Honda Civic keeps rolling, takes compact car sales crown for July [Sales Report]

2016 Honda Civic Sedan

The completely redesigned Honda Civic continues to resonate with consumers as it rode another strong month to stay on top of the compact car sales charts again for July.

The Civic’s sales were up 5.8 percent over July 2015, the second highest gain among its competitors, and is up 17.6 percent for the year, again the second best. The Civic is the only car that’s giving the Toyota Camry a run for the overall top spot, as well.

Second place again went to the Toyota Corolla, a perennial strong seller that also had a positive month, gaining nearly five percent over July 2015. Sales for the year are still slightly off at roughly three percent in the minus column, but it’s still enough to stay close to the Civic and stay far ahead of the third place Nissan Sentra.

The Sentra stayed in third overall, but despite having a slight gain over July 2015, it lost out on third place for the month to the Hyundai Elantra. Oddly, the Elantra stayed ahead of the Sentra while having a down month, a significant seven percent drop over last year.

2017 Forte Sedan

Further down the list, the only car to have a gain for the month is the Kia Forte, and it’s a significant one – almost 31 percent – as it continues to be the most improved car for the year. Volkswagen’s diesel settlement may finally be driving more customers to dealerships, as the Jetta’s sales were only down one percent from last year and are up significantly over last month.

Down near the bottom of the list is the Scion iM, which hasn’t caught on like its subcompact sibling, the iA. Next year, though, it will be folded into the Toyota lineup as the Corolla iM, so if Toyota decides to combine its sales with that of the Corolla, it might be enough to take the lead next year. Combined, the Corolla and the iM would top the Civic.

Compact car sales – July 2015

July 2016 # June 2016 # July ’16/June ’16 % June 2016/2015 YTD 2016 # YTD 2016/2015 %
Honda Civic 32,952 31,810 3.6% 5.8% 222,792 17.6%
Toyota Corolla 31,717 30,950 2.5% 4.9% 213,910 -2.9%
Hyundai Elantra 20,629 22,414 -8.0% -6.8% 116,935 -22.5%
Nissan Sentra 18,536 20,721 -10.5% 0.1% 141,550 13.8%
Ford Focus 13,973 19,491 -28.3% -17.9% 117,117 -12.7%
Chevrolet Cruze 13,723 18,666 -26.5% -35.7% 100,454 -32.7%
VW Jetta 11,450 8,617 32.9% -1.0% 69,729 -11.3%
Kia Forte 10,303 9,170 12.4% 30.9% 63,045 23.5%
Mazda 3 8,103 8,399 -3.5% -14.7% 59,484 -7.6%
VW Golf 5,351 4,606 16.2% -20.3% 31,673 -15.4%
Subaru Impreza 5,200 4,994 4.1% -20.3% 34,965 -7.6%
Dodge Dart 3,341 3,305 1.1% -42.0% 31,602 -42.0%
Subaru WRX 3,288 3,130 5.0% -11.5% 19,294 2.9%
Buick Verano 2,068 2,025 2.1% -13.1% 16,787 -16.0%
Scion iM 1,601 1,570 2.0% NEW 10,682 NEW
Mitsubishi Lancer 1,093 1,028 6.3% -15.4% 9,527 -20.0%

 

Check out this related TFLcar mashup video of three contenders in this segment, the Chevy Cruze, Honda Civic and Hyundai Elantra: