Honda Accord Is the Best-Selling VEHICLE in March; Will a Car Win the Top Spot Again in April?
April 29, 2008
By Michelle Krebs
Will a car instead of a truck be America's best-selling vehicle again in April?
In March, the Honda Accord was not only the best-selling car in America it was also the best-selling vehicle. A car has ranked as the best-selling vehicle in monthly sales only five times in the last six years, according to Edmunds.com's analysis. Four of those times, the Accord was tops; the Toyota Corolla ranked No. 1 once, in May 2007.
But with pickup truck sales plummeting and consumers turning to more fuel-efficient cars, a car could take the top spot again for April when automakers post sales reports on Thursday.
In March, Honda sold 36,161 Accords, outselling perennial rival Toyota Camry but also outselling the usual top-place finishers, the Ford F-150 and Chevrolet Silverado 1500.
Jesse Toprak, Edmunds.com’s executive director of Industry Analysis, predicts April sales being reported Thursday will show larger vehicles will show the largest year-to-year sales declines. "It's clear that gas prices are weighing heavily on car-buyers' minds," he said.
Accord: Finally Catching On
Honda deserves some credit for the Accord as well.
The redesigned 2008 Accord had been slow to catch on, but it now seems the Accord has – and without much financial push from Honda. The automaker is paying a scant $519 in Total Cost of Incentives (TCI) , Edmunds.com’s proprietary formula for calculating incentives, on each Accord sold.
Accord sales had dropped by about 10 percent for the first two months of 2008 compared with 2007. Honda executives told AutoObserver in March that the fall-off was due to the fact that it eliminated the huge incentives it offered on the Accord to sweep the old model off dealer lots to make way for the new version. Indeed, Accord’s TCI last June was up to $2,000.
In addition, Honda executives also said strong demand for the V6 engine over the four-cylinder in the new Accord took them by surprise. In light of higher gas prices, they had planned for the opposite. The other phenomenon Honda has been experiencing is that instead of the typical trend of compact owners trading up to an Accord, the car is attracting luxury owners downsizing, but they still want a V6 engine. As a result of analyzing these twists, Honda has adjusted its product mix of the Accord, which has led to higher sales.
A Shift in Consumer Preference
The Accord’s title of best-selling vehicle in America also illustrates the dramatic shift in American consumer preference -- toward more fuel-efficient cars and away from large gas-guzzling trucks.
To that end, Honda’s success in March wasn’t limited to the Accord. Honda was the only brand with three vehicles on the Top 10 Best-Selling Vehicle list.
| Best Selling Vehicles for March | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Honda | Accord | Midsize Car | 36,161 |
| 2 | Ford | F-150 | Large Truck | 34,996 |
| 3 | Toyota | Camry | Midsize Car | 31,310 |
| 4 | Chevrolet | Silverado 1500 | Large Truck | 30,780 |
| 5 | Nissan | Altima | Midsize Car | 30,577 |
| 6 | Chevrolet | Impala | Large Car | 29,010 |
| 7 | Honda | Civic | Compact Car | 28,971 |
| 8 | Toyota | Corolla | Compact Car | 21,552 |
| 9 | Ford | Focus | Compact Car | 21,168 |
| 10 | Toyota | Prius | Compact Car | 20,635 |
| 11 | Honda | CR-V | Compact SUV | 18,974 |
| 12 | Ford | Escape | Compact SUV | 16,735 |
| 13 | Ford | Fusion | Midsize Car | 15,887 |
| 14 | Toyota | Tacoma | Compact Truck | 15,587 |
| 15 | Dodge | Ram Pickup 1500 | Large Truck | 15,452 |
| 16 | Pontiac | G6 | Midsize Car | 15,108 |
| 17 | Chevrolet | Malibu | Midsize Car | 14,737 |
| 18 | Toyota | Tundra | Large Truck | 14,311 |
| 19 | Dodge | Grand Caravan | Minivan | 14,104 |
| 20 | Chevrolet | Cobalt | Compact Car | 13,756 |
Source: Edmunds.com
| Best Selling Vehicles for Q1 2008 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2008 | Ford | F-150 | 20.2% | 94,551 |
| 2 | 2008 | Chevrolet | Silverado 1500 | 19.1% | 90,903 |
| 3 | 2008 | Honda | Accord | 27.8% | 87,659 |
| 4 | 2008 | Toyota | Camry | 17.6% | 84,176 |
| 5 | 2008 | Nissan | Altima | 31.5% | 74,573 |
| 6 | 2008 | Chevrolet | Impala | 15.4% | 71,750 |
| 7 | 2008 | Honda | Civic | 22.3% | 70,210 |
| 8 | 2008 | Toyota | Corolla | 12.1% | 57,857 |
| 9 | 2008 | Honda | CR-V | 16.2% | 50,684 |
| 10 | 2008 | Ford | Focus | 10.6% | 49,070 |
| 11 | 2008 | Chevrolet | Cobalt | 10.2% | 48,024 |
| 12 | 2008 | Pontiac | G6 | 63.9% | 45,951 |
| 13 | 2008 | Toyota | Prius | 9.4% | 42,907 |
| 14 | 2008 | Toyota | Tundra | 8.6% | 40,784 |
| 15 | 2008 | Ford | Fusion | 8.6% | 40,050 |
| 16 | 2008 | Toyota | Tacoma | 8.4% | 39,776 |
| 17 | 2008 | Ford | Escape | 8.4% | 39,313 |
| 18 | 2008 | Dodge | Ram Pickup 1500 | 16.7% | 38,439 |
| 19 | 2008 | Chevrolet | Malibu | 8.0% | 37,404 |
| 20 | 2008 | Ford | Edge | 7.7% | 36,034 |
Source: Edmunds.com
Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds.com’s manager of Pricing and Industry Analysis, provided the analysis for this report.
Posted by at 5:33 AM under Analysis , Companies | Comments (20) | digg this | Seed Newsvine
I am assuming the percentage in the second table is amount of sales to fleets?
Good article, I like to see the hard numbers and that Honda outsells Toyota in both compact and midsized cars.
Posted by: Guy | April 29, 2008 at 6:49 AM
The Ford F-150 and Chevrolet Silverado remain strong sellers, despite the spike in gas prices. It's not surprising that mid-sized cars have edged them out for the moment. The large Chevrolet Impala continues to sell strongly, too; after all, not everyone is ready to downsize to a "Smart" car. If Ford and Chevy really want to maintain top sales for their trucks, they should offer the half-ton versions with diesel engines, which are more fuel-efficient. I've read elsewhere in these pages that Ford and GM already have such engines in the works. They can't come on-stream soon enough.
Posted by: Christopher | April 29, 2008 at 9:22 AM
The Camry numbers are way off - sold over 40,000 in March (as per toyota.com).
I like the Accord, but like accuracy more
Posted by: Eric Lee | April 29, 2008 at 9:49 AM
Guy, I think those are sales percentage changes. Unfortuantely they need plus and minus signs.
The Impala was over 50% fleet at MY 07 (Fleet central .com) and I doubt that has changed much. IIRC Camry was 12ish % and the Accord well under 10 (5ish%?).
Sorry Christopher the Imp really isn't that popular, hasn't been for a long time taxi, rental and gov sales keep it on the chart along with employee price sales. A lot of people have realized that though it is big on the out side the interior is actually on the small side of midsize (compare the interior measurements in CRs charts or any other group that measures them, can't use manf. numbers as they all measure differently, need a common bse set). The W- bodies have poor packaging.
And where are all the new Accord bashers now?
Take care,
Posted by: Dennis | April 29, 2008 at 9:50 AM
where the heck did you get you'r facts michelle?
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/080401/latu133.html?.v=77
Posted by: owen | April 29, 2008 at 2:00 PM
Yes, your Camry numbers are off by about 9K units.
Posted by: Mikey | April 29, 2008 at 4:32 PM
Horribly inaccurate article. Edmunds, for shame. The Accord definitely DID NOT outsell the Camry in March. The Camry, *by far* outsold the Accord. Several websites are already linking to this article and posting this as actual news, which means this inaccuracy is being spread around by word-of-mouth. Again, Edmunds should be ashamed for such inaccuracy.
Posted by: toyo | April 29, 2008 at 6:10 PM
Easy does it, fellow posters- this is Toyota we're looking at here. They tend to include the "Camry Solara" in the Camry figures. If this is the case here, then Jessica's figures are likely accurate:Toyota's own figure of 40,487 Camrys minus J.C.'s 31,310 would yield 9,177 Solaras. Sounds about right to me
Posted by: fulcrumb | April 29, 2008 at 9:08 PM
Anyone notice the Fusion is outselling the new Rentabu, even with the Chevy being the newer model? Is GM dumping the new model to rental fleets like originally intended?
http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/f13/inside-news-gm-wants-new-malibu-take-big-retail-fleet-sales-impala-46860/
I've driven the new Malibu, it's not that impressive as the hype once predicted. The Impala is a much more solid car and deals can be had since it is an older model. Plus it looks better than the disjointed Epsilon with the flat-slab of a rear end.
I know, it has nothing to do with the huge success with Accord sales, but it is interesting no doubt.
Posted by: Leo | April 30, 2008 at 8:03 AM
Thank you. We do not include the Solara as Toyota does.
Posted by: Michelle Krebs | April 30, 2008 at 8:37 AM
If Camry Solara isn't included in Camry sales, then it's not surprised that Accord will outsell Camry as Accord has coupes and sedans. Is Edmunds trying to make it sounds like a shocking news by not including CAMRY Solara?
Posted by: Kelvin | April 30, 2008 at 10:22 AM
Kelvin - the Accord does not have a convertible, the Solara does. It is perfectly reasonable to compare Accord Sedan/Coupe to Camry. The Solara isn`t even badged Camry Solara. This is just Toyota playing around - they do the same with the Matrix calling it in their sales figures (but not on the vehicle) as the Corolla Matrix when they are two different vehicles.
Leo - you talk crap also. There are more delas on the Fusion than the Malbu, the Malibu is not being fleeted much so no rentabu jokes. The car is as good as most (if not you) say. Also the Malibu has bene out for all of a fe wmonths and the Fusion is 3-4 years old. Give it time. I expetc by the end of the year the Malibu will be beating the Fusion by a good margin.
Posted by: Guy | April 30, 2008 at 10:36 AM
To Guy: If we want to talk about fairness, we should compare sedan with sedan. Camry sedan compares with Accord sedan. And Solara, you can say is what toyota uses to compete with Accord coupe, but it's also based on Camry platform.It does make sense for toyota to camry-ize Solara.So either we compare them all or we compare one by one. Same applies to Matrix and Corolla.
Posted by: Kelvin | April 30, 2008 at 1:03 PM
Yes, I think this is a total manipulation of the sales numbers to make headlines. If you want to compare sedan vs. sedan, then you need to subtract the Accord coupe and Altima coupe numbers from the overall sales.
Doing that for just the Camry is very misleading.
Posted by: Johnny | April 30, 2008 at 1:55 PM
Leo, how dare you refer to the new Malibu as a Rentabu! You are totally off base with your assertions. Please refer to it as either "Fleetabu" or "Fugabu" please.
Posted by: FUSION_DRIVER | May 02, 2008 at 3:47 PM
Michelle Krebs, you have just admitted to misleading journalism. The Solara is officially called the Camry Solara. It is the coupe variant of the Camry. Therefore, it *should* be counted in Camry sales. If you do not count Solara sales, then for the sake of journalistic integrity, you must also not count Accord Coupe sales.
Posted by: toyo | May 02, 2008 at 4:57 PM
In Canada we already buy 55 percent compact and smaller cars. The segment is very competitive and this is what the US market will look like sooner rather than later.
The fact that a Chevy Cobalt gets much worse gas mileage than a Civic and Corolla translated into Civic and Corolla dominating this segment. The Civic is 10 years bestselling car in Canada with the Corolla close behind. It also helps that both cars are manufactured here in Ontario, Canada.
When GM decides to focus on fuel economy and get rid of their old pushrod engines, people will take notice. GM saves over $1000 on every vehicle they sell with these antique, noisy motors. They are addicted to the savings. Notice how Ford, Honda, and Toyota have moved to the more expensive and fuel efficient DOHC designs.
GM has dropped to about 22 percent of the market and is also dropping in the Canadian market also. I used to buy their cars in the 80's but until they build a car that needs limited repairs for 10 years, has a modern engine, top in class fuel efficiency, and good resale value then I and thousands of others will continue to shun them.
Posted by: jonny | May 03, 2008 at 7:23 AM
To Kevin:
Using your thinking the RX350 should also be included in Camry sales. Even though it isn't a Toyota or a Camry, but based on Camry platform. Unlike BMW where there 3 series includes M3, 325, 335, coupe and convertible and all are labeled as such the Solara isn't a Camry.
I don't think though fleet sales should be included in any of these tallies.
Posted by: Kd | May 03, 2008 at 7:38 AM
The Accord & Altima coupes & least resemble their sedan siblings in both appearance & hardware. The Solara is on a different platform & life cyle than the Camry so I can see why it is not counted.
This would apply to the Camry Hybrid -- those sales should count bc it is obviously a Camry. Calling it a Camry Solara in name only is like cheating.
What if Honda brought back the Prelude based off the Accord platform -- and when convenient called it the Accord Prelude ... should those sales count as Accords as well?
Posted by: lucifer | May 03, 2008 at 1:41 PM
"The Accord & Altima coupes & least resemble their sedan siblings in both appearance & hardware. The Solara is on a different platform & life cyle than the Camry so I can see why it is not counted."
Incorrect. The Solara is on the EXACT same platform as the Camry. They are built in the SAME factories, and on the SAME assembly lines. Fact is, the Solara is simply a Camry coupe with another name. Solara sales are rightfully counted as Camry sales by Toyota.
If Edmunds wishes to maintain any sort of journalistic credibility and integrity, then it needs to count Solara sales with Camry sales, or otherwise separate Accord coupe sales from Accord sedan sales.
Posted by: toyo | May 04, 2008 at 9:05 PM