USA June 2021: Toyota above GM, Chevrolet Silverado and Ram Pickup outsell Ford F-Series in market up 17%

The Chevrolet Silverado is the best-selling vehicle in the U.S. over Q2 2021.

New light vehicle sales in the U.S. are up a measured 17% year-on-year in June to 1.297 million units according to LMC Automotive, as the steady pandemic recovery is challenged by parts shortage and thin inventories. The Seasonally Adjusted Annualised Rate of sales (SAAR) stands at 15.35 million according to Motor Intelligence, down markedly on the 17.09 million of May and the 18+ million of March and April, but up on the 13.23 million of June 2020 when lockdowns were still impacting sales. Q2 2021 sales are up 49% to 4.419.302 according to Automotive News, with the H1 2021 tally up 29.1% to 8.357.344.

Inventory levels as a whole have continued to fall, hitting 1.5 million units in June vs. 1.78 million in May according to Cox Automotive. That’s 1.3 million lower than in June 2020 and 2 million below June 2019. There is now a 30 day-supply of new vehicle available across the industry, down -61% on June 2020. Brands with the thinnest inventory include Toyota, Lexus, Chevrolet, GMC, Kia, Subaru, Honda and Land Rover. In the current inventory context, incentives fall sharply. According to J.D. Power and LMC Automotive, average incentives are down -43% year-on-year in June to just $2,492 while TrueCar has incentives down -33% year-on-year and -10% on May to $2.751. A logical consequence of lower incentives, the average transaction price is shooting up, hitting a record $40.206 in June according to J.D. Power vs. a previous high of $38.539 in May.

The VW Taos has landed in the U.S. charts…

In the groups ranking, we have a momentous shift: Toyota Motor (+73.1%) outsells General Motors (+38.8%) in a quarterly period for the first time in history. GM remains in the YTD lead for now. Toyota Motor car sales are up 57% while light trucks are up 33%. Asian manufacturers seem to be less affected by the parts shortage at this stage: Stellantis (+32.4%) also underperforms in third place as does Ford Motor (+9.2%) down to a paltry 5th. LMC Automotive estimates Ford missed over 350.000 units of production over H1 due to the parts shortage. It starts Q3 with 162.000 units of inventory vs. 187.000 as of end May and 475.000 a year ago. In contrast, American Honda surges 65.7% over Q2, Hyundai-Kia is up 73.6% and Nissan Motor/Mitsubishi up 70.6%. One exception is Subaru (+17.8%) whose June sales drop -20% due to stock shortage. Note American Honda and Hyundai-Kia outsell Ford Motor in June for the 2nd month in a row and ever. The Volkswagen Group (+77.2%) is also in outstanding shape, as is the BMW Group (+88.1%) zooming past Mercedes for the premium top spot over the First Half of 2021.

Brand-wise, Toyota (+74.2%) spectacularly cements its newfound leadership with over 605.000 sales, that’s almost 157.000 units above 2020 leader Ford (+9.2%) sharply underperforming – with June sales down -26.9%. Honda (+63.9%) for its part overtakes Chevrolet (+30.4%) to climb on the third step of the podium. Below, Nissan (+73.8%), Hyundai (+69.3%) and Kia (+74.6%) all shine whereas Ram (+47%), Jeep (+19.1%) and Subaru (+17.8%) are below the market growth rate of 49%. Note Hyundai hits a monthly record of 72.465 units in June (+45%) while Kia is up 43% to a new June record at 68.486. Further down the charts, Tesla is estimated to advance 97% year-on-year over Q1 and 71.2% over H1. Genesis (+209%), Mitsubishi (+106.2%), Audi (+92.3%), BMW (+89.5%), Buick (+85.6%), Acura (+83.9%), Mazda (+73.1%), Volkswagen (+72.3%) all make waves below.

…as has the Ford Bronco.

We have an earthquake over in the models ranking: the Ford F-Series (-12.5%), best-seller in the U.S. for the past 39 years in a row, isn’t #1 over Q2 2021. Instead, the Chevrolet Silverado (+35.5%) and Ram Pickup (+39.8%) take the overall leader during the period, separated by less than 500 sales, with the F-Series 6.000 sales below. As we anticipated last month, it is reasonable to assume the F-Series ranked #3 both in May and June. This counter-performance by the F-Series is due to the idling of factories linked to parts shortage and is not a long-term trend. In fact, the it remains by far the best-seller over H1 2021 despite sales down -1.5% year-on-year and with an almost 50.000-sales buffer over the Ram Pickup. We have one more surprise below: the Honda CR-V (+76.4%) snaps the SUV crown off the Toyota RAV4 (+24.7%) even though the RAV4 remains #1 over H1. The Nissan Rogue (+102.3%) comes in third SUV at #8 overall with the Toyota Highlander (+158.3%) next at #10. In the car aisle, the Toyota Camry (+104.3%) rallies back up to remain #1 above the Honda Civic (+51.8%) and Toyota Corolla (+105.5%). Other significant gainers further down include the Tesla Model Y (+2581.3%) celebrating one year in market, the Honda HR-V (+141.8%), Hyundai Elantra (+111.2%), Nissan Sentra (+104.1%) and Chevrolet Traverse (+103.4%). The Ford Bronco Sport is the best-selling recent launch at a cool #30, distancing the Kia K5 (#38) and Toyota Venza (#61). Finally, notice the VW Taos making its first appearance in the U.S. charts at #17 and the Ford Bronco at #237.

Previous month: USA May 2021: Honda and Hyundai-Kia pass Ford Motor, Kia & Mazda at record high, inventory at record low

One year ago: USA June 2020: Mazda, Volvo ignore crisis, SAAR down -24.2%, fleets off -68%

Full Q2 2021 Top 15 groups, Top 40 All-brands and Top 295 All-models below.