Toyota Sales Up a Little in April—SUV Sales Up a Lot

Toyota Motor North America (TMNA) reported April 2017 sales of just under 202,000 units, marking a decrease of 0.7% on a daily selling rate basis (DSR). Not accounting for its Lexus luxury arm, however, Toyota division sales were up 0.3% on a DSR basis.

A deeper look into the numbers reveals a familiar trend in the automaker’s lineup: cars are down, SUVs are up. Specifically, on a DSR basis, Toyota cars were down 7% even as the Toyota Corolla sedan drew in an impressive 31,428 sales; meanwhile, SUVs were up 12% with the RAV4 taking the crown as Toyota’s best-selling vehicle of April.

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Best-Seller: 2017 Toyota RAV4 overview

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Supporting the RAV4 among the SUVs were the Highlander, which sold a record 17,981 units for a 24.2% improvement over April 2016, and the Toyota 4Runner, up 6.8% with 10,428 sales—also a record. Late April additionally marked the launch of the all-new 2018 Toyota C-HR compact crossover, 550 of which had already made their way off the lots by the end of the month. All told, TMNA and Toyota division enjoyed—you’ve guessed it—a new April record for light truck sales.

The cars-down/SUVs-up trend isn’t specific to Toyota: it reflects the overall car industry as buyers continue to flock to the ever-expanding crossover segment that tries to do it all with SUV-like space and comfort, sedan-like agility and fuel economy, and AWD occasionally thrown into the mix. It’s arguable that the combination usually fails more than it succeeds, but gasoline prices remaining low have also helped push customers away from the many green cars in Toyota’s lineup and toward their bigger vehicles instead.

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Break the Trend: Learn about the benefits of electric and fuel-efficient vehicles

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Source: Toyota April 2017 Sales Chart (.pdf)