Top 20 Best-Selling Cars In America - April 2012

There are four factors to consider when checking out the disappointing sales figures of the four Chevrolet products on this list of America's 20 best-selling cars. First, April 2011 was a good month for selling cars. The market had bloomed with an 18% increase. Second, GM fleet sales were very strong. Indeed, fleet sales at The General slid 25% this April. Also, there were more days to sell cars in April of last year, three more, in fact. 

Finally, the new vehicle market had been unexpectedly strong in the first quarter of 2012, and many automakers - not just General Motors - had sold more than their fair share of product. Ramping up production isn't something that an automobile manufacturer does overnight. Just ask Hyundai, which saw sales of its popular Elantra fall 24% in April.

Not surprisingly, a balanced analysis will now reveal that the best-selling car in America in April was not a Chevrolet but a Toyota. Camry sales shot up 21% year-over-year. The surging Honda Accord climbed 26%. Combined Accord/Crosstour sales (you know, the way they used to be) were 37,154, or 334 units greater than the Camry's total. 

On the subject of Toyota, the Prius group managed to once again out-sell the Corolla/Matrix. Both sides of the equation offer up skewed figures. The Corolla and Matrix are different cars (and Toyota Canada separates their sales figures) while the Prius is at least three different cars, four if you separate the Prius Plug-In from the Prius liftback. Toyota sold 15,661 copies of the regular Prius in April along with 4006 Prius C hatchbacks, 3847 Prius V wagons, and 1654 Prius Plug-In hybrids. Sales of the regular Prius jumped from 12,477 in April 2011. This list would, however, be found wanting if we separated the Prius Family since Toyota has not yet provided a full slate of year-to-date and year-over-year sales figures for each specific model.

These were the 20 best-selling passenger cars in America in April 2012. One car was infinitely more popular than it was at this time last year. Nine others reported losses, but such losses weren't bad enough to remove these nameplates from the popularity list. There are only ten brands represented and only eight automobile companies.

Rank	Best-Selling Car	April 2012	% Change	Year To Date	YTD % Change
#1	Toyota Camry	36,820	+ 20.9%	142,225	+ 32.6%
#2	Honda Accord	35,385	+ 25.6%	96,517	+ 2.3%
#3	Toyota Prius Family	25,168	+ 102%	86,027	+ 55.7%
#4	Toyota Corolla/Matrix	24,804	+ 2.4%	93,232	- 7.6%
#5	Honda Civic	24,423	- 8.8%	101,592	+ 10.7%
#6	Chevrolet Malibu	21,906	- 11.3%	80,456	+ 9.5%
#7	Ford Fusion	21,610	+ 2.0%	85,559	- 0.8%
#8	Hyundai Sonata	20,521	- 5.6%	75,716	+ 2.9%
#9	Ford Focus	19,425	+ 12.5%	85,468	+ 57.3%
#10	Chevrolet Cruze	18,205	- 27.6%	75,288	- 0.1%
#11	Hyundai Elantra	16,836	- 23.8%	61,237	- 3.3%
#12	Nissan Altima	16,239	- 5.8%	112,599	+ 29.7%
#13	Volkswagen Jetta	15,658	- 7.6%	54,424	- 6.1%
#14	Chevrolet Impala	14,965	- 29.0%	65,342	- 7.5%
#15	Chrysler 200	13,343	+ 61.3%	44,981	+ 120%
#16	Dodge Avenger	11,147	+ 47.1%	32,776	+ 69.6%
#17	Kia Optima	11,021	+ 68.7%	46,401	+ 110%
#18	Kia Soul	10,716	+ 2.5%	43,290	+ 33.1%
#19	Volkswagen Passat	10,096	-----	34,635	+ 15,861%
#20	Chevrolet Camaro	9627	- 11.3%	31,551	+ 2.4%

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

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Top 20 Best-Selling Cars In America - May 2012
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Top 20 Best-Selling Cars In America - April 2011
U.S. Auto Sales By Brand - April 2012
Top 30 Best-Selling Vehicles In America - April 2012

Canada Auto Sales By Brand - April 2012

Nissan finished outside the
top ten in Canada in April 2012

Chrysler Canada sold 24,540 new vehicles in April 2012, a gain of 3% compared with April 2011. The group's leading brand, Dodge, was down 20%, though the old Dodge/Ram tandem combined for 15,281 sales, nearly enough to topple the Toyota brand.

Canada's top-ranked brand in April was Ford, though sales slid 5%. Blue Oval sales are down 2% so far this year. GM also took a plunge, down 7% on the whole, with only one of its four brands reporting anything other than a decrease. GMC's 2% increase, mixed with Nissan's 6% loss, was enough to knock Nissan out of the top ten. Nissan ranked sixth just last month. 

GM Canada, with barely more than 21,000 sales, finished more than 1000 sales behind Hyundai/Kia in April. In fact, Hyundai/Kia out-sold everybody except for the Ford Motor Company and the Chrysler Group.

Top 250 Best-Selling Vehicles In Canada
April 2012 YTD - Every Vehicle Ranked

Fiat once again embarrassed numerous automakers with far larger fleets. Buick, Volvo, Infiniti, Mini, Cadillac, and Lincoln all sold fewer cars. 23.7% of the Fiats sold were of the 500C variety. Mercedes-Benz was again Canada's favourite premium brand. BMW finished 641 sales back with a 6% decline. GM, with

Top 30 Best-Selling Vehicles In Canada - April 2012

You can see the U.S. version of this post here. Many of the Canadian divisions of these global automobile manufacturers have already reported sales by model - those details can be seen by accessing the dropdown menu at the top right of this page. GoodCarBadCar's segment-by-segment breakdowns will begin later in the month once every automaker has reported specific sales for each model; and once best seller lists have been published. 

Below, you'll see April 2012 and year-to-date sales figures for the Canadian automotive market. Nearly 158,000 new vehicles were sold, a loss of 1.4%. Canada's new vehicle market grew 5.2% over the course of the first four months of 2012, however. Passenger cars accounted for 48.4% of all sales. General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler brought in 44.2% of all sales. 

Updated 05/11/2012 @ 6:53 PM AT

Rank	Automaker	April 2012	%  Change	Year To Date	YTD  % Change
#1	Ford	23,689	- 4.8%	77,467	- 1.9%
#2	Toyota	16,994	- 1.3%	53,319	+ 7.0%
#3	Hyundai	14,301	+ 0.2%	43,632	+ 5.6%
#4	Chevrolet	13,091	- 9.7%	43,617	- 7.0%
#5	Honda	11,303	+ 3.6%	40,480	+ 15.4%
#6	Dodge	8866	- 19.5%	31,485	- 14.7%
#7	Kia	8010	+ 18.2%	23,056	+ 20.8%
#8	Mazda	7049	- 6.9%	23,290	+ 9.8%
#9	Ram	6415	+ 20.4%	23,194	+ 21.1%
#10	GMC	6317	+ 2.4%	20,791	- 0.7%
#11	Nissan	6307	- 5.9%	25,611	+ 9.5%
#12	Volkswagen	5620	+ 1.7%	17,332	+ 7.3%
#13	Jeep	4298	+ 0.4%	14,065	+ 14.5%
#14	Chrysler	3750	+ 60.7%	8347	+ 109%
#15	Mercedes-Benz	3275	+ 18.7%	10,889	+ 16.1%
#16	Subaru	2753	- 5.1%	9322	+ 2.2%
#17	BMW	2634	- 6.0%	8848	+ 8.8%
#18	Audi	2026	+ 0.7%	6849	+ 15.6%
#19	Acura	1497	+ 10.0%	4114	- 2.8%
#20	Lexus	1338	- 17.6%	4297	- 6.6%
#21	Mitsubishi	1306	- 28.5%	6356	- 5.0%
#22	Fiat	1211	+ 36.2%	3272	+ 149%
#23	Buick	1149	- 1.3%	4458	+ 25.8%
#24	Volvo	709	+ 0.6%	2062	- 1.2%
#25	Infiniti	612	+ 9.1%	2418	+ 11.5%
#26	Mini	596	+ 25.5%	1613	+ 30.6%
#27	Cadillac	533	- 32.7%	2125	- 17.9%
#28	Lincoln	472	- 26.4%	1795	- 26.3%
#29	Suzuki	413	- 34.4%	1648	- 16.2%
#30	Scion	400	- 17.9%	1502	+ 34.7%
#31	Land Rover	380	+ 53.8%	1480	+ 59.1%
#32	Porsche	328	+ 1.5%	868	+ 2.7%
#33	smart	154	- 40.8%	393	- 27.5%
#34	Jaguar	65	- 18.8%	219	- 11.0%
#35	Maserati	18	- 5.3%	47	+ 11.9%
#36	Bentley	13	+ 44.4%	29	+ 3.6%
#37	Saab	10	- 52.4%	19	- 53.7%

Source: Automakers, AIAMC, Desrosiers & ANDC 

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Canada Auto Sales By Brand - March 2012
Canada Auto Sales By Brand - February 2012
Canada Auto Sales By Brand - April 2011
Top 20 Best-Selling Cars In Canada - April 2012
Canada Auto Brand Market Share - April 2012

U.S. Auto Sales By Brand - April 2012

Early reporting from Chrysler Group LLC started April 2012's U.S. Auto Sales By Brand rankings with a bang. The overall Chrysler family was up 20%, a figure which is substantially better than the industry average of approximately 2%. Ford's own Blue Oval brand ended April 2012 as America's best-selling brand, but sales fell 5%. 

Three out of four GM brands reported dramatic declines in April 2012. Sales of its truck brand, GMC, rose 4.5%. Mercedes-Benz headlined as the best-selling premium brand in America. 

Fiat once again posted a best-yet sales month. The Chrysler brand hasn't sold this many vehicles in an April since 2007 - sales jumped 56%, the best gain of any mainstream brand. Jeep has reported two full years of consecutive monthly year-over-year sales gains. Same goes for the Ram brand. TrueCar, however, pointed out that Chrysler spent more money incentivizing cars than any other major automaker in April. Dodge reported in their sales release that Dart production has begun and cars will be on sale in June. 

Top 30 Best-Selling Vehicles In America - April 2012

As for the backsliders, Mitsubishi, Cadillac, and Volvo led the way with 35%, 25%, and 24% drops, respectively. Cadillac is forging ahead with a three-model lineup as the ATS and XTS continue to be marketed heavily through press releases. Volvo, meanwhile, is missing its smallest sedan and wagon. The V40 isn't here yet. Mitsubishi is lacking in its lineup as well.

Every Vehicle Ranked By U.S. Sales Volume - April 2012 YTD

Subplots from April include Mazda's one-unit victory over the Ram brand, Mini's 11% year-over-year loss despite its growing model range, and the ability of GMC and Jeep to grow further even as cars account for a growing percentage of new car sales. Keep in mind when looking at the surprisingly stalled growth at companies like, for instance, Hyundai and Kia, that April's year-over-year comparisons involve, of course, April 2011. Last April was a booming month. Moreover, there were three fewer days this April to sell cars than there were at this time last year.

There are now three dozen auto brands ranked here. It's worth checking out April 2012's lists of America's best-selling cars, best-selling SUVs/CUVs, and best-selling pickup trucks.

Updated 05/01/2012 @ 4:40 PM AT

Rank	Automaker	April 2012	%  Change	Year To Date	YTD  % Change
#1	Ford	173,350	- 4.8%	690,336	+ 5.0%
#2	Chevrolet	155,487	- 8.4%	603,621	+ 3.0%
#3	Toyota	154,990	+ 13.8%	578,007	+ 13.3%
#4	Honda	109,837	- 3.0%	399,197	+ 2.4%
#5	Nissan	64,200	- 0.9%	360,341	+ 11.8%
#6	Hyundai	62,264	+ 0.8%	225,837	+ 10.5%
#7	Kia	47,550	+ 1.0%	185,610	+ 22.2%
#8	Dodge	45,248	+ 2.1%	171,470	+ 17.2%
#9	Jeep	38,684	+ 19.5%	152,830	+ 30.4%
#10	Volkswagen	37,525	+ 31.5%	131,898	+ 38.0%
#11	GMC	32,603	+ 4.5%	124,487	+ 2.0%
#12	Chrysler	31,879	+ 56.4%	111,217	+ 76.0%
#13	Subaru	26,310	+ 6.3%	106,878	+ 15.9%
#14	Mercedes-Benz	24,302	+ 26.9%	88,944	+ 18.4%
#15	Mazda	21,506	+ 4.2%	103,529	+ 21.5%
#16	Ram	21,505	+ 11.7%	91,000	+ 19.6%
#17	BMW	21,062	+ 12.0%	82,611	+ 15.7%
#18	Lexus	17,551	- 0.1%	66,647	+ 2.6%
#19	Buick	15,446	- 16.1%	52,782	- 16.4%
#20	Acura	12,175	+ 4.9%	42,980	+ 0.02%
#21	Audi	11,521	+ 15.0%	40,991	+ 15.8%
#22	Cadillac	9851	- 25.0%	40,817	- 23.9%
#23	Infiniti	7129	+ 5.4%	33,349	- 3.6%
#24	Lincoln	6308	- 12.8%	27,144	- 0.4%
#25	Mini	5731	- 11.1%	19,911	+ 6.0%
#26	Scion	5503	- 3.6%	20,674	+ 11.9%
#27	Mitsubishi	5280	- 34.7%	21,887	- 22.5%
#28	Volvo	4848	- 24.3%	21,265	- 2.7%
#29	Fiat	3849	+ 336%	12,699	+ 819%
#30	Porsche	3437	+ 8.4%	10,596	+ 4.1%
#31	Land Rover	3292	+ 10.4%	13,951	+ 24.0%
#32	Suzuki	1774	- 16.8%	8335	- 5.6%
#33	Jaguar	1073	- 14.1%	4401	+ 17.4%
#34	smart	764	+ 63.6%	3028	+ 45.8%
#35	Maserati	232	+ 1.3%	834	+ 18.8%
#36	Bentley	203	+ 70.6%	653	+ 48.7%

Source: Automakers & ANDC

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U.S. Auto Sales By Brand - May 2012
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U.S. Auto Sales By Brand - February 2012
U.S. Auto Sales By Brand - April 2011
Top 30 Best-Selling Vehicles In America - April 2012
U.S. Auto Brand Market Share - April 2012