The Top-Selling Japanese Cars

Source: Toyota Motor Corp.

In the month of October, Japanese automakers were responsible for eight of the top-20-selling vehicles in the U.S. The four top-selling cars come from Japanese makers, and trail behind only the three full-size pickup trucks from U.S. carmakers Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F), General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM), and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (NYSE: FCAU). Three were compact crossover/SUVs, three were mid-size cars, and two were compacts.

Of 16 automakers included in Kelley Blue Book’s (KBB) monthly tracking reports, 7 are based in Japan. There are  just two or three U.S. car makers, depending on how you choose to count, and three from Germany. South Korea, India, and Sweden/China account for the other three.

The Japanese car makers are Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM), Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (NYSE: HMC), Mazda Motor Corp., Mitsubishi Motors, Nissan Motor Co. Ltd., Subaru (Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd.), and Suzuki Motor Co. In the case of Suzuki the company stopped selling new cars in the U.S. two years ago but still remain on KBB’s list.

8. The Nissan Rogue sold 14,685 units in October and had a sales total of 169,253 for the first 10 months of the year. The compact SUV has boosted sales 23% year-to-date compared with 2013. The MSRP for the base model of the Rogue is $23,675 according to KBB.

7. Toyota’s RAV4 has sold 223,593 units in the U.S. through October. That’s up 25.7% year-to-date over 2013. In the month of October the compact SUV sold 21,524 units. The MSRP for a base version of the 2015 RAV4 is $24,565.

6. The mid-size Nissan Altima sold 23,544 units in October and has sold 280,479 year to date, a year-over-year increase of 3.4%. The MSRP for the 2015 Altima’s base version is $23,125.

5. Honda’s compact sedan, the Civic, sold 24,154 units in October. For the first 10 months of 2014 the car has sold 277,584 units. This model is the only one of the top-selling Japanese car to post a sales decline in both the month of October (down 11.6%) and for the year to date (down 1.2%). The MSRP on a four-door 2015 Civic sedan is $19,130.

4. The Toyota Corolla/Matrix sold 24,959 units in October and has sold 283,764 through the first 10 months of 2014. Sales are up 10.3% year-to-date on the second compact sedan on this list. The MSRP for a base version of the 2015 Corolla is $17.725.

3. The Honda Accord is another mid-size car that has been a best-seller in the U.S. for years. The car sold 27,128 units in October and has sold 331,510 year-to-date. Sales are up 7.9% for the first 10 months of this year. The MSRP on the base 2015 model four-door sedan is $22,925.

2. The top-selling compact SUV is Honda’s CR-V which sold 29,257 units in October and has sold 270,272 units in the first 10 months of 2014. October sales rose nearly 30% year-over-year, and year-to-date sales are up 7.4%. The 2015 base version of the CR-V has an MSRP of $24,200.

1. The Toyota Camry has been the best-selling mid-size car for more than a decade and it does not look to be relinquishing its position this year. In October 33,164 Camrys were sold, up 13.8% year-over-year for the month. For the year to date U.S buyers have driven home 368,142 new Camrys, up 5.7% over the first 10 months of last year. Camry even sold more units that the third-best selling pickup truck, FCA’s Ram. A base version of the four-door sedan carries an MSRP of $23,795.

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