US Vehicle Sales fell by 2.1% in the first half of 2017; resurgent VW gained market share

• SUVs, Pickups increase their share of total market while cars continue to slide

• Ford’s F-Series trucks maintain their top selling position; Toyota Camry is best-selling car closely followed by Honda Civic

• Volkswagen beginning to recover from effects of diesel crisis

Vehicle sales for the first half of 2017 fell 2.1% over the same period in 2016. SUVs and Pickup Trucks continue to gain market share, particularly smaller crossover SUVs such as Honda’s CR-V and Nissan’s Rogue. Toyota’s RAV4 was its best selling vehicle in the first half, outselling the perennial leader Camry.

Once again, the top three best selling vehicles in the United States are the Ford F-Series, Chevrolet Siverado, and Ram Pickup. Ford’s F-Series line of trucks continues as the best-selling vehicle overall, selling 429,860 units in the first half of 2017, up from 395,244 units during the same time period in 2016.

Gaining ground on the top three is the forth best-selling vehicle and the best-selling SUV, Nissan Rogue, selling nearly 200,000 units in the first half. Toyota Camry remained the best selling car, despite declining sales (176,897 units vs. 199,760 units), followed closely by the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla (175,763 and 165,596 units respectively).

Volkswagen continues to improve its position in the US market, increasing their sales by almost 12,000 units when compared to the same time period last year (161,241 vs. 149,015 units). These gains were largely driven by increased Golf family sales, and the introduction of the full-size Atlas SUV, which gives VW an entry into a popular segment. Over 4,000 Atlas units were sold in its first two months on the market.

Continuing the trend of recent years, the market share of SUVs and Trucks continue to rise within the United States. In the first half of 2017, SUVs, Trucks, and Vans respresented 58%, 4 percentage points more than what was seen in 2016. This increase was mostly due to the ever increasing popularity of smaller SUVs and crossovers like the Nissan Rogue, Honda CR-V, and Toyota RAV4.

The biggest decline was seen in the D-Segment. The segment’s share declined by 1.9 percentage points, from 16.5% in H1 2016 to 14.6% in H1 2017. This decline has been seen throughout the segment, including market leaders like Toyota Camry, Ford Fusion, and Chevrolet Malibu.

The F-Segment (large luxury cars) was the only car segment to post a year-over-year increase, largely because of Lincoln’s new Continental. The A-Segment (city cars) dropped dramatically, off 35% for H1.

GM was the market share leader in the first half, despite both their full-size pickups reporting sales declines. Ford maintained its position as best-selling brand, however, with the F-Series continuing its success driven by the redesigned heavy duty models.

Jeep’s all new-Compass is scheduled to be released in the next couple of months; there are few left of the old model in inventory.