For the second month in a row Toyota U.S. sales increased, rising 7.8% to 222,057 in July despite one fewer selling day than year-ago. There were 25 selling days last month vs. 26 in July 2016.
As has been the case for months, light trucks were the fuel that ignited the growth, with Toyota selling a whopping 41,804 RAV4s in July, a best-ever monthly result for the midsize CUV and coming two months after it set the last best-ever record, May 2017’s 38,356.
RAV4 sales rose 36.4% on a daily-selling-rate basis in July from year-ago, WardsAuto data shows.
“In July, Toyota division saw its strongest month of the year so far, and our second consecutive month of year-over-year increases based on sales volume,” Jack Hollis, group vice president and general manager-Toyota Div., says in a statement. Hollis adds the automaker is “thrilled” by the RAV4's volume.
Of the 41,804, 4,695 were RAV4 hybrids.
RAV4 sales were up 14.6% to 226,570 through July as the automaker pursues 400,000 RAV4 sales in the U.S. in 2017.
The RAV4’s July volume easily topped the Camry’s 33,827, making three months in a row the CUV has been Toyota’s No.1 seller.
The majority of the Camry's July sales were the outgoing ’17 Camry, as Toyota says it launched sales of the redesigned ’18 Camry late in July.
The new model, or attractive deals on the outgoing Camry, provided a boost, as sales of the midsize sedan were up 3.1% in July. However, Camry volume still trailed January-July year-ago by 9.9%.
Most Toyota cars saw declines from July 2016, with the exception of three low-volume models, the Mirai fuel-cell car and former Scions the Yaris iA and Corolla iM.
The iM hatch variant couldn’t offset the Corolla sedan’s decline and total Corolla volume fell 11.6%.
Prius sales continued to suffer, with the lineup off 23.1% in July. Other than the new Prius Prime plug-in, all Prius models posted losses in the 35.0% to 36.0% range.
Illustrating the growing dominance of CUVs, the only Toyota light trucks to decline in July were the Sienna minivan (-1.6%) and body-on-frame SUVs the Land Cruiser (-30.1%) and Sequoia (-2.3%).
Like its smaller sibling the RAV4, Toyota’s Highlander large CUV had a strong month, up 30.0% to 19,017.
Toyota sold 3,444 of its new C-HR small CUV, tallying 8,942 through July.
The midsize Tacoma and large Tundra pickups both increased in July, up 9.0% and 4.7%, respectively.
In total, the Toyota brand was up 11.6% in July.
Toyota’s Lexus brand climbed 7.8% and also on the strength of its utilities. The 28,902 Lexuses sold last month made for its second-best July tally yet, Lexus says.
Its utility lineup had its best July in Lexus history (17,486), WardsAuto data shows, as the NX and RX CUVs and GX and LX SUVs all rose between 12.5% and 19.9%.
Many of the cars in Lexus’ lineup continued to experience steep year-on-year losses. But the ES managed to gain in July, rising 25.6% on a DSR basis.
Lexus sold 313 units of its new LC sport coupe last month and has delivered 1,158 year-to-date.
Hollis says good inventory of Toyota’s light trucks should drive sales in August, while Lexus is looking to its Golden Opportunity marketing promotion this month to lift deliveries.
Through July, Toyota U.S. sales were down 2.5% at 1.377 million units.
Honda Cars Carry Brand
American Honda sales rose 2.8% in July on a DSR basis to 150,980 units, WardsAuto data shows, with Acura seeing a heftier increase (7.8%) than Honda (2.3%).
Overall, Honda had a better car than light-truck month, as the Civic set a July record with 36,683 deliveries, good for a 15.8% DSR increase vs. year-ago. Honda credits sales of the new Si and Type-R Civic variants, which went on sale in May and June, respectively, for boosting its compact car.
Accord sales were flat, up just 0.6%, but still managed to top 30,000 units.
Honda’s new Clarity battery-electric vehicle just began arriving at dealers in California and Oregon, with the automaker recording 34 sales late last month.
Honda sold 82 Clarity FCVs last month, with 376 sold through July.
As it did in June, Honda’s CR-V midsize CUV declined, down 8.3% to 31,761. The Toyota RAV4 typically is the top cross-shop of the CR-V so it is likely that model, given its strong July performance, pulled customers away from Honda showrooms.
Also, Honda’s HR-V subcompact CUV, which set a July record with 9,779 sales, could have drawn CR-V intenders. HR-V sales climbed 37.5% in July.
Additionally, Honda says certain grades of the CR-V were in tight supply last month.
It also blames inventory woes for the 6.1% decline in Odyssey minivan sales, despite the redesigned ’18 model going on sale in late May, and the 23.6% drop in Ridgeline pickup sales.
Acura’s 14,177 July units largely comprised CUVs. The RDX midsize model was flat but tallied 4,727 units. The MDX large CUV increased 33.3% on an adjusted basis to 5,539.
Acura’s low-volume NSX sports car and ILX compact sedan rose while the TLX, the brand’s third-best-seller and recently refreshed for ’18, fell 16.9%.
Through July, Honda sales were down 0.2% to 942,866 units.
Nissan Flat as Altima, Versa Drop
Nissan sales were flat in July, up 0.3% on a DSR basis to 128,295, with 10,840 of those being Infiniti models.
Infiniti sales grew 13.4% last month, while Nissan fell 0.3%.
While nearly all Nissan models posted increases in July, the high-volume Altima and Versa cars were in the red, down 7.0% and 30.7%, respectively.
The Rogue midsize CUV had a more modest increase than in recent months, up 1.3% to 32,425 and possibly related to the strong RAV4 month.
Nissan saw hefty growth (325.1%) from the low-volume Armada fullsize SUV, reflective of a sell down a year ago before a refreshed ’17 model was launched.
Also gaining was the Leaf EV (25.5%) and the brand’s pickups, the midsize Frontier (9.8%) and the fullsize Titan (244.9%). Like the Armada, the latter also saw a big percentage gain on relatively low volume.
Newer Infinitis the Q60 midsize coupe and QX30 small CUV continued to drive that brand’s gains. The Q60 rose 1,183.2% in July to 765 vs. 62 year-ago, while the QX30 tallied 729 sales.
Infiniti also got a lift from strong QX70 midsize CUV sales, up 166.4% to 620.
They helped offset losses of Infiniti’s higher-volume models the Q50 midsize sedan and QX60 large CUV, down a respective 3.7% and 1.5%.
Through July, Nissan sales were up 1.9% to 947,983.
