It finally feels like the auto industry has found firm footing on the other side of a river of trouble it's been swimming in for years. An economic crisis, natural disasters and record-breaking recalls are all to blame for sales being up or down for this or that automaker in months past, but as we look back at June and the first half of sales for 2013, it feels like all of the industry's players are finally on an even field now, and it's product versus product from here on out.
Toyota knows this more than most, having survived all three of the aforementioned currents that were dragging it down, and a recent report revealed it intended do everything necessary to keep the best-selling sales crown for the Camry. It's working so far, as Toyota sales were up 10.21 percent in June, with Camry sales topping all passenger cars at 35,870 units.
The second-best-selling car in June, however, was not the Honda Accord, Nissan Altima or even the Ford Fusion. Rather, the Chevy Cruze came in right behind the Camry with sales of 32,871. Coincidentally, it was June 2011 when the Cruze overtook the Camry in sales for a single month, though we expect a healthy serving of fleet sales had something to do with the Chevy's surge both then and now.
The Detroit 3 also posted healthy sales gains last month, with Ford Motor Company sales rising 13.42 percent, Chrysler Group up 8.2 percent and General Motors up 6.47 percent. Nissan North America also performed well with sales rising 12.89 percent, and Honda was not to be outdone, nearly matching Toyota Motor Company's percentage gains with a 9.7-percent increase of its own.
While Jaguar posted the largest sales gain of 58.93 percent in June, its total sales were just 1,637 units. When volume is taken into consideration, no brand was more impressive than Subaru, which posted a 41.63-percent increase on sales of 39,235 units thanks to big bumps from the Forester and Outback, as well as new sales from the XV Crosstrek that seemingly avoided cannibalizing any customers from the standard Impreza, sales of which were flat last month.
*Brands and companies are displayed in descending order according to their percentage change in volume sales. There were 26 selling days in June 2013 and 27 selling days in June 2012, so there is a difference between the change in monthly sales volume and the change in average daily sales rate (DSR) for each brand/company. Also, brands are combined and reported as companies only if their sales figures are released jointly.
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