Japan Three Post Mixed June Results

Toyota recorded a 2.1% daily-selling-rate rise in the U.S. in June, ending the month with 202,376 deliveries. June 2017 and 2016 both had 26 selling days.

Toyota Div. sales jumped 7.0% while Lexus luxury sales dipped 5.4%. WardsAuto still separates the defunct Scion models from Toyota models, showing Scion declined 99.9% vs. year-ago with just eight models sold last month.

Continuing a months-long narrative for the Toyota brand and following industry trends,  many of its light trucks were in the black, while car sales slid.

The “ongoing dynamic” to shift more of Toyota’s North American production from cars to light trucks will continue this year and into 2018, Bill Fay, senior vice president-automotive operations for Toyota Motor North America, tells media during a conference call to discuss June and first-half results. He says presently 60% of Toyota’s North American production is geared to light trucks, just below the industry’s 63% light-truck sales mix.

All but two of Toyota’s light-truck nameplates posted gains from June 2016.

The RAV4 midsize CUV  was Toyota’s No.1-selling model for the second month in a row, outselling the Camry and Corolla sedans with 34,120 deliveries to those models’ respective 29,463 and 31,051 units.

The RAV4 June result was a best-ever result for the month, WardsAuto data shows. Its first-half sales of 184,766 are up 11.4% from January-June 2016, topping the Camry and Corolla’s first-half sales by roughly 9,000 units.

Toyota is sticking to its goal of selling 400,000 RAV4s this year in the U.S. despite running a bit behind 200,000 in the first-half.

“I think we’re going to get pretty close,” Fay says. “We still see a lot of strength in that segment. There’s no reason to think it won’t continue.”

The Corolla, whose 31,051 total sales include 1,619 iM hatchback variants, fell 4.5% from June 2016, while the Camry, whose next-generation goes on sale this month, lost 9.5% of its year-ago volume.

Toyota’s remaining car nameplates, including the Prius, also slid from like-2016, with the exception of the low-volume Mirai fuel-cell car. The Mirai’s June sales rose 222.5%, but on 129 deliveries vs. 40 year-ago.

Other Toyota light-truck nameplates that had a strong June include the Highlander large CUV (28.3%), 4Runner midsize SUV (23.9%) and the Land Cruiser large SUV (11.1%).

Down were the Sienna minivan (-17.1%) and Sequoia large SUV (-13.3%).

Toyota’s new B-segment CUV the C-HR tallied 3,100 sales last month, bringing its year-to-date total to 5,498.

Tacoma and Tundra pickup sales rose 4.0% and 4.3%, respectively, from year-ago.

At Lexus, slumping car sales continued as all models, save for the new LC coupe, were in the red.

The high-volume ES midsize sedan posted the mildest drop (7.8%), while the GS mid-large sedan suffered the steepest decline (52.2%).

Lexus sold 423 LCs last month, bringing its total to 845 for the year. Fay credits the LC for driving interest in all Lexus models.

Lexus light-truck sales rose a mild 4.3%, as a 17.1% drop by the GX midsize SUV tempered gains of 4.5% to 30.1% by the RX and NX CUVs and LX large SUV.

Through the year’s first half, total Toyota U.S. sales are down 3.6% to 1.155 million. Lexus trails first-half 2016 by 11.7%, but Toyota volume is up 1.3%.

Fay says Toyota is sticking with its 17.1 million seasonally adjusted annual rate forecast for the industry  earlier this year. It expects to see a stronger second half, particularly for Lexus, as economic indicators are strong in terms of low unemployment, more disposable income and the best consumer sentiment in 17 years.

Toyota did see a roughly 30,000-unit decline in fleet sales in the first half, but Fay says that had more to do with it being a traditionally slower period for Toyota fleet deliveries than the second-half. He projects Toyota’s 2017 fleet sales will be on par with 2016 when all is said and done.

Honda Sales Flat

American Honda sales largely were flat, creeping up just 0.8% from June 2016 to 139,793. Unlike in previous months, it was the Honda Div. that was the less-stellar performer, with Acura deliveries rising.

Honda sales slipped 1.3% as the brand’s No.1 and No.3 best-selling models, the Civic compact car and CR-V midsize CUV, fell 2.8% and 4.3%, respectively. Honda blames inventory issues, specifically lack of higher trim levels, for the CR-V’s drop, as well as the 13.1% decline in Pilot large CUV deliveries.

The Accord midsize sedan, Honda’s No.2-seller but down in recent months, posted a 3.4% increase.

While June was the first full month of sales of the redesigned Odyssey minivan, demand for the vehicle dipped 6.8% from like-2016.

The HR-V subcompact CUV bucked Honda’s negative CUV sales, as deliveries rose 35.1% from June 2016 to 8,872. HR-V sales in the year’s first half tallied 46,628 and put Honda on target to achieve its 90,000-unit goal for the vehicle in 2017.

Acura’s hike primarily was driven by increased sales of its RDX and MDX CUVs, which rose 48.3% and 14.0%, respectively, vs. year-ago. Acura credits the new MDX Sport Hybrid model for that nameplate’s increase.

The RDX’s 5,327 deliveries was a June record, Acura says.

The TLX midsize sedan, buoyed by a recent refresh, also was in positive territory last month, up 12.9%.

Acura’s entry-level ILX compact sedan saw a rare gain, up 6.9%, while Acura delivered 31 units of the closely watched NSX supercar in June, bringing its first-half tally to 278.

Through June, American Honda sales were flat, down 0.1% to 791,866 with Honda brand up 0.7% and Acura down 6.5%.

Nissan Inches Up

Nissan’s U.S. sales rose 2.0% in June to 143,328. The Nissan brand gained 1.2%, while Infiniti luxury sales climbed 11.0%.

As at Toyota, it was Nissan’s midsize CUV that was its No.1-seller and which set a June record. The Rogue, with 34,349 deliveries, rose 17.4% from year-ago and easily topped sales of the brand’s midsize and compact sedans, the Altima (28,042) and Sentra (22,534).

While Altima sales dipped 8.0% from year-ago, Sentra deliveries gained 8.7%.

The Sentra was an exception, however, as most Nissan cars fell from year-ago, including the Versa subcompact (-44.5%) and the Maxima large sedan (-10.4%).

The 7-year-old Leaf electric car, approaching a major refresh due later this year, jumped 37.4% to 1,506.

While Nissan’s total light-truck sales increased, performance was mixed. The Armada SUV, NV vans, Pathfinder large CUV and Titan large pickup were in the black, while the Frontier midsize pickup, Murano midsize CUV and Quest minivan were in the red.

The closely watched Titan again posted a steep percentage increase, up 369%, but on relatively low monthly volume of 4,199. In comparison, Chevy sold 50,515 Silverado pickups last month.

The Infiniti brand set a June record, per WardsAuto data, with 12,271 deliveries, up 11.0% from June 2016.

Bucking the industry trend, cars, not light trucks, fueled Infiniti’s June rise. The brand can credit a 37.2% increase in sales of its second-best-selling model, the Q50 midsize sedan, and a very sharp rise (977.2%) in deliveries of its new Q60 midsize coupe, from 79 units year-ago to 851 last month.

Infiniti light-truck sales dipped 4.0% due to declines by the QX50 (-28.4%) and QX60 (-23.3%) midsize and large CUVs. The QX70 midsize CUV and QX80 large SUV rose 38.4% and 16.8%, respectively. The new QX30 small CUV tallied 726 sales in June.

Through first-half 2017, Nissan’s U.S. sales gained 2.7% vs. first-half 2016 to land at 819,688 deliveries. Nissan rose 1.0% while Infiniti climbed 21.8%.

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