Toyota Sales Flat in June, Nissan Down, Honda Up

Toyota sold 209,602 units in June, down 0.3% on a daily-selling-rate basis, Wards Intelligence data shows. There were 27 selling days in June 2018 vs. 26 in June 2017.

However, the No.1-selling Japanese automaker in the U.S. ended the year’s first half up 3.0% on volume. Toyota sold 1.189 million units in January-June 2018 compared with 1.155 million units in first-half 2017.

In what has been the case all year – and the case for most automakers in the U.S. in 2018 – light trucks rose last month while car sales declined.

Total Toyota light-truck deliveries were up 8.7% on a DSR basis in June, while passenger-car sales fell 12.6% for the month.

The automaker says it set light-truck records in the first half for Toyota Motor North America and the individual Toyota and Lexus brands.

Through June, total Toyota light trucks rose 10.6% to a volume of 721,715, but cars dipped 7.0% on sales of 467,597.

The Toyota brand in June posted a 0.6% increase on a DSR basis thanks to strong RAV4, Highlander and C-HR CUV sales.

The automaker says the midsize RAV4 had its best June and best first half with respective sales of 37,722 and 198,392.

The CUV again was Toyota’s best-selling model in a given month, outselling the Camry and Corolla by roughly 9,000 and 11,000 units, respectively.

Through June, RAV4 was ahead of Camry by 20,000 units, making it Toyota’s No.1 seller of 2018 in the U.S.

Camry midsize sedan sales fell 7.8% in June on a DSR basis, the car’s fourth straight monthly decline, Wards Intelligence data shows, while Corolla compact-sedan sales slipped 15.1%.

Toyota is content with the Camry’s 1.1% first-half increase.

“We’re up 5.8% on retail (and) when you add in fleet we’re up 1.0% on a volume basis for the first half of the year,” Andrew Gilleland, vice president-sales operations for the Toyota Div. tells media today in a conference call. “The midsize segment is down 16.0%, (so) obviously we’re very proud of that performance.”

Besides the RAV4, the Highlander large CUV also saw record June results and first-half sales, says Toyota, with the CUV rising 20.7% on DSR last month and 14.3% on volume in the January-June period.

The C-HR small CUV was Toyota’s biggest gainer last month, with sales up 34.5% on a DSR basis.

The Corolla hatchback and Tacoma midsize pickup followed closely behind, rising 32.1% and 30.6% in June, respectively. The new-generation Corolla hatchback went on sale last week, Gilleland says.

Toyota also saw gains by the 4Runner SUV and Avalon large sedan, the latter boasting an all-new ’19 model released in May.

All other Toyota nameplates declined in June, including the Yaris subcompact car (-80.3%), Toyota 86 sports car (-44.2%) and Sienna minivan (-27.7%).

Gilleland says Toyota is primed to do well in the year’s second half, noting the automaker ended June with a 50.7 days’ supply of cars in dealer stock and a 58 days’ supply of light trucks.

At Lexus, sales fell 6.2% last month on a DSR basis to 23,750, but were up 0.9% in the first half of this year to 135,000.

While NX and RX CUV sales rose slightly last month, 1.8% and 1.4%, respectively, it was the LS flagship sedan, redesigned for ’19, that posted the biggest gain, up 153.3%, albeit on a modest 789 sales.

The GX midsize SUV also gained for the luxury brand, up 18.9%.

The LS is Lexus’ fastest riser so far this year, up 135.5% on volume, but the RX midsize CUV remains the brand’s top seller, with volume of 50,051 units, up 7.1% from first-half 2017.

David Christ, group vice president and general manager-Lexus Div., says the brand had 58 days’ supply of cars and 55 days’ worth of light trucks in dealer stock in late June.

Like Gilleland, he notes his brand’s commitment to cars, especially given a new-generation ES sedan going on sale in the third quarter.

Toyota, which last week put out a lengthy statement about why it is firmly against tariffs on imported vehicles and vehicle parts while the Trump Admin. weighs them, addressed the issue on today’s call.

“We feel that tariffs would negatively impact all car brands across the industry,” Gilleland says. “We feel that the biggest loser in a tariff would be a consumer, because they would have reduced choices and higher costs.”

U.S. President Donald Trump has said he wants to place a tariff of 25% on imported autos and auto parts.

Toyota’s best-selling model, the RAV4, is assembled in Japan and Canada, however the brand says tariffs of 25% would negatively impact U.S.-built models such as the ES and Camry, too. A tariff on the latter would add $1,800 to its price due to the sedan’s makeup of imported parts, Toyota says.

Meanwhile, Toyota’s fellow Japanese automaker Nissan’s June sales fell 2.5% on an adjusted basis and first-half deliveries declined 4.8% on volume, Wards Intelligence data shows.

Nissan in total sold 145,096 vehicles last month and 780,695 in the first half. Infiniti accounted for 10,698 and 72,170, respectively, of those sales.

Infiniti was the culprit behind the bulk of the automaker’s June and first-half losses, falling 16.0% in the former period and 8.8% in the latter.

Nissan-brand sales declined 1.2% in June on DSR and 4.3% in January-June on volume.

Once again, the Rogue midsize CUV was Nissan’s best seller, with 37,004 sold in June, up 3.7%. Through June, Nissan sold 215,202 Rogues and Rogue Sports, up 10.0% vs. year-ago.

Nissan’s former best-seller, the Altima midsize sedan, fell 7.4% in June and was down 15.4% in first-half 2018, trailing the Rogue on volume this year by about 90,000 units.

At Infiniti, the only nameplate in the black in June was the QX50 midsize CUV, all-new for ’19 and up 36.1% on an adjusted basis.

Infiniti’s best-selling model this year is the larger QX60 3-row CUV, down 3.0% in June, but up 21.3% in the first six months tallying 22,176 sales.

Sales at Honda rose 1.0% in June on an adjusted basis, but dipped 0.5% on volume for first-half 2018 vs. first-half 2017.

American Honda says its June volume of 145,563 was a record for the month, as were its 78,483 light-truck sales for the month, the latter figure up 7.9% on DSR.

At both Honda and Acura brands light trucks set records, the automaker says. The Honda CR-V’s 33,306 units were a June best, as were the Pilot’s 12,782. The rise of both were aided by “steady inventory,” says Henio Arcangeli Jr., senior vice president-American Honda, in a statement.

At Acura, driven by a new generation on sale now, the RDX midsize CUV had best-ever monthly volume, for any month, of 7,292, the automaker says.

Honda-brand sales rose 1.1% in June and were down 0.4% through June, while Acura declined 0.3% last month and fell 1.6% in the first half.