August 2012 Top 20 Best-Selling Cars In America

Industry-wide growth brought huge sales to Toyota in August as the world's leading automobile manufacturer sold three models more than 20,000 times each. For the seventh consecutive month, the same three Toyotas - Camry, Corolla, Prius - finished inside the top 10. 

The Camry, of course, was America's most popular car in August 2012. But how popular was the midsize Toyota sedan? The Camry is remarkably consistent in its ability to finish the month having found more buyers than any other nameplate, but the vast majority of new vehicle buyers look elsewhere. Of the 1.26 million new vehicles registered in the United States in August, fewer than 3% were Camrys. (In Canada, the Honda Civic is the best-selling car and it owned 3.6% of the overall market between January and July. In the UK, the best-selling Ford Fiesta owned 5.6% of the overall market during that period.)

August's 30 Best-Selling Vehicles In America

Even if we only consider midsize cars, only the midsize cars in August's top 20, the Camry accounts for just (a class-leading) 20% of the sales. While it's perfectly reasonable to reference the Camry's popularity, as it is more popular than any other passenger car, it's also key to measure that reference, to balance it with notes on the ultra-competitive segment in which it competes.

August 2012 YTD Sales - All 262 Vehicles Ranked

There's much more going on in August's top 20 than just the Camry and its midsize competitors. The Chevrolet Cruze was the best-selling American-badged car and the best-selling compact car. Honda Civic sales more than doubled, year-over-year. The Volkswagen Jetta posted its first year-over-year improvement since February. And only 10% of the entries suffered a decline in volume compared with August 2011.

As always, you can access historical monthly and yearly sales figures for all these vehicles through the first dropdown menu at GCBC's Sales Stats home or near the top right of this page. America's five best-selling trucks from August have already been revealed. The 20 best-selling SUVs and crossovers have, as well. Below, the 20 best-selling cars in America in August 2012.

Rank	Best-Selling Car	August 2012	% Change	Year To Date	YTD % Change
#1	Toyota Camry	36,720	+ 21.6%	280,536	+ 37.1%
#2	Honda Accord	34,848	+ 89.0%	218,665	+ 34.7%
#3	Chevrolet Cruze	25,975	+ 19.1%	154,813	- 8.6%
#4	Nissan Altima	25,889	+ 12.5%	209,592	+ 19.0%
#5	Honda Civic	24,897	+ 106%	212,483	+ 38.3%
#6	Toyota Corolla/Matrix	24,311	+ 48.1%	199,677	+ 16.9%
#7	Ford Fusion	21,690	+ 21.0%	181,865	+ 7.7%
#8	Toyota Prius	21,111	+ 122%	164,408	+ 95.9%
	* Prius C	3428	-----	22,724	-----
	* Prius V	3325	-----	n/a	-----
	* Prius Plug-In	1047	-----	6068	-----
#9	Hyundai Sonata	19,624	- 5.1%	158,014	+ 0.9%
#10	Ford Focus	19,073	+ 35.3%	166,950	+ 31.5%
#11	Hyundai Elantra	17,989	+ 19.5%	134,270	+ 0.5%
#12	Chevrolet Impala	17,066	+ 28.0%	124,920	+ 0.5%
#13	Volkswagen Jetta	15,446	+ 6.5%	112,278	- 7.9%
#14	Chevrolet Malibu	14,495	- 18.8%	168,277	+ 5.1%
#15	Kia Optima	13,949	+ 127%	100,424	+ 103%
#16	Chrysler 200	11,997	+ 10.5%	90,386	+ 73.1%
#17	Subaru Outback	11,285	+ 49.0%	74,621	+ 11.1%
#18	Mazda 3	11,120	+ 18.0%	79,674	+ 13.4%
#19	Nissan Sentra	10,623	+ 31.8%	76,495	- 6.6%
#20	Kia Soul	10,191	+ 48.0%	83,889	+ 16.5%

Source: Manufacturers
Red font indicates year-over-year declining sales

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