Will 2020 be yet another record year for crossovers, SUVs, and pickup trucks? One month in, the numbers are looking good — at least for American Honda. The Japanese brand’s North American division reported a new January sales record for its light trucks: 52,800 deliveries were made, up 2.3 percent from last year.
There’s a lot of mutter about the industry finally declining after years of growth, but as far as SUVs and crossovers are concerned, there doesn’t seem to be any real sign of a slowdown. Honda light trucks have just come off their fifth straight year of record sales, and it’s not at all a stretch to think this January performance is just a precursor for what’s to come.
The popular CR-V didn’t quite manage to top its January 2018 performance, though Honda expects it won’t be a pattern with the new CR-V Hybrid due to hit dealerships in March. Furthermore, other Honda light trucks more than made up for the difference, including the HR-V, Passport, and Ridgeline. Notably, the HR-V was up 24.8 percent on sales of 7,457 units, a new record for the nameplate, and Ridgeline sales jumped a whopping 57.1 percent for the month.
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Though overall car sales were down, Honda nonetheless managed to sell more than 20,000 Civic models — about 6,000 shy of the CR-V, still the best-selling vehicle in the Honda lineup — making the Civic the best-selling retail passenger car in America.
“As we enter a new decade, we will continue to focus on our core values and maintain the kind of sales discipline that has made us a retail sales leader in the industry,” said Henio Arcangeli Jr., senior vice president of the American Honda Automobile Division. “The arrival of our new CR-V Hybrid next month will also bring new opportunities to further strengthen our light-truck lineup and extend our two-year streak of record electrified vehicle sales.”
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Kurt Verlin was born in France and lives in the United States. Throughout his life he was always told French was the language of romance, but it was English he fell in love with. He likes cats, music, cars, 30 Rock, Formula 1, and pretending to be a race car driver in simulators; but most of all, he just likes to write about it all. See more articles by Kurt.