USA August 2013: Honda CR-V and Chevy Equinox hit record levels in euphoric market up 17%

We welcome the Infiniti Q50 at #131 this month in the US

* NOW UPDATED with the the Top 256 All-models and Top 40 All-brands! See title *

In complete contrast with a European market back to its (very) wobbly self, new light vehicle sales in the US are absolutely and positively euphoric in August: up 17% year-on-year to 1.5 million registrations, adding up to 10.65 million year-to-date, up 10% on 2012. Even better: the annualised selling rate shoots up to 16.1 million units, the industry’s best showing since late 2007! Ok one more figure: carmakers have now sold more light vehicles in 8 months this than in all of 2009 (10.4 million)…

The Honda CR-V breaks its US monthly volume record this month.

Year-on-year brand gains are simply indecent: Honda is up 29%, Toyota and Nissan both up 24% and Subaru up 45% to pass 40,000 monthly units for the first time in history… More: Jaguar is up 67%, BMW up 46%, Cadillac up 38%, Buick up 37%, Mazda up 26% and Audi up 22%… Finally, Lexus is up 23% to 29,792 units, beating Mercedes (24,761 excluding LCVs) and BMW (24,523) to reclaim the luxury crown for the first time since August 2012 and only the second time since the end of 2010. Lexus was the #1 luxury brand in the USA for 11 years up to 2010.

The Forester brings Subaru up to its best month in history in the US…

Model-wise, the Ford F-Series tops 70,000 sales for the 2nd time in the last 4 months at 71,115 (+22%) while the Toyota Camry passes the Chevrolet Silverado to reclaim the 2nd spot at 44,713 units (+22%) vs. 43,603 (+14%). Huge month for Honda, placing 3 models inside the Top 6! Both the Civic and Accord hit their strongest monthly volume in 4 years at 39,458 (+58%) and 38,559 (+11%) respectively, while the CR-V is up 45% to a all-time high of 34,654 units, beating its previous best established in March 2012. The Dodge Ram also impresses at +31% in 7th place.

Lexus is back to the #1 luxury brand spot it held between 2000 and 2010.

The Chevrolet Equinox is up 24% to reach a best-ever 11th place and record 25,073 sales, ahead of the Hyundai Elantra up 37% to #12 and 24,700 units in spite of stock issues due to its success. Other massive gainers in the Top 50 include the Toyota RAV4 up 50% to #15, Jeep Grand Cherokee up 40% to #18, Nissan Rogue up 37% to #20, Honda Pilot up 40% to #27, Subaru Forester up a whopping 89% to a record #30 and 13,163 sales, Lexus RX up 32% to #37, Chevrolet Sonic up 30% to #39 and a record 11,354 sales and the BMW 3 Series up 67% to #44.

The Chevrolet Equinox delivers its best-ever month in the US.

Further down, notice the Lexus IS up 87% to #90 vs. #128 year-to-date, the Buick Encore breaking into the Top 100 for the first time at #94, the Chevrolet Volt up 29 spots on July to #114 and an all-time high 3,351 sales and the all-new Infiniti Q50 landing directly in 131st position at 2,434 units. Among recent launches, the Kia Cadenza is down 5 ranks to #156, the Fiat 500L up 2 to #172, the Jaguar F-Type down 3 to #123 and the SRT Viper sells 61 units, the best month for this generation so far.

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Full August 2013 Top 256 All-models, Top 40 All-brands and Top 15 Groups below.