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Corolla tops Camry in September adds iM hatch to lineup
<p><strong>Corolla tops Camry in September, adds iM hatch to lineup.</strong></p>

Japan Big Three Post Mixed September Results

The Corolla outsells the Camry for only the second time, while all three automakers set September CUV records.

Toyota September sales inched 1.5% ahead of year-ago to 197,260 units, thanks again to record monthly light-truck deliveries offsetting weak car sales.

There were 25 selling days in both September 2016 and September 2015.

In the first month of combined Toyota and Scion sales (the Scion brand officially was discontinued with the start of the ’17 model year and its models now are reported under Toyota), Toyota says its brand deliveries rose 1.4% on the strength of an 11.5% hike in light-truck sales.

Separating out Scion, WardsAuto data shows Toyota-brand sales would have increased 3.2% and the Scion brand declined 43.3%.

Nearly every Toyota-brand light truck was in positive territory last month, save for the discontinued Venza CUV, aging Sienna minivan and fullsize Sequoia SUV.

The RAV4 and Highlander CUVs set September and year-to-date sales records, Toyota says.

The RAV4 CUV continued its upward climb this year, growing September sales 8.6% above year-ago to 29,438 units. Those units brought 2016 RAV4 sales to 260,380, Toyota says, predicting 350,000-plus RAV4 sales this year and a 400,000-unit-year in 2017.

Despite being 14.2% ahead of January-September 2015, the surging RAV4’s year-to-date tally still trails that of Honda’s CR-V.

Highlander sales rose 21.3% to 14,937 and to 127,045 for the year, an 8.8% climb.

Unlike August, when RAV4 sales exceeded the Camry’s for the first time, Toyota’s midsize sedan topped the RAV4 last month with 30,707 deliveries. However, that volume was off 11.0% from September 2015. Camry sales through September were down 8.8%.

The Corolla was the No.1-selling Toyota in September, with 32,272 total sales, only the second time the C-car overtook the popular D-car, WardsAuto data shows. The Corolla topped the Camry in January 2015, 27,357 sales to 26,763.

Last month, the Corolla sedan accounted for 31,167 deliveries while the new Corolla iM (formerly the Scion iM) hatchback tallied 1,105, Toyota says.

The Corolla sedan was the only Toyota car in the black vs. year-ago, as total Toyota Div. car sales fell 7.7% in September on steep drops of the Yaris (-41.6%), Avalon (-20.4%) and Prius (-22.6%) nameplates.

The Prius has had eight of nine months below year-ago this year, and sales through September were down 25.6%. However, sales of the nearly-year-old Prius liftback declined just 1.6% vs. 52%-plus losses of the V, C and plug-in variants.

Like Toyota, Lexus also had a record light-truck month in September, led by the 2-year-old NX compact CUV that jumped 51.9% over year-ago. The NX’s 4,729 deliveries last month also were a September record.

The brand’s best-seller, the RX midsize CUV, was up 10.9% to 8,605, while GX and LX SUV sales increased 23.2% and 124.4% on 1,984 and 386 deliveries.

The good utility-vehicle results grew Lexus sales 2.0% year-on-year to a September-record 25,801 and offset a 9.2% decline in Lexus cars.

All Lexus cars fell below year-ago, with the ES midsize sedan down the least (-12.6%) and the CT compact hatchback off the most (-43.6%).

Bill Fay, group vice president-Toyota Div., tells media in a conference call that although U.S. sales growth is slowing, the automaker still sees a strong finish to 2016, thanks in part to a 9-year high in consumer confidence.

“I would hope for a good, strong fourth quarter, where it’s a great opportunity for consumers to buy. There’s good availability and good offers out in the marketplace.”

Toyota has said it will have its best light-truck supply of the year in Q4. Of the 1.822 million Toyotas sold this year, 52% were light trucks, up from 48% year-ago.

Honda Down, Nissan Up

At American Honda, a 12.9% decline in Acura deliveries brought total sales down 0.1% to 133,655, WardsAuto data shows.

Honda Div. inched up 1.5%, with uncharacteristic declines in Pilot CUV (-10.1%) and Accord sedan deliveries (-19.1%) weakening gains elsewhere.

The CR-V had record September sales of 31,884, up 6.5% from year-ago and, as it has for the past three months, outsold the Accord and Civic (27,204 and 28,184).

Honda managed to hang on to the title of the top-selling compact CUV against the surging RAV4, with the CR-V now at 263,493 deliveries through September, a 1.5% increase from like-2015.

While it has enjoyed increases this year thanks to the new 10th-gen model, the Civic slipped slightly in September, down 0.3% year-over-year.

The soon-to-be-redesigned Odyssey minivan fell 9.8% last month, while the HR-V subcompact CUV climbed a hefty 48.7%. The CUV’s 58,270 deliveries through September were up 99.4% from January-September 2015.

The new Ridgeline compact pickup added 3,318 units to Honda’s September result.

Acura’s 12.9% loss can be put down to a 38.8% loss of the 2-year-old TLX sedan nameplate, as well as 41%-plus losses in ILX and RLX sedan deliveries.

The MDX CUV, refreshed for ’17, rose 14.3% and the smaller RDX CUV inched up 1.8%.

The NSX supercar tallied 38 September sales, bringing its year-to-date total to 83.

Nissan U.S. sales rose 4.9% last month vs. like-2015 to 127,797.

The Nissan brand grew volume 4.3% to 116,384, while Infiniti luxury-brand sales increased 11.7% to 11,413.

The Rogue compact CUV set a September record and again overtook the Altima midsize sedan in monthly sales, 26,459 to 25,031.

Year-to-date the Rogue still trailed the Altima, 241,619 to 242,321. However, Nissan officials last week told media they expect the CUV to emerge victorious before year-end.

The Rogue and Altima, up 5.6% and 3.3%, respectively, were among the more modest gainers at Nissan last month.

Thanks to refreshes for ’17, the Armada large SUV and GT-R sports car posted 103.6% and 115.8% hikes, albeit on slight volume of 1,712 and 82, respectively.

The large Maxima sedan, redesigned over a year ago, again was up, 69.7% in September, while the addition of the half-ton Titan fullsize pickup grew that model’s sales 130.4%.

Titan’s year-to-date tally of 10,974 was 15.3% ahead of year-ago, although still far from the Detroit Three’s 6-figure truck tallies.

Infiniti’s 11.7% climb can be credited to the QX50 midsize CUV, refreshed a year ago and rising 362.0% compared with September 2015, as well as midsize cars the Q50 and Q60. The redesigned ’17 Q60 coupe now launching helped propel that nameplate 92.6% ahead of year-ago, WardsAuto data shows.

The new QX30 compact CUV recorded 249 deliveries last month, bringing the year’s total to 323.

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