USA 2 months 2014: RAM Pickup biggest gainer in Top 10

RAM Pick-up

* See the Top 259 All-models by clicking on the title! *

Now that month 2 of 2014 has revealed its secrets in the US, it’s time to study the year-to-date ranking to get a bit of perspective on what’s hot and what’s not in the 2nd biggest car market in the world. First observation: the euphoric times that characterised the US new light vehicle market over the past year has dampened: sales are down 2% year-on-year so far in 2014 at 2.2 million units. If the Top 2 best-sellers are not a surprise (Ford F-Series at +1% and Chevrolet Silverado at -15%), in third position we find the RAM Pick-up at +24% on 2013 to 54,374 units which is no less than the biggest year-on-year gain in the Top 10! It also makes the US podium 100% pick-up truck, and if this trend gets confirmed by the time 2014 comes to an end, it will be the first time this happens in over a decade and the 2nd time in 20 years after 2003!

Can the Ford Fusion play with the big boys this year?

Another big surprise is the 4th place of the Nissan Altima, boosted by a podium ranking in February, meaning it is the best-selling Passenger Car in the US so far in 2014 with 53,364 sales (+8%) ahead of the Toyota Camry at 52,330 units (-17%) and Toyota Corolla at 48,052 (-2%). Unlike the Ram Pick-up’s third place, the Altima may find it hard to hold on its #1 PC spot until the end of the year. However that being the case, it would be the first time a Nissan tops the ranking and would put an end to 12 consecutive years of domination of the Toyota Camry… Building on an all-time high volume in 2013, the Ford Fusion appears in 7th place so far in 2014, which is below the 5th spot it held at the same time last year but well above its FY 2013 ranking (#11). Can Ford finally get back in the Passenger Car game with the Fusion and hope for Top 5 ranking? Answer in a few months…

The Jeep Cherokee is the most successful launch in the US this year.

Outside the Top 10, a handful of SUV deliver an excellent start of the year: the Toyota RAV4 is up 34% to #14, the Nissan Rogue up 64% to a best-ever #16, the Jeep Grand Cherokee up 21% to #21 and the Toyota Highlander up 25% to #24. The all-new Jeep Cherokee is by (very) far the most successful new launch of the past year, landing directly at #25 with 22,300 sales in 2 months. The next best things are the Infiniti Q50 at #94 and the Mercedes CLA at #119.

The Lexus IS is up 125% this year, the Infiniti Q50 lands at #94.

The biggest year-on-year gainers in the Top 100 are all Japanese: the Lexus IS is up 125% to #91, the Nissan Frontier up 100% to #64, Subaru Forester up 78% to #27 and the Nissan Juke up 66% to #77. Further down, notice the spectacular Lincoln MKZ up 270% to #106, the Chevrolet Corvette up 149% to #115, Lexus GX up 123% to #142 and the Nissan Leaf up 105% to #148. Finally the Audi A3 may still be 10% below its 2013 level but the launch of the sedan variant will see it climb the ladder over the next few months.

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Full 2 months 2014 Top 259 All-models Ranking Table below.