Civic Up, CUVs Down for Honda, Nissan Rises

Honda’s U.S. sales grew 6.5% on a daily-rate basis in January to 100,497 units from 102,184 year-ago, WardsAuto data shows.

There were 24 selling days in January 2016 vs. 26 in January 2015.

Unlike other brands, however, Honda saw a slump in light-truck sales while car deliveries increased 19.8%.

Honda-brand sales rose 8.4% on a DSR basis thanks to a 54.9% hike in Civic deliveries. The redesigned Civic sedan went on sale last fall in the U.S.

Honda also saw positive results from its Accord model, traditionally the second-best-selling midsize car in the U.S. annually after the Toyota Camry, although last month it was edged out by Nissan’s Altima by roughly 1,400 units.

The CR-V compact CUV and Pilot large CUV were in the red last month, down 10.4% and 24.7%, respectively, with both also losing volume from January 2015.

The CR-V also was down in the fourth quarter of 2015, with a 9.5% DSR decline, WardsAuto data shows.

The nearly year-old HR-V subcompact CUV added 4,177 units to Honda’s January tally.

At the Acura brand, deliveries fell 7.3% on a DSR basis to 10,250 from 11,982 in like-2015.

Acura also saw its CUVs slide last month, with the RDX compact and MDX large CUVs slipping 4.4% and 11.6%, respectively.

The Civic-based and refreshed ILX was the only Acura car rising in January, up 34.7%.

Nissan Sales Up 10% in January

Nissan’s U.S. sales rose 10.0% in January on a DSR basis, with the Nissan brand selling a January-best 97,220 units.

At Nissan, brand deliveries rose 11.5% adjusted as an increase in light-truck sales offsets falling car deliveries.

Among Nissan light trucks the Rogue compact CUV was especially strong. Rogue set a January record with 19,762 sales, up from 15,649 year-ago and good for a 36.8% hike.

Other light-truck gains came from more modest, and surprisingly older, sellers.

The 6,541 sales recorded by the 3-year-old Nissan Pathfinder 3-row CUV also was a January record.

The 5-year-old Nissan Quest minivan doubled its year-ago volume to 1,421.

The newer Murano, launched a year ago, also gained in January, up 58.4% on a DSR basis.

The Nissan Titan fullsize pickup, with its all-new XD variant now in market, posted a modest 163-unit increase vs. year-ago.

The Armada large SUV and discontinued Xterra midsize SUV were the rare light trucks seeing sales fall last month vs. like-2015.

The Sentra compact car and Maxima large car were the only Nissan car models in the black last month. The brand’s best seller, the Altima midsize sedan, fell 9.1% on a DSR basis to 22,156 units compared with 26,408 year-ago.

The 5-year-old Leaf electric car continues its downward slide, falling to 755 units from 1,070 in January 2015, a 23.6% DSR drop.

At Infiniti, sales were down 4.5% adjusted to 8,514 from 9,658, with only three models in the black.

The brand’s best-selling model, the Q50 midsize sport sedan, rose 6.4% to 2,914 units.

The refreshed QX50 midsize CUV posted a large percentage increase on 994 sales vs. 188 year-ago.

The fullsize QX80 SUV eked out a 1.0% gain last month.

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