The Honda CR-V, 2015’s best-selling crossover, took another uncharacteristic drop in sales for March, letting both the Nissan Rogue and the Ford Escape vault ahead.
Neither one could ouster the Toyota RAV4, which took the lead again for the month and is also the yearly sales leader in the category.
The CR-V’s sales dropped 3.2 percent over March 2016 and sales are down 2.7 percent for the year. If Honda wants the CR-V to repeat as the top-selling compact crossover, they have some work to do.
The Ford Escape had a stellar month, with an 8.4 percent month-over-month increase that left it about 500 sales short of beating out the RAV4. Yearly sales are also up for the year to the tune of 6.4 percent.
The RAV4’s strong month kept it in the lead and kept its momentum from February. The pioneering crossover had double-digit increases for both the month and the year, the highest increases among the top sellers in the segment. It also increased its sales lead for the year over the CR-V to about 5,000 sales, with the Escape only 400 sales closer.
GM’s aging siblings, the Chevrolet Equinox and the GMC Terrain, both took hits for the month and are also down for the year. Jeep’s Patriot also took a dive, allowing its platform-mate, the Dodge Journey, to pass it in the list. The Jeep Compass, which also shares the same platform, had a strong month and was closer to the Patriot in monthly sales as it’s ever been.
The crossover to make the biggest gains is Hyundai’s vastly improved Tucson, which continues to outpace the previous generation’s sales numbers by a wide margin. The VW Tiguan continues to sell well, if in low numbers, and is the only model whose sales is seemingly unaffected by the company’s diesel emissions cheating scandal.
Compact Crossover Sales – March 2016
| Mar 2016 # | Feb 2016 # | Mar ’16/Feb ’16 % | Mar 2016/2015 | YTD 2016 # | YTD 2016/2015 % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toyota RAV4 | 29,045 | 25,523 | 13.8% | 15.1% | 76,122 | 13.6% |
| Ford Escape | 28,521 | 23,854 | 19.6% | 8.4% | 71,594 | 6.4% |
| Nissan Rogue | 27,713 | 21,561 | 28.5% | 1.1% | 69,036 | 7.1% |
| Honda CR-V | 26,730 | 25,250 | 5.9% | -3.2% | 71,188 | -2.7% |
| Chevrolet Equinox | 21,480 | 19,825 | 8.3% | -11.7% | 59,879 | -8.7% |
| Jeep Cherokee | 19,170 | 15,017 | 27.7% | 1.0% | 49,534 | 3.0% |
| Subaru Forester | 14,284 | 12,239 | 16.7% | -4.6% | 38,427 | 2.1% |
| Dodge Journey | 9,986 | 7,979 | 25.2% | 8.0% | 26,421 | 10.0% |
| Jeep Patriot | 9,837 | 10,637 | -7.5% | -17.0% | 28,747 | -3.0% |
| Mazda CX-5 | 8,965 | 7,579 | 18.3% | -17.7% | 23,607 | -2.8% |
| Jeep Compass | 8,282 | 7,203 | 15.0% | 53.0% | 20,574 | 43.0% |
| Hyundai Tucson | 7,830 | 7,336 | 6.7% | 85.5% | 20,384 | 83.2% |
| GMC Terrain | 6,891 | 8,232 | -16.3% | -14.2% | 23,958 | -13.6% |
| Kia Sportage | 6,804 | 5,860 | 16.1% | 31.2% | 17,467 | 50.0% |
| VW Tiguan | 3,519 | 3,245 | 8.4% | 53.0% | 9,292 | 66.2% |
| Mitsubishi Outlander | 2,156 | 2,121 | 1.7% | 33.5% | 5,820 | 53.4% |
Check out this TFLcar video of what to expect in the 2017 Ford Escape:
