Japan Big Three U.S. Sales Falter in November

Toyota tallied 197,645 sales in November, a 4.1% decline from year-ago on a daily-selling-rate basis, according to WardsAuto data. There were 25 selling days last month vs. 23 in November 2015.

The Toyota brand slipped 3.2%, while Lexus sales fell 8.9% daily.

While Toyota’s car sales again slumped, down 12.3% in November, light trucks helped offset some of their loss.

“All-time best-ever Highlander sales combined with November best-ever RAV4 volume extends the Toyota Div.’s 2016 streak of consecutive light truck sales records to 11 months,” Bill Fay, group vice president-Toyota Div., says in a statement.

However, the RAV4’s 28,116 units were down 5.5% from year-ago. Some 3,757 of those RAV4s were hybrid models. Year-to-date, Toyota has sold 40,324 RAV4 Hybrids, while overall sales of the CUV have increased roughly 30,000 units.

The RAV4 was edged out as the No.2 best-selling Toyota last month by the Camry, which tallied 28,189 units, down 16.2% on a DSR basis from November 2015.

The Corolla, thanks to the addition of the former Scion iM hatchback to its lineup, was the No.1-selling Toyota last month, with 28,262 sales. The iM accounted for 1,515 of that total.

The Prius lineup continued its 2016 plunge, down 23.2% in November, depressing sales 26.8% for the year.

Toyota’s other stand-alone green car, the Mirai fuel-cell vehicle, performed better, selling 105 units in November and bringing its 2016 tally to 918, an unprecedented retail volume for an FCV in the U.S.

Lexus posted November sales of 29,050 units, with cars down even more steeply than at Toyota, 22.6%. Lexus’ ES had the smallest decline, 20.2%, while the GS posted the biggest, 49.2%.

The IS was the lone-gaining Lexus car, up 7.3% in November from year-ago.

Lexus light trucks inched up 1.6% on a DSR basis, with the NX, GX and LX offsetting a rare decline in sales of the RX midsize CUV. The RX slipped 12.3%, but at 10,269 it still was Lexus’ top-selling U.S. model last month.

The compact NX shot up 43.4% and through November is up 23.0%, with total sales of 47,509.

Through November, total Toyota U.S. deliveries were down 2.4% from like-2015 to 2.206 million.

Honda and Nissan Slip

Honda sales fell 2.0% below year-ago on a DSR basis to 122,924. However, that total was a November volume record for American Honda, the automaker says.

Contributing to the Honda brand’s 0.8% drop were declines in Accord, Civic, CR-V, Odyssey and Pilot sales. The Fit subcompact car and Fit-based HR-V CUV were the lone Hondas posting DSR increases vs. year-ago, up 31.4% and 113.7%, respectively. The new Ridgeline added 3,464 units to Honda’s November tally.

The Accord, with 27,182 sales last month, was Honda’s top-selling model, followed by the CR-V (25,758) and Civic (25,303).

Honda’s Acura brand fell 12.7% on a DSR basis to 11,616. The RLX flagship sedan posted a rare increase, up 7.3% to 140 units, while other car models fell. The MDX CUV, aided by a refreshed model, rose 3.9%. The smaller RDX CUV, like Honda overall, set a November volume record (3,750) but fell on a DSR basis (6.5%).

Acura sold 51 NSX luxury sports cars, bringing the model to 201 deliveries this year.

Honda’s total U.S. sales were up 2.9% through November to 1.477 million. The automaker is projecting a record volume year in the U.S.

Meanwhile, Nissan sales slipped 1.1% on a DSR basis last month, with the Nissan brand down 0.6% and Infiniti off 4.7%.

Nissan’s car sales, which have shown more resilience this year than Toyota’s, were in the red last month. The Altima midsize, Sentra compact and Versa subcompact cars all fell, down 10.3%, 11.0% and 25.4%, respectively.

The Leaf electric car bucked the trend, rising 27.2% in November, albeit to just 1,457 units.

The Rogue compact CUV again was the top-selling Nissan, outdoing the Altima by roughly 6,000 units. The 26,629 Rogues sold last month put the model 8.6% ahead of November 2015 and 11.0% ahead of January-November year-ago.

The Murano and Pathfinder CUVs were up even more sharply, 25.3% and 22.8%, respectively, WardsAuto data shows.

The Titan fullsize pickup spiked 326.0% above November 2015, with 3,329 sales.

At Infiniti, the Q60, buoyed by a new generation, was the lone car model to rise, but its 263.5% jump, and the 46.1% jump in QX50 CUV sales, couldn’t offset losses elsewhere.

Infiniti notched 473 deliveries last month of the new QX30 compact CUV.

Total Nissan U.S. sales were up 4.9% through November, to 1.412 million units.

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