Small SUV Sales In America – July 2014 YTD

Over the course of the seven months in which the Buick Encore was eligible to produce year-over-year U.S. sales increases, it has done so. (The Encore has only been on sale since January of last year.) 

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GM’s baby crossover will soon be joined by its less costly Trax in American Chevrolet showrooms – the Trax is outselling the Encore by about 1.5-to-1 in Canada this year. 

Before we get to that Trax-competing point, however, Buick is selling Encores at the fastest rate yet. In each of the last four months, there have been more than 4000 sold; 16,995 since the beginning of April. 

As additional volume on top of the GM’s subcompact platform, the Encore has been a success. And considering its size and the semi-premium price it commands, perhaps we should be more surprised by the volume Buick’s smallest vehicle attracts. But this shouldn’t overshadow the fact that GM generates far greater SUV/crossover sales volume with just about every other SUV or crossover the company sells. 

• U.S. Auto Sales Brand Rankings – July 2014 YTD
• All Makes & Models Ranked By July 2014 YTD U.S. Sales
• All SUVs & Crossovers Ranked By July 2014 YTD U.S. Sales

Chevrolet sold more than 25,000 Equinoxes in July 2014 along with nearly 11,000 copies of the Equinox’s twin, GMC’s Terrain. Buick has sold 20,694 Enclaves over the last four months. And the company’s big boys – Escalade, Escalade ESV, Suburban, Tahoe, Yukon, Yukon XL – combined for 27,983 sales in July. The Encore and its relation, the Chevrolet Sonic? 10,491.

There’s little point in gauging the Encore’s marketplace success or failure based on the success of the Cadillac Escalade. More pertinently, the Encore easily outsells the Mini Countryman and Paceman combined. But as for importance to General Motors, on this continent, the Encore simply isn’t a hugely meaningful player. This doesn’t really say anything about GM, nor does it predict the future, but it does say something about current market demands. Though increasingly popular, the Encore sells less often than the fleet-only Chevrolet Captiva Sport, a successor to the last Saturn Vue.

In total, General Motors sold 100,122 SUVs and crossovers in the United States in July 2014, up from 78,198 in July 2013, a 28% year-over-year increase that easily outpaced the category’s 17% July growth rate. Of the company’s 14 SUV/crossover nameplates only two, the SRX and Suburban, failed to increase their July volume. Yet both of those nameplates have recorded year-to-date improvements.

America’s best-selling utility vehicle is not a GM product, nor has it been since 2005, when the Chevrolet TrailBlazer took the crown from Ford’s Explorer. (And promptly gave it up the next year.) Honda sold 28,522 CR-Vs in July; 183,214 year-to-date. Those are best-selling figures. With its best month ever, the Toyota RAV4 stole second place from the usual second-ranked SUV, Ford’s Escape, sales of which also increased last month.

You can click any model name in the tables below to find historical monthly and yearly U.S. auto sales data. You can also select a make and model at GCBC’s Sales Stats page. These tables are now sortable, so you can rank small SUVs and crossovers any which way you like. Suggestions on how GCBC should break down segments can be passed on through the Contact page.

Click Column Headers To Sort • July 2015 • August 2014 • June 2014 • July 2013

Source: Automakers & ANDC
* vehicle also displayed in another GCBC segment breakdown
GCBC isn’t here to break down segments, an impossible task for any group, but to display sales data for the sake of comparison. The more ways sales data can be displayed, the better, right? This explains why you’ll see the Encore and XV Crosstrek are listed with small cars, too, and the tweener-sized Sorento and Santa Fe are shown with midsize SUVs and small SUVs, and the pricey FJ Cruiser and Xterra with midsizers, as well… because readers have wanted it both ways. You can always find the sales results for EVERY vehicle and form your own competitive sets by using the All Vehicle Rankings posts. GCBC has historically shown the Liberty with midsize SUVs but as the Cherokee – truly not midsize inside – replaces the Liberty, proper year-over-year comparison requires seeing the Liberty listed here with these smaller utility vehicles.

RECOMMENDED READING
Small SUV Sales In America – July 2015 YTD
Small SUV Sales In America – August 2014 YTD
Small SUV Sales In America – June 2014 YTD
Small SUV Sales In America – July 2013 YTD
Midsize SUV Sales In America – July 2014 YTD
Top 20 Best-Selling SUVs In America – July 2014