Toyota Slips in October, Honda and Nissan Rise

Toyota U.S. sales fell 1.7% on a daily-selling-rate basis in October to 186,295. The Toyota Div. was down 2.1%, while Lexus rose 1%.

There were two fewer selling days in October 2016 vs. year-ago.

According to WardsAuto, which continues to parcel out the discontinued Scion brand as it sold 376 units last month, Toyota rose 1.3% while Scion fell 93.5%.

Toyota light trucks continued their hot streak in October, setting a record for the month with 87,193 deliveries.

Unlike in recent months, the compact RAV4 CUV was not firmly in the black, but was flat, up just 0.7%. RAV4 volume of 26,429 made it Toyota’s third-best-selling model last month, unlike a year ago when it overtook the Corolla for second place.

The Highlander large CUV had the biggest increase among mainstream Toyota light trucks in October, up 42.9% on 17,668 sales.

The low-volume Land Cruiser large SUV posted the biggest increase of any Toyota light truck, rising 102.1% to 349.

The 4Runner midsize SUV was up 7.0%, while the Sienna minivan and Sequoia large SUV fell 19.0% and 22.4%, respectively.

The Tacoma and Tundra pickups both rose, with the midsize truck up 12.2% and the fullsize truck rising 7.9%.

On the car side, as in September the Corolla outsold the Camry. The Corolla’s total sales, aided by the addition of the former Scion iM hatchback to the previously sedan-only Corolla lineup, were 29,735, a 9.1% DSR increase from like-2015.

The Camry midsize sedan tallied 29,562 sales, an 8.5% DSR decline from October 2015.

With the exception of the Yaris B-car liftback and the Mirai fuel-cell vehicle, all other Toyota cars were in negative territory.

The Prius fell 42.4% on a DSR basis, with the new liftback model down 39.3% and the C and V variants off 51% and 41%, respectively.

The former Scion FR-S, now called the Toyota 86 and including FR-S sales, was down 11.5% from year-ago.

The Mirai, still a low-volume model, has been the best-selling FCV yet in the U.S. with 813 sales this year. In October, one year after its launch, sales rose 226.2% to 103.

Lexus cars had a similarly bad month, with only the GS, up 16.1%, in the black. The luxury brand’s cars fell 13.6% in total.

Lexus light trucks rose 14.3% in October, thanks to a 35.4% DSR jump by the NX compact CUV. NX sales were up 19.9% this year to 42,389, exceeding the 40,000 annual target Lexus had set for the model in the U.S.

RX CUV sales rose 8%, while the low-volume LX SUV had a 181.7% jump on 565 sales.

The GX SUV fell 11.7%.

Toyota sales through October tallied 2.009 million units, a 3% volume decline vs. January-October 2015.

Honda Up, Record Light-Truck Sales

Honda sales rose 3.2% on a DSR basis in October to 126,161, WardsAuto data shows, with the Honda brand’s 5.6% gain offsetting Acura’s 13.8% loss.

It was a record October both for Honda light trucks overall and the CR-V compact CUV. The brand’s best-selling light truck, being sold down in anticipation of a redesigned ’17 model, racked up 30,306 deliveries, a 12.4% DSR increase that put it above the Accord and Civic for the fifth month in a row.

The 18-month-old HR-V subcompact CUV continued its hot streak, rising a whopping 57.8% from October 2015 to 6,596 units. Through October, HR-V sales were up 92.3% to 64,866.

Yet, all was not well across the Honda light-truck lineup, as the year-old Pilot fell 27.6% and the Odyssey, due for a redesign next year, slipped 6.1%.

The all-new Ridgeline added 3,371 units to Honda’s October tally. Sales of the midsize pickup through October stood at 16,118.

Despite continuing low gasoline prices across much of the U.S., Honda’s smaller cars, the B-segment Fit and C-segment Civic, did better than the D-segment Accord. Fit and Civic sales rose 266.7% and 2.2%, respectively, while the Accord was down 8.6%. Honda blames a slumping midsize-car segment for the Accord’s loss, while noting the Civic is on track to set a new annual record. Civic sales through October were 310,142, up 11.7% on a volume basis.

Acura’s cars continued to be a sore point for the brand, with the sector’s entrants all in the red last month, minus the new NSX. Acura sold 67 units of the hybrid sports car in October, but saw losses of 29.5% and 49.4% with the RLX flagship sedan and the TLX midsize sedan.

The MDX and RDX CUVs were in the black. The MDX, refreshed for ’17, rose 23.5% on a DSR basis and the RDX climbed 9.2%.

Through October, Honda sales were up 2.6% to 1.355 million.

Nissan Rises 5.3%, Rogue Overtakes Altima

Nissan U.S. sales rose 5.3% last month on a DSR basis to 113,520, WardsAuto data shows, thanks to good performances by both the Nissan and Infiniti brands.

Nissan was up 5.0%, although unlike in recent months larger light trucks performed better than smaller models.

The Titan, with its gasoline V-8 half-ton variant now in market, posted a hefty 288.4% jump, albeit on 3,181 sales. The fullsize pickup was up 36.1% from January-October year-ago to 14,155.

The large Pathfinder CUV, refreshed for ’17, also saw a spike, growing 23.8% with 6,421 sold.

The Murano midsize CUV, not refreshed for ’17, still found plenty of takers, with sales up 115.4% on a DSR basis. Its 10,701 deliveries were an October record, Nissan says.

The aging Frontier midsize pickup continues to surprise, up 43.9%, while the NV large van saw a more modest lift of 5.3%.

The Rogue compact CUV, on fire in recent months, slipped 8.5% in October, possibly due to the changeover from ’16 to the refreshed ’17 model. Despite the falloff, the Rogue again was Nissan’s best-seller, with 21,179 October sales vs. the 20,257 racked up by Nissan’s second-best-selling model, the Altima sedan.

Last month, the Rogue overtook the Altima in 2016 sales, with 262,798 compared with 262,578.

On the car side, the slumping Leaf EV surprisingly was in the black, up 22.8% vs. October 2015 with 1,412 sold. Leaf sales through October, however, were down 28.4% to 10,650.

Infiniti sales rose 8.3% last month, with the new QX30 small CUV accounting for 723 of the brand’s 11,208 sales.

The new Q60 midsize coupe sold 725, bringing it 186.0% above year-ago on a DSR basis.

Last year’s update to the QX50 midsize CUV continued to pay dividends, with the model again rising month-over-month, this time by 20.4% to 1,106. Through October, QX50 sales were up 334.7% on a volume basis to 13,505.

In the red for Infiniti were the Q70 mid-large sedan and the QX60 and QX70 large and midsize CUVs. The Q70 was down the most, 28.8%.

Through October, Nissan U.S. sales were 4.7% ahead of like-2015, with 1.296 million units sold.

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