The Toyota Camry continued to lead midsize sedan sales in March, but a strong month for the Nissan Altima closed the ranks on the perennial leader.
Despite a sales drop from March of 2015, the Camry sold nearly 37,000 units for the month. Sales for the year are also down 4.2 percent from this time in 2015, but it’s still enough to have a sizable year-to-date lead over the second-place Altima.
The Nissan’s sales were up nearly nine percent from March 2015 for a total of almost 35,000 sales. For the year, the Altima is still down slightly, but the strong March made up for early sales drops.
The Honda Accord, despite strong increases for both the month and the year, couldn’t keep pace with top two, trailing the Altima by about 5,000 sales. The Accord is typically a stronger seller later in the year, so the race is far from over.
Further down the list, the Hyundai Sonata was the most improved for the month, with a whopping 57 percent increase. Its yearly sales are also the most improved, narrowly beating out the all-new Chevrolet Malibu.
Speaking of the Malibu, it also had strong month-over-month sales with a 33 percent increase over 2015.
On the other side of the spectrum, the Chrysler 200 continues its precipitous fall, down 68 percent for the month and 63 percent for the year. The Mazda 6, one of the strongest contenders in the segment on paper, is also down 46 and 37 percent for the month and year, respectively.
Midsize Sedan Sales – March 2016
| Mar 2016 # | Feb 2016 # | Mar ’16/Feb ’16 % | Mar 2016/2015 | YTD 2016 # | YTD 2016/2015 % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toyota Camry | 36,991 | 32,405 | 14.2% | -9.3% | 96,244 | -4.2% |
| Nissan Altima | 34,856 | 28,320 | 23.1% | 8.9% | 85,332 | -1.8% |
| Honda Accord | 30,523 | 25,785 | 18.4% | 17.3% | 77,073 | 12.3% |
| Ford Fusion | 29,675 | 25,442 | 16.6% | 2.2% | 74,994 | 4.9% |
| Hyundai Sonata | 28,778 | 17,470 | 64.7% | 57.0% | 61,457 | 37.5% |
| Chevrolet Malibu | 22,058 | 21,418 | 3.0% | 33.3% | 58,222 | 37.3% |
| Kia Optima | 11,725 | 9,630 | 21.8% | -24.3% | 29,768 | -18.4% |
| Chrysler 200 | 6,176 | 6,597 | -6.4% | -68.0% | 17,973 | -63.0% |
| VW Passat | 6,097 | 4,380 | 39.2% | -21.8% | 14,063 | -31.1% |
| Subaru Legacy | 5,551 | 4,454 | 24.6% | -9.7% | 14,478 | 0.7% |
| Mazda Mazda6 | 4,094 | 3,617 | 13.2% | -45.9% | 10,283 | -37.3% |
| Buick Regal | 1,276 | 1,608 | -20.6% | -32.9% | 5,537 | 26.4% |
Check out this TFLcar video of the 2016 Nissan Altima:
