Cars Rule First-Half Sales; Toyota Camry Ranks No. 1

Cars Rule First-Half Sales; Toyota Camry Ranks No. 1

By Michelle Krebs July 14, 2009

By Michelle Krebs

Cars ruled first-half 2009 vehicle sales, according to Edmunds.com's analysis.

  The Toyota Camry ranked No. 1 in vehicle sales for the first six months. The Honda Accord came in second, trailing the Camry by about 6,200 vehicles.

The two midsize cars overtook two full-size pickup trucks that often hold the top sales spots -- Ford F-150 and Chevrolet Silverado, respectively.

Honda had the most models among the Top 10 bestsellers wth the Accord, Civic and CR-V.

Toyota, Ford and General Motors' Chevrolet division each had two on the Top 10 list. Nissan, with its Altima, rounded out the list.

Importance To Its Brand

 

Edmunds.com also analyzed the percentage of sales each model represented within the brand, demonstrating the importance of these bestsellers.

 

Of the vehicles on the first-half list of bestsellers, the Nissan Altima accounts for 30 percent of all Nissan brand sales -- the highest percentage of sales for its brand on the Top 10 list.

 

The Honda Accord wasn't far behind, representing nearly 28 percent of sales for the Honda brand. The Civic kicks in another 22 percent.

 

Despite the Camry selling more units in the half than the Accord, Toyota relies less on the Camry than Honda does on the Accord, with Camry sales accounting for 21 percent of Toyota sales. The Corolla represents about 16 percent of Toyota sales.

 

The importance of trucks to Ford and Chevrolet is clear with the F-150 and Silverado each accounting for about 19 percent of sales for their respective brands.

 

The midsize Ford Fusion sedan broke into the Top 10 list and accounts for nearly 13 percent of Ford sales; the Chevrolet Impala, popular with fleets, represents about 14 percent of Chevrolet sales.

 

First-Half Bestsellers

 

Make	Model	Percent of Make	Sales
Toyota	Camry	21.0%	137,235
Honda	Accord	27.5%	131,042
Ford	F-150	19.1%	122,409
Chevrolet	Silverado 1500	19.8%	116,338
Honda	Civic	22.2%	106,131
Toyota	Corolla	15.8%	103,426
Nissan	Altima	30.2%	93,254
Ford	Fusion	12.6%	79,736
Honda	CR-V	16.8%	78,917
Chevrolet	Impala	13.6%	78,687

Source: Edmunds.com

 

Michelle Krebs:  is Editor-in-Chief of AutoObserver.com. Follow @AutoObserver on Twitter.