Camry Keeps Midsize Sedan Sales Lead but Loses Overall Crown [Sales Report]

The 2016 Toyota Camry Special Edition
The 2016 Toyota Camry Special Edition

The Toyota Camry has been the best-selling car in the United States for a long time, so it’s a surprise that, although it kept the midsize sedan sales lead in April, it lost the overall monthly sales crown.

And it wasn’t lost to a crossover.

The Camry held a commanding lead over the Honda Accord and Nissan Altima in March, but sales were down eight percent for the month compared to March 2015 and overall sales are down more than three percent for the year.

This slip opened the door for the hot-selling Honda Civic, which was the best selling passenger car in the land for the month. Check out the compact car sales list for complete details.

The Camry still has the overall yearly lead with an 8,000-sale lead over the Civic.

Despite falling short of the lead, both the Accord and Altima had strong sales months. The Accord was up more than 15 percent for the month and more than 13 percent for the year, while the Altima was up nearly 29 percent for the month and more than four percent for the year.

2016 Chevrolet Malibu
2016 Chevrolet Malibu

The all-new Chevrolet Malibu continues to surge in sales over its predecessor, with a near-25 percent gain for March, the second-best increase after the Altima. Yearly sales are up 34 percent, the best of the group.

After the Malibu, though, the sales numbers get bleak. All contenders save for the Subaru Legacy had double-digit decreases for the month, and only the Legacy, the Hyundai Sonata and the Buick Regal are up for the year. Of all the cars on the list, the Chrysler 200 fared the worst, with monthly and yearly drops in the 60 percent range.

April 2016 Midsize Car Sales

Apr 2016 # Mar 2016 # Apr ’16/Mar ’16 % Apr 2016/2015 YTD 2016 # YTD 2016/2015 %
Toyota Camry 34,039 36,991 -8.0% -0.1% 130,283 -3.2%
Honda Accord 31,526 30,523 3.3% 15.7% 108,599 13.2%
Nissan Altima 28,484 34,856 -18.3% 28.8% 113,816 4.4%
Chevrolet Malibu 21,763 22,058 -1.3% 24.9% 79,985 33.7%
Ford Fusion 20,730 29,675 -30.1% -16.9% 95,724 -0.7%
Hyundai Sonata 15,211 28,778 -47.1% -15.1% 76,668 22.5%
Kia Optima 11,224 11,725 -4.3% -17.9% 40,992 -18.2%
Chrysler 200 7,591 6,176 22.9% -60.0% 25,564 -62.0%
VW Passat 5,629 6,097 -7.7% -15.0% 19,692 -27.2%
Subaru Legacy 5,591 5,551 0.7% 6.0% 20,069 2.2%
Mazda Mazda6 3,929 4,094 -4.0% -21.3% 14,212 -33.6%
Buick Regal 1,306 1,276 2.4% -20.7% 6,843 13.5%

Check out this TFLcar video of the 2016 Nissan Altima when it made its debut at the Miami Auto Show: