Toyota March 2012 Sales up 15.4%

[xcel]

Camry sales were hot!

Wayne Gerdes - CleanMPG - April 3, 2012

2012 Toyota Camry - $21,955 to start and at a minimum, 25/35 mpgUS city/highway proves it is a true segment leader.

Toyota’s all-new seventh-generation Camry arrived with a more aggressive exterior design with a more spacious interior, improved driving dynamics, a quieter ride and all-new infotainment technology

The Toyota Camry can be purchased with three powertrains including the 2.5L I4, the Hybrid with a 2.5L I4 mated to Toyota’s HSD and a fuel sucking pig (FSP) 3.5L V6. In other words, there are only two powertrain choices that make sense within the 2012 Toyota Camry today.

Toyota’s March 2012 Sales

Toyota this afternoon reported its best monthly sales results since 2008 with sales of 203,282 units, an increase of 15.4 percent compared to March 2011.

Toyota posted March total sales of 183,142 units, an increase of 17.7 percent over March 2011. Lexus reported total sales of 20,140 units, decreasing 2.6 percent versus last March.

Toyota Highlights

Toyota passenger cars recorded combined sales of 113,135 units, up 19.5 percent over March 2011. Camry and Camry Hybrid increased 30.5 percent year-over-year with its best-ever March, leading all manufacturer monthly passenger car sales with 42,567 units. The Prius family (hatch, c,v and PHEV) outsold every previous record posting March sales of 28,711 units, up 48.8 percent over the year-ago month. Corolla reported combined March sales of 28,289 units finishing second just 4 cars behind the segment sales leading Focus.

Toyota trucks recorded March sales of 70,007 units, an increase of 5.1 percent compared to March 2011. The RAV4 compact SUV led light truck sales, which posted monthly sales of 17,367 units, up 4.1 percent over last year. Highlander and Highlander Hybrid reported combined sales of 11,044 units for the month, increasing 8.4 percent versus the year-ago month. The Tacoma mid-size pickup increased 19.3 percent year-over-year with monthly sales of 12,547 units. The Tundra full-size pickup was also up 10.3 percent for the month with sales of 8,594 units.

Scion posted March sales of 6,694 units, increasing 16.5 percent over March 2011.

Lexus

Lexus reported passenger car sales of 11,477 units, up 5.4 percent over March 2011. The ES entry luxury sedan led Lexus passenger car sales with 3,141 units. The GS and GS hybrid posted combined sales of 2,558 units, up 472.3 percent over a year ago. The IS luxury sports sedan recorded sales of 2,717 units for March.

Lexus luxury utility vehicles reported sales of 8,663 units, a decrease of 17.9 percent year-over-year. The RX and RX hybrid posted combined monthly sales of 7,057 units.

Hybrids

Toyota Motor Sales posted March sales of 38,215 hybrid vehicles, an increase of 49.0 percent compared to the same period last year. Toyota Division posted sales of 34,722 hybrids for the month, up 60.7 percent over the year-ago month. Lexus Division reported monthly sales 3,493 hybrids.

Toyota March 2012 Overall Sales

Model	Mar-12	Mar-11	Mar-DSR % change	Mar -12 YTD	Mar-11 YTD	YTD-DSR % change
Yaris	3,547	2,825	+21.1%	10,169	6,610	+49.8 %
Corolla	28,289	30,234	-9.8%	68,428	76,675	-13.1%
Prius Family*	28,711	18,605	NA	60,859	42,779	NA
Camry	42,567	31,464	+30.5%	105,405	76,821	+33.6%
Toyota Totals	203,282	176,222	+11.2%	487,284	433,924	+9.4%

The daily selling rate (DSR) is calculated with 28 selling days in March of 2012 and 27 selling days during March of 2011.
Year-to-date, the DSR is calculated with 77 days for 2012 and 75 days for 2011. All percentages reflect DSR.
* Prius family sales breakouts were not provided so a percentage comparison to last year’s Prius hatch sales would be misleading.

Top 10 – March 2012 US Automobile Sales Leaders

Sales Rank	Make	Model	Mar-12	Mar-11	Mar-DSR % change	Mar-12 YTD	Mar-11 YTD	YTD-DSR % change
1	Ford	F-Series	58,061	53,272	+5.1%	143,827	126,627	+10.6%
2	Toyota	Camry	42,567	31,464	+30.5%	105,405	76,821	+33.6%
3	Nissan	Altima	41,050	32,289	+22.6%	96,360	69,551	+34.9%
4	Chevrolet	Silverado	36,491	32,555	+8.1%	95,638	92,455	+0.8%
5	Honda	CR-V	30,868	21,998	+35.3%	74,587	57,433	+26.5%
6	Ford	Fusion	28,562	27,566	-0.0%	63,949	65,023	-4.2%
7	Ford	Focus	28,293	17,178	+58.8%	66,043	37,071	+73.5%
8	Toyota	Corolla	28,289	30,234	-9.8%	68,428	76,675	-13.1%
9	Honda	Civic	28,199	31,213	-12.9%	77,169	64,968	+15.7%
10	Ram	P/U	26,960	21,898	+18.7%	67,464	52,739	+24.6%

The daily selling rate (DSR) is calculated with 28 selling days in March of 2012 and 27 selling days during March of 2011.
Year-to-date, the DSR is calculated with 77 days for 2012 and 75 days for 2011. All percentages reflect DSR.
Prius sales combined reached 28,711 but within the sales breakout, none were in the top 10.

Top 10 Sales Leaders - Items of note: Ram sales fell to tenth on the list, Camry and Altima are neck and neck and the Cruze sales fell out of the top 10 even with sales of over 20,000 units.

B-Segment Sales Rank

1. Nissan Versa - 15,587
2. Hyundai Accent - 8,337
3. Chevrolet Sonic - 8,251
4. Ford Fiesta - 6,502
5. Honda Fit - 4,559
6. Kia Rio - 4,509
7. Toyota Yaris - 3,547

C-Segment Sales Rank

1. Ford Focus - 28,293
2. Toyota Corolla - 28,289
3. Honda Civic - 28,199
4. Chevrolet Cruze - 21,607
5. Hyundai Elantra - 19,681
6. VW Jetta - 14,966
7. Nissan Sentra - 14,092
8. Mazda3 - 13,235

D-Segment Sales Rank

1. Toyota Camry - 42,567
2. Nissan Altima - 41,050
3. Ford Fusion - 28,562
4. Honda Accord - 26,771
5. Chevrolet Malibu - 23,887
6. Hyundai Sonata - 23,281
7. Kia Optima - 15,008
8. Chrysler 200 - 14,914
9. VW Passat - 10,032

March segment ranking items of note: Versa had a stunning month, Accent now #2 passing the Sonic, Fiesta outsold the Fit again and the Rio caught up to and surpassed Yaris. The Focus outsold all including Civic for the first time. The Camry and Altima broke through the 40,000 sales barrier together.

Automobile Manufacturer's US Sales Rank - March 2012 vs. March 2011 Comparison and Total Sales

1. GM March Sales up 11.8% with 231,052 vehicles sold.
2. Ford March Sales up 5.0% with 223,418 vehicles sold.
3. Toyota March Sales up 15.4% with 203,282 vehicles sold.
4. Chrysler March Sales up 34.2% with 163,381 vehicles sold.
5. Nissan March Sales up 12.5% with 136,317 vehicles sold.
6. Honda March Sales down 5.0% with 126,999 vehicles sold.
7. Hyundai February Sales up 12.7% with 69,728 vehicles sold.
8. Kia March Sales up 30.2% with 57,505 vehicles sold.
9. VW March Sales up 34.6% with 36,588 vehicles sold.
10. Subaru March Sales up 20.3% with 32,387 vehicles sold.
11. Mazda March Sales up 4.8% with 32,376 vehicles sold.
12. BMW March Sales up 13.0% with 29,806 vehicles sold.
13. Mercedes-Benz March Sales up 13.1% with 25,508 vehicles sold.
14. Audi March Sales up 18.0% with 11,585 vehicles sold.

March manufacturer sales rank items of note: Hyundai/Kia combined sales top Honda/Acura and Subaru outsells both Mazda and BMW.

SAAR is running at a very healthy 14.8 Million units.

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

What I know so far:

-Prius c	4,875
-Prius v	4,937
-Plug-in Prius	891
-Liftback	18,008
All Prius	28,711
Camry	5,400
Highlander	611

So the liftback was actually down from the 18,605 panic-purchased in March 2011, but given that there is now a subcompact wagon and a plug-in, the core liftback has held up pretty well.

The Prius c makes its debut as the fifth best seller in the B segment! Allowing for some pent-up demand, if gas prices hold up the c could potentially outsell the Yaris this year.

[ksstathead]

All 4 Prius models are cars I would buy, depending on my needs. It definitely grows the brand, though there is also cannibalization of liftbacks.

Gas price is again driving Prius sales. Once the economy goes bust again (globally), gas will get cheap and sales will slump more than other cars. Lather, rinse, repeat.

We will test drive c and v soon, and likely buy a PiP when available in middle-America.

[WriConsult]

Agreed. If I had one more kid (and more money), I'd buy the Prius v.

If I were buying a commuter car (and sometimes I wish I were), I'd buy the Prius c.

If I were buying a family roadtrip car (which is my actual need) and I had more money, I'd buy the Prius liftback.

If gas went above $10 I'd buy the Prius PHEV.