Japanese automakers saw their slice of U.S. light-vehicle sales grow in 2013.
Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Subaru, Mazda and Mitsubishi accounted for 37.3% of total U.S. LV sales last year, up from 37.0% in 2012, WardsAuto data shows.
However, as many of the Japanese saw smaller market-share increases in 2013 than their U.S. counterparts, and South Korean OEMs lost ground, Asian automakers’ portion of U.S. light-vehicle sales dipped.
Asian automakers sold 45.4% of U.S. light vehicles in 2013, down from 45.7% in 2012. The European makes also saw their share decline, to 9.4% from 9.6%, as the Detroit Three, plus Tesla, made up 45.3% of U.S. sales compared with 44.6% in 2012.
Interesting to note was that Toyota and Honda seemed to benefit little, if at all, from the downturn at the South Korean brands. In 2010 and 2011, during Toyota’s recall crisis and the aftermath of the Japanese tsunami, Hyundai and Kia increased share at the expense of Toyota and Honda.
As expected, Hyundai and Kia lost share for the full year, falling to 8.1% combined from 8.7% in 2012, after sales declined in most months of 2013.
But Toyota’s portion of 2013 U.S. LV sales was flat at 14.4%.
The Lexus luxury brand took 1.8% of U.S. LV sales last year, up from 1.7% in 2012. ES midsize-sedan sales grew, and the car’s market share rose to 0.5% from 0.4% in 2012.
But Toyota-brand share held steady at 12.2%, as both the Camry and Prius’ allotment of total U.S. LV sales fell 0.2%, despite the Camry’s 0.9% sales increase.
The Scion youth brand accounted for 0.4% of LV sales last year, down from 0.5% in 2012, with all models but the FR-S sports car posting sales declines.
Honda sold 9.8% of all U.S. light vehicles in 2013, also down 0.1 points from 2012, with marginal declines for both the Honda and Acura brands.
Despite being the minivan sales leader for 2013, the Odyssey made up 0.8% of total U.S. LV sales, compared with 0.9% in 2012. The Accord sold 40,000 fewer units than the Camry, but gained market share to 2.4% from 2.3%.
Like the Odyssey, Acura’s MDX CUV was another strong seller that lost share in 2013, falling to 0.3% from 0.4% in 2012.
Infiniti’s cars and light trucks both lost 0.1 points of share and the G car lineup, partially replaced by the new Q50 sedan in 2013, accounted for 0.2% of total U.S. LV sales, down from 0.4% in 2012.
Results were rosier for the Nissan brand, which notched a solid share increase, to 7.3% from 7.1% in 2012, as it posted record U.S. sales of 1.248 million vehicles.
The Sentra compact sedan and Pathfinder large CUV each saw share grow, the latter up to 0.6% from 0.3% prior-year.
Subaru continued its ascent in 2013, selling a record 2.7% of U.S. light vehicles, up from 2.3% prior-year and 2.1% in 2011, on an all-time U.S. volume of 424,683 units.
Thanks to strong Forester and XV Crosstrek deliveries, Subaru light trucks collectively made up 1.9% of U.S. LV sales, from 1.4% in 2012.
Mazda’s slice of the U.S. market slipped to 1.8% from 1.9%, as the Mazda3 compact car’s share fell to 0.7% from 0.9% prior-year.
Mitsubishi retained its small sliver of U.S. LV sales, holding steady at 0.4% share. The Outlander Sport gained one-tenth of a percentage point of share and all other models were flat.
Hyundai accounted for 4.6% of all light vehicles sold in the U.S. in 2013, down from 4.9% in 2012, primarily due to falling demand for its Sonata midsize sedan. The Elantra compact car’s 0.2-point share gain couldn’t offset the 0.3-point loss for the midsize Sonata sedan.
Kia sold 3.5% of all U.S. light vehicles in 2013, down from 3.9% in 2012.
The Optima midsize sedan and Forte compact car each lost 0.1% of their year-ago market share.
The brand’s light trucks saw share drop to 0.9% from 1.2% as Sorento midsize and Sportage compact CUV deliveries shrank.
