California (USA) Full Year 2017: Honda Civic and Accord on top

The Honda Civic is the best-selling vehicle in California for the third straight year.

* See the Top 10 best-selling models by clicking on the title *

Consult 7 years worth of California Historical Data here

After a three-year hiatus, California Reports return to BSCB thanks to our partnership with JATO Dynamics. You can checkout the overall Full Year 2017 U.S. State by State Report here. California is by far the most populous State in America with just under 40 million inhabitants. It is also the largest State in the U.S. based on the sales volume of its Top 10 (567.503). Today we’re catching up on three years worth of annual models data for California, as the last time we reported on this State was for the Full Year 2014. Then, the Honda Accord had just overtaken the 2012 and 2013 leader, the Toyota Prius. It would be a lonely one year lead for the Accord, overtaken by the Civic in 2015 and every year since. This is one of only two State wins for the Honda Civic in 2017 along with New Jersey. However, it delivers the largest single-State volume for any nameplate in 2017 at just under 99.000 units, up a cool 19% year-on-year.

The Honda Accord ranks #2 in California for the third year in a row. 

The Honda Accord makes it a Honda 1-2 for the third consecutive year, stuck at #2 since 2015 and up 6% this year. It distances three Toyota nameplates: the Camry (+22%), Corolla (-3%) and RAV4, up 41% and two spots to #5. This means the 4 best-selling vehicles in California in 2017 are all passenger cars, making the State and by far the last true lover of this embattled segment. The only two States coming close are Florida (Toyota Corolla and Camry) and New Jersey (Honda Civic and Accord) crowing just two passenger cars on top. Leader in 2012 and 2013, the Toyota Prius has fallen out of grace in California, ranking #5 in 2015, #10 in 2016 (-33%) and disappearing from the Top 10 entirely in 2017 along with the Nissan Altima. Californians now prefer the Honda CR-V (+21%) up to #7 this year vs. #9 in 2016, the Toyota Tacoma back inside the Top 10 at #8 for the first time since 2013, and the Nissan Sentra although this nameplate has struggled too: down from #6 in 2015 to #9 this year.

The Toyota RAV4 posts the largest year-on-year gain in the Top 10 at +41%.

As it has been the case since BSCB started following California back in 2011, the Ford F-150 is the most popular U.S. nameplate in the State, improving from #8 in 2015 to #6 both last and this year, even delivering the 2nd largest year-on-year gain in the Top 10 at +26%. At #6, the F-150 is the lowest ranking best-selling U.S. nameplate in any State in 2017 bar the District of Columbia (#1 U.S. Chevrolet Malibu at #10), Rhode Island (Jeep Grand Cherokee $8). The arrival of the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 in 10th place means 8 out of the Top 10 best-sellers in California are foreign-branded, all Japanese. Only 7 States are more foreign-based (see Florida Full Year 2017 Report).

Previous post: California (USA) 2014: Honda Accord new best-seller

Full Year 2017 Top 10 models ranking vs. Full Year 2015 and 2016 figures below.