As consumer appetites turn very slowly away from traditional passenger cars, the U.S. auto industry is prepared for a strong fourth-quarter that could make 2015 the best year ever for new vehicle sales in America.
Strong pickup truck sales help. Sales of essentially ten nameplates have risen 10.5% to nearly 1.9 million units through the first three quarters of 2015. But while pickup trucks account for 14.3% of the 13 million new vehicles sold in the first nine months of 2015, SUVs and crossovers account for approximately 36% of the industry’s volume in 2015, up from 33% of the 12.44 million vehicles sold in the first nine months of 2014.
Which brands are generating the greatest amount of SUV/crossover attention? Jeep sits atop the leaderboard with 68,473 more SUV/CUV sales than any other brand. Jeep, of course, does not sell anything but utility vehicles.
medianet_width=’468′; medianet_height= ’60’; medianet_crid=’481536334′; The top five SUV/crossover brands – Jeep, Ford, Chevrolet, Toyota, Honda – generate 52% of all U.S. SUV/crossover volume. Only one brand’s utility vehicles are generating less sales activity this year than last. That brand, Mini, markets two crossovers which are among the least SUV-like of all utility vehicles. Acura and BMW have narrowly managed to produce gains.
U.S. Vehicle Sales Rankings By Model – September 2015 YTD
U.S. SUV/Crossover Sales Rankings By Model – September 2015 YTD
The biggest year-over-year percentage improvements come from Audi, Volvo, Lincoln, Lexus, Porsche, and Land Rover, six premium brands which have greatly expanded or revitalized their utility vehicle lineups in the very recent past.
At Audi, the Q3 was added late last year. At Volvo, a new XC90 was finally brought to market this year. Lincoln added the MKC last year and introduced a second-gen MKX this year. Lexus added the very popular NX. Porsche’s Macan debuted last year. Land Rover switched out the LR2 for the Discovery Sport this year.
Click Column Headers To Sort • Click Chart Above To Expand
|
SUV/Crossover Brand
|
September
2015 YTD |
September
2014 YTD |
%
Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jeep | 632,910 | 516,387 | 22.6% |
|
Ford
|
564,437
|
526,092
|
7.3%
|
|
Chevrolet
|
450,554
|
408,724
|
10.2%
|
|
Toyota
|
426,862
|
386,392
|
10.5%
|
|
Honda
|
387,704
|
321,262
|
20.7%
|
|
Nissan
|
362,377
|
304,479
|
19.0%
|
|
Subaru *
|
304,725
|
270,193
|
12.8%
|
|
GMC
|
209,768
|
195,929
|
7.1%
|
|
Hyundai
|
129,476
|
115,866
|
11.7%
|
|
Dodge
|
125,501
|
118,697
|
5.7%
|
|
Kia
|
124,769
|
109,221
|
14.2%
|
|
Lexus
|
121,993
|
94,979
|
28.4%
|
|
Mazda
|
98,211
|
92,260
|
6.5%
|
|
Mercedes-Benz
|
97,234
|
81,250
|
19.7%
|
|
Buick
|
96,070
|
82,354
|
16.7%
|
|
Acura
|
81,961
|
81,472
|
0.6%
|
|
BMW
|
81,139
|
79,988
|
1.4%
|
|
Cadillac
|
75,842
|
63,060
|
20.3%
|
|
Audi
|
60,719
|
44,554
|
36.3%
|
|
Land Rover
|
48,403
|
38,424
|
26.0%
|
|
Infiniti
|
45,978
|
37,673
|
22.0%
|
|
Lincoln
|
45,573
|
34,759
|
31.1%
|
|
Mitsubishi
|
40,923
|
33,134
|
23.5%
|
|
Volkswagen
|
27,535
|
24,320
|
13.2%
|
|
Volvo
|
23,475
|
17,431
|
34.7%
|
|
Porsche
|
22,548
|
17,589
|
28.2%
|
|
Mini
|
13,376
|
18,623
|
-28.2%
|
|
Fiat
|
3,456
|
—
|
—
|
|
—
|
—
|
— | — |
|
Total *
|
4,703,519
|
4,115,112 | 14.3% |
* Subaru SUV/crossover figures in the majority of GCBC posts, including our complete SUV/crossover rankings, do not include the Outback and XV Crosstrek. The total for the brand and thus the overall total for the sector in this post do include the Outback and XV Crosstrek.
Timothy Cain is the founder of GoodCarBadCar.net, which obsesses over the free and frequent publication of U.S. and Canadian auto sales figures. Follow on Twitter @goodcarbadcar and on Facebook.