Top 10 Best-Selling SUVs In America - January 2012

If you reject all other signs of optimism emanating from America's automotive industry, make sure you pay attention to this one. Last month's six best-selling utility vehicles - let's just call them SUVs - were all more popular in January 2012 than they were in January 2011. And no, that's not the norm. 

2011's year end best-selling SUV list showed two of the top six with year-over-year declines. But 2012 began well for those two, the Honda CR-V and the Toyota RAV4, just as it did for the outgoing Chevrolet Equinox, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Ford Explorer, Nissan Rogue, and Ford Escape.

Speaking of the Escape, no year-over-year increase is perhaps more notable. The current Ford Escape is seemingly decades old and, if only consumers would wait, it's about to be much, much better. Yet Escape sales are on the rise.

That said, Ford ended 2011 pointing out that the Escape was America's favourite SUV, but 2012 did not begin the same way. Not surprisingly, Honda CR-V sales are booming. Honda just launched the all new CR-V, beating the new Escape to the punch by mere weeks. Expect to see the two battling it out for top spot over the coming months, maybe even the coming years. It's hard to imagine a vehicle with the fuel-guzzling ability of the Jeep Grand Cherokee, with the price of a Grand Cherokee, topping the popularity of four-cylinder utility vehicles which enter the market closer to $20,000 than $30,000.

Sales figures for every nameplate currently on sale in North America can be found by accessing the dropdown menu at the top right of this page. That includes sales figures for the ten vehicles you see below, America's best-selling SUVs from January 2012.

Rank	Best-Selling SUV	January 2012	% Change
#1	Honda CR-V	18,960	+ 16.0%
#2	Ford Escape	17,259	+ 23.5%
#3	Chevrolet Equinox	13,662	+ 6.3%
#4	Jeep Grand Cherokee	10,683	+ 40.3%
#5	Ford Explorer	9966	+ 35.6%
#6	Nissan Rogue	9904	+ 5.1%
#7	Toyota RAV4	9819	- 12.3%
#8	Ford Edge	8315	- 6.8%
#9	Jeep Wrangler	7896	+ 22.5%
#10	Kia Sorento	7322	- 9.8%

Source: Manufacturers & ANDC 
Red font indicates year-over-year declining sales

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Top 20 Best-Selling SUVs In America - 2011 Year End
U.S. Auto Sales By Brand - January 2012
Top 10 Best-Selling SUVs In America - December 2011
Top 10 Best-Selling SUVs In America - January 2011

Top 20 Best-Selling Cars In America - January 2012

Early images and test drives presented us with one question: did the Toyota Camry evolve enough to maintain its consistent popularity in the U.S. marketplace? Er... yeah. it did.

Camry sales jumped 56% from January 2011, a period you might remember because of what happened to the Camry. It was unseated as America's best-selling car for the second consecutive month. It was the second-best-selling car in America a year ago, behind another Toyota. From second best at the beginning of last year, a position the Camry is not that familiar with, the midsize Toyota reported a 56% improvement in U.S. sales. That was enough to beat the new second-best-selling car, Nissan's Altima, by nearly 5000 sales. Yes, Altima sales needed to be 22% stronger.

And what of another former best seller? GoodCarBadCar no longer includes sales of the Crosstour in the Honda Accord's total. It matters little. The Accord would have moved up only two positions, barely beating out the Sonata and Focus with 14,580 sales. Crosstour sales were down 41% in January 2012. The good news at Honda was Civic-related. The most popular compact car in America in January was indeed Honda's Civic, sales of which jumped 46%. That increase is nothing compared to what happened north of the border. Civic sales in Canada jumped 333% in January.

On all but a few accounts, the U.S. sales report coming out of General Motors today was bad. Car sales at Chevrolet were more than decent, however. The Impala, Cruze, and Malibu beat all other American cars, including the much talked about surge at Chrysler. All three of these Chevy cars fared better this January than last, as well.

Find monthly and yearly sales figures for all these cars and for any other vehicle currently on sale in North America by accessing the dropdown menu at the top right of this page. Nine manufacturers built the 20 cars you see listed below. They were the 20 best-selling cars in America in January 2012.

Rank	Best-Selling Car	January 2012	% Change
#1	Toyota Camry	27,295	+ 55.9%
#2	Nissan Altima	22,357	+ 35.9%
#3	Honda Civic	21,883	+ 49.5%
#4	Toyota Corolla/Matrix	17,988	- 12.6%
#5	Chevrolet Impala	16,009	+ 5.4%
#6	Chevrolet Cruze	15,049	+ 10.4%
#7	Chevrolet Malibu	14,676	+ 4.1%
#8	Hyundai Sonata	14,489	+ 9.3%
#9	Ford Focus	14,400	+ 59.8%
#10	Honda Accord	13,659	+ 1.5%
#11	Ford Fusion	13,614	- 5.1%
#12	Toyota Prius Family	11,555	+ 8.7%
#13	Volkswagen Jetta	10,962	- 4.3%
#14	Hyundai Elantra	10,900	+ 12.8%
#15	Nissan Versa	9418	+ 8.5%
#16	Mazda 3	9200	+ 83.4%
#17	Kia Optima	8814	+ 131%
#18	Kia Soul	8091	+ 5.1%
#19	Subaru Outback	7412	+ 6.2%
#20	Nissan Sentra	7066	- 25.9%

Source: Manufacturers & ANDC 
Red font indicates year-over-year declining sales 
Accord sales are Accord sedan and coupe only, no Crosstour, only 921 of which were sold anyhow.

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Top 25 Best-Selling Cars In America - 2011 Year End
U.S. Auto Sales By Brand - January 2012
Top 20 Best-Selling Cars In America - December 2011
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In America - January 2011

Top 5 Best-Selling Trucks In America - January 2012

There's nothing unusual about seeing the Ford F-Series atop any leaderboard. Indeed, Ford is starting off 2012 by sticking with what's commonly known: the F-Series pickup range, America's best-selling truck in 2011, was the best-selling truck in America in January 2012.

It hasn't been so normal of late to see gains being made by Toyota products, but January was a different story for most Toyota Motor Corp. products. General Motors, on the other hand, reported year-over-year declines at all four brands. Most good news coming out of GM in January related to the company's passenger cars. The Impala, Cruze, and Malibu fared better in January 2012 than a year prior. Moreover, they were America's three-best-selling American cars. The Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra hung on to their normal positions, second and fourth among pickup trucks, but slid noticeably, taking GM with them.

There'll be more on pickup trucks in the coming days when GoodCarBadCar adds to this by tabling and charting every other pickup truck's January 2012 performance. For now, take a good long look at this U.S. best-selling trucks list. It does a fairly good job at symbolizing January's industry sales data. Always check the dropdown menu at the top right of this screen to access monthly and yearly sales data on any model currently on sale in North America.

Rank	Best-Selling SUV	January 2012	% Change
#1	Ford F-Series	38,493	+ 7.5%
#2	Chevrolet Silverado	26,850	- 4.7%
#3	Dodge Ram	17,909	+ 46.8%
#4	GMC Sierra	9517	- 10.4%
#5	Toyota Tacoma	8898	+ 24.6%

Source: Manufacturers & ANDC 
Red font indicates year-over-year declining sales

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Top 10 Best-Selling Trucks In America - 2011 Year End
U.S. Auto Sales By Brand - January 2012
Top 10 Best-Selling Trucks In America - December 2011
Top 5 Best-Selling Trucks In America - January 2011