Toyota Climbs 4.5% in February, Honda and Nissan Fall

Despite declines at other automakers, Toyota’s U.S. sales rose 4.5% on a daily-selling-rate and volume basis in February, Wards Intelligence data shows. There were the same number of selling days, 24, both this year and last.

The No.1 Japanese automaker sold 182,195 vehicles in the U.S. last month, with the Toyota brand accounting for the bulk of that figure, 162,929.

Once again it was a best-ever month for Toyota light trucks, with the 93,827 sold an all-time record for any February, the automaker says.

The charge largely was led by the RAV4 midsize CUV, which posted an any-month high of 29,867, Toyota says. Some 3,657 of those were RAV4 hybrids, representing an 18.7% increase for the gas-electric model from February 2017.

In total, the RAV4 recorded a 13.3% increase vs. year-ago.

The only other light trucks with gains were the Tacoma and Tundra pickups, up 18.0% and 10.3%, respectively, the Land Cruiser, up 1.2%, and the Highlander 3-row CUV, up just 0.2%.

Sales of the fullsize Sequoia SUV fell 23.7%.

Despite the RAV4’s big month, it didn’t outsell the Camry. Propelled by an all-new generation, Camry sales tallied 30,865 last month, climbing 12.2% from year-ago.

Toyota also saw another month of strong Avalon sales as it sells down the current models ahead of an all-new model debuting this spring. Avalon sales rose 16.0% to 3,027 units.

With the exception of the low-volume Mirai hydrogen fuel-cell car, up 50.9% to 166 deliveries, all other Toyota cars declined in February. The Prius fell 21.8% last month. Of the Prius variants, only the Prime plug-in hybrid was in the black, up 50.5% to 2,050, Toyota says.

At Lexus, sales rose 5.1% to 19,265 on the strength of the luxury brand’s light trucks, which gained 12.3% while car sales declined 9.2%.

The RAV4-derived Lexus NX midsize CUV also had a best-ever February, with 4,263 sold, good for a 21.3% increase from like-2017.

Sales of the brand’s best-selling model, the RX midsize CUV, rose 8.4% to 7,238, while the GX SUV climbed 16.1%. The only declining light truck in the Lexus lineup last month was the LX fullsize SUV, down 13.5%.

Thanks to an all-new model that went on sale last month, Lexus LS large sedan deliveries spiked 86.4% to 548 units from 294 in February 2017.

It was the only Lexus car nameplate in positive territory last month save for the relatively new LC sports car, which added 128 units to the brand’s tally.

The ES and GS sedans were flat, down 0.4% and 0.9%.

Through February, Toyota volume stood at 349,251, a 10.0% increase from January and February 2017.

At Honda, sales fell 5.0% on a DSR basis to 115,557 from 121,686 year-ago.

The Honda brand, due to declines by best-selling models the Civic, CR-V and Accord, dipped 5.6%.

The CR-V midsize CUV fell 19.0% to 25,852, while the Civic compact car slipped 4.5%.

Sales of the midsize Accord sedan were down 15.8%. Despite an all-new model in market, Honda classifies the Accord’s performance last month as strong due to the midsize segment continuing “to be marked by heavy incentives and fleet sales.”

Bright spots included Honda’s HR-V small CUV, which had its best-ever February with 6,791 deliveries, up 6.9% from year-ago, and the Odyssey minivan, which rose 3.4% despite being in a segment that is “receding,” Honda says.

Acura posted a 1.0% increase in February, led surprisingly by cars rather than CUVs.

The slow-selling ILX compact sedan, as well as the TLX midsize sedan, recorded gains, as did the refreshed RLX mid-large sedan. All rose in the range of 16.0% to 47.0%.

The RDX and MDX CUVs, usually strong performers for the brand, fell 6.5% and 5.8%, respectively, in February.

Honda’s U.S. sales through February were down 3.5% from the same period year-ago to 220,099.

Nissan sales declined 4.3% on a DSR and volume basis, to 129,930 from 135,740 in February 2017.

The Nissan brand fell 4.0% and Infiniti was down 6.7%.
The Rogue midsize CUV again was Nissan’s best-selling model by a wide margin, racking up 38,119 deliveries, compared with the 19,703 units sold of the Altima midsize sedan, Nissan’s former No.1 seller.

Showcasing the difficulty in selling midsize sedans in a light-truck-crazed U.S. market, Altima sales fell 25.8%.

The brand will debut a next-generation Altima later this month at the New York auto show.

Rogue sales climbed 15.0%, but it was the Frontier midsize pickup that had the biggest gain, jumping 68.8% to 7,992 units.

The Armada fullsize SUV, Murano midsize CUV, NV 200 van, Sentra compact car and Titan fullsize pickup also posted gains last month, with the Titan rising 25.9% to 3,761 sales.

Infiniti tallied 12,820 deliveries in February, with most nameplates gaining.

Strong results were seen from the QX60 3-row CUV (up 46.0%) and the Q50 midsize sedan (13.4%).

The relatively new Infiniti QX30 small CUV saw sales drop 67.9% to 775 vs. like-2017.

Nissan sales were up 2.2% through February to 253,468.

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