63,869	+106.9
#12	Honda Pilot	61,572	+3.2
#13	Toyota Highlander	57,489	+20.9
#14	GMC Acadia	50,235	+22.8
#15	GMC Terrain	48,666	+57.5
#16	Lexus RX	45,309	-12.8
#17	Subaru Forester	43,360	-14.0
#18	Hyundai Santa Fe	42,940	-16.5
#19	Chevrolet Tahoe	39,754	-8.8
#20	Jeep Liberty	37,109	+37.0

                 TOP 16 BEST-SELLING TRUCKS IN AMERICA

Rank	Truck	January-July 2011	% Change
#1	Ford F-Series	313,183	+7.7
#2	Chevrolet Silverado	215,906	+7.2
#3	Dodge Ram	132,209	+25.9
#4	GMC Sierra	80,194	+18.8
#5	Toyota Tacoma	61,824	+2.2
#6	Toyota Tundra	47,610	-12.7
#7	Ford Ranger	36,442	+4.5
#8	Nissan Frontier	28,271	+26.2
#9	Chevrolet Colorado	19,283	+39.2
#10	Nissan Titan	10,699	+19.3
#11	Chevrolet Avalanche	10,339	-9.7
#12	Dodge Dakota	9106	+15.7
#13	GMC Canyon	5570	+32.4
#14	Honda Ridgeline	5562	-43.5
#15	Suzuki Equator	1230	+51.7
#16	Cadillac Escalade EXT	1067	+5.9

Source: Automakers & ANDC

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In America - 2010 Year End
Top 10 Best-Selling SUVs In America - 2010 Year End
Top 5 Best-Selling Trucks In America - 2010 Year End
July 2011 U.S. Auto Sales Rundown
Canada's Best-Selling Cars, Trucks & SUVs In 2011's First Seven Months

Ford Mustang vs. Chevrolet Camaro vs. Dodge Challenger - U.S. Sales Since April 2009

Discounting this current month of August 2011, the reborn fifth-generation Chevrolet Camaro has been on sale for 28 months. When we say "on sale" and "Camaro" in the same sentence, we actually mean "fighting against the Ford Mustang" for 28 months, right? And in the last couple years there's been another cross-town rival with which to do battle, the Dodge Challenger.

Back in 2002 we thought this war had been waged and it was never to be fought again. The automotive climate wasn't fit for a muscle car fight. Of course, Ford knew how to market the Mustang, and in 2005, Ford proved it knew how to style a Mustang, as well. 

Even when Dodge and Chevrolet began showing concept versions of the next Challenger and Camaro in response to the praises showered upon Ford's reinvigorated Mustang, it didn't seem likely that sales of these if-or-when muscle cars would skyrocket. 

Here we are in mid-2011, however, and the Camaro makes frequent appearances on GoodCarBadCar.net's list of the Top 20 Best-Selling Cars In America. Sometimes the Mustang joins the Camaro in taunting conventional mainstream cars which are unable to crack such a list.

It's true, the Challenger hasn't been quite as big a hit, but don't let yourself believe that Dodge wasted time and money developing its muscle car. Not at all. Just a few months ago, in March 2011, Dodge sold 3989 Challengers in America. That figure was greater than Porsche's total U.S. volume in March, higher than what Audi managed with its A4, better than Hyundai's total Genesis Coupe and sedan sales.

The Good Car Guy has compiled five charts and one table to help you understand the U.S. muscle car market since the Chevrolet Camaro went back on sale in April 2009. Here are a few pertinent facts before you delve into the details.

• The Ford Mustang has been #1 in this three-car segment only seven times since April 2009. One of those six occasions was the month in which Camaro arrived in stores.


• In the Challenger's best post-April '09 month (March 2011, as noted) Ford and Chevrolet each sold more than twice as many Mustangs and Camaros.


• Chevrolet sold an average of 6850 Camaros per month in 2009; Ford sold an average of 5552 Mustangs. The 2009 year end numbers you'll see in the table below are deceiving.


• Through the first seven months of 2011, the Camaro is up 4.8% year-over-year. Mustang sales are down 3.5%. Challenger sales are up 10.8%.


• Since April 2009, 43.9% of all American muscle car sales have occurred in Chevrolet showrooms. 38.9% of those 453,833 sales were Mustangs. 17.2% were Dodge Challengers.

Check out the first chart below (it sort of does the work of a pie chart 28 times over) which shows total muscle car volume by month with portions afforded to the Camaro, Mustang, and Challenger. Then, after the jump, have a look at four more charts - some of which basically tell the same story in different ways - and the exhaustive volume-oriented table displaying the monthly U.S. volume reported by each of these three truly American cars. Go ahead and click any chart for a larger view.

Above, see trend line of U.S. monthly volume of America's three muscle cars.

Above, see the strength and weakness of monthly U.S. muscle car
volume by the height or lack of height for each car's 28 bars.

By studying the chart above you'll see the market share
owned by each of the three muscle cars in each of the last 28 months.

This final chart shows the combined strength of the
three American muscle cars in each of the last 28 months.

U.S. Sales Month	Chevrolet Camaro	Ford Mustang	Dodge Challenger
April 2009	614	7699	2619
May 2009	5463	8812	2695
June 2009	9320	7632	1369
July 2009	7113	6686	886
August 2009	8680	6289	1132
September 2009	7691	4917	1778
October 2009	8082	4789	2398
November 2009	6867	3627	2040
December 2009	7548	6527	2536
2009 Year End	61,648	66,623	25,852
January 2010	5371	4747	1683
February 2010	6482	5115	2145
March 2010	8904	5829	3211
April 2010	9150	5145	3713
May 2010	8931	10,225	3828
June 2010	7540	8974	3086
July 2010	7486	7489	3695
August 2010	6321	5570	3283
September 2010	6323	5760	3138
October 2010	5013	5317	3182
November 2010	4164	4093	2497
December 2010	5614	5452	3330
2010 Year End	81,299	73,716	36,791
January 2011	4763	3165	2526
February 2011	6245	3697	3227
March 2011	8964	8557	3989
April 2011	10,852	8180	3617
May 2011	9451	6607	3418
June 2011	8486	8835	3384
July 2011	7671	6805	3509
7 Months Of 2011	56,432	45,846	23,670
April '09-July '11	199,379	176,540	77,914

Source: Automakers & ANDC

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Sporty Car & Premium Sporty Car Sales In America - 2010 Year End
Sporty Car & Premium Sporty Car Sales In America - July 2011
Top 20 Best-Selling Cars In America - July 2011
U.S. Auto Sales By Brand - July 2011