Toyota’s Truck Can’t Carry Day, April U.S. Sales Slide

Despite another solid month of demand for its trucks and crossovers, Toyota sales tumble 8.2% in April.

The Japanese automaker sold 183,866 light vehicles last month compared with 192,348 in the same period last year, according to Wards Intelligence. There were 25 selling days in the month against 24 days year-ago, which further eroded the year-over-year comparisons.

Toyota truck sales, including SUVs, CUVs and minivans, fell 2.2% year-over-year on a daily basis but raw volume improved to 117,300 units from 115,091 last year. Reflecting an ongoing industry trend, the automaker’s car sales slipped 17.3% to 66,566 units from 77,257 year-ago.

Sales for the Toyota brand fell 8.6% to 162,506 units from 170,706 in the same period last year, while the Lexus luxury brand saw demand wilt 5.3% to 21,360 units from 21,642.

The Toyota Tacoma midsize pickup continued its tear, with deliveries increasing 4.0% to 20,375 copies from 18,811 last year. Toyota says the performance marks 18 consecutive months of gains for the pickup. Demand for the RAV4 compact CUV grew 5.7% to 34,139 units from 31,007, a best-ever April for the product, while sales of the 4Runner SUV improved on volume to 10,055 units from 9,970.

Sales of the Lexus RX midsize luxury CUV stayed steady at 7,522 units compared with 7,705 year-ago, a decline of 6.3%. Lexus NX sales slipped 9.7% to 4,241 units from 4,508.

On the car side, the stalwart Toyota Camry sold 29,227 units, a decrease of 6% compared with 29,848 deliveries year-ago. Sales of the compact Corolla slid 21.3% to 19,679 units from 24,015.

So far this year, Toyota’s overall sales are off 4.8% to 727,580 units from 764,389 in like-2018.

Among other Asia-based automakers, Honda’s volume last month rose to 125,775 units from 125,701 in the same period last year, but the extra selling day sent its year-over-year result down 3.9%. Sales of products with the Honda nameplate grew on a volume basis to 114,088 units from 113,813 last year, although the brand’s daily sales fell 3.8%. Acura sales dipped 5.6% to 11,687 units from 11,888.

Honda’s overall sales this year are up 1.5% to 495,562 units from 488,192 in the same period last year.

Nissan sales jumped 4.7% last month to 95,698 units from 87,764 last year. Nissan-brand deliveries grew 6.2% to 87,207 from 78,804, while Inifinti deliveries slid 9.0% to 8,491 units from 8,960. So far this year, Nissan’s overall sales are down 8.4% to 461,549 from 503,767.