Top 10 Best-Selling Cars: April 2009

This month sees a big change to the top 10. As pent-up demand led to slightly less-awful car sales in April, sedans took control of the top 10. The Honda Accord unseated Ford’s F-Series trucks to take the top spot, and the Ford Fusion had its best sales month ever. Even in these tough times for the auto industry, there are glimmers of hope to be had.

Comments

Wow, no car can sale in the 30,000s anymore?

Kudos accord, finally beat camry

Colin,
Not in this economy it seems.

It has got to really chap GM's hide that despite all the marketing/awards for the Malibu, it is still handily outsold by the Impala. How is that?

Adam,

Old people and cops.

Adam,

Fleet sales

Honda has sold 5,300 + Hybrids with Insight selling 2096 units in its first month. Infact the officical date for Insight was Apr-22.

This bringds Honda closer to Toyota's tally of 12,000 + hybrids.

Ford sold 2,300 while GM sold 1,500 +.

All this takes Hybrid sales past 21,000 for Apr-2009. Thats more than 2% of the market.

In the months ahead, as Insight gains traction and new Prius comes in, expect the Hybrids to gain 3% share.

This is a really great top ten list, but it is so sad to see how badly car sales are doing, which is a very good indication of the economy. Hopefully this new administration will make more steps to alleviate the situation, not quite sure how the Chrysler mess will work out. Anyone can post their own list to our site http://www.toptentopten.com/. The coolest feature is you can let other people vote on the rankings of your list.

Fleet purchases are down nearly 50%. This explains why some numbers are lower than normal. I don't think it's that people can't afford a new car right now - it's that they are are being more cautious and frugal with the money they have coupled with banks being a little tight with loans. Things will gradually loosen up. We've already seen that over the last few months. It's nice to see the Fusion selling well.

It's interesting the the Civic sold so many more cars than the Corolla - close to a 3-2 ratio. Usually they're closer.

One thing I've noticed is that Honda has been doing a lot of TV advertising for Civic; much more that Toyota has been doing for Corolla.

That's the '09 Fusion, right?

Either way, a little shocked to see it up there but it's a change of pace.

ALthough not in hugh numbers, alot of work trucks are still the top sellers. Guess all the work people know when to get a deal and buy

Before the last couple years the Civic always outsold the Corolla, the Corolla didn't even use to be in the top ten. The Accord was the best selling car in the very early 90's and was again in 2001. We'll see if it can beat the Camry this year..

i remember when Ford had 5 of the 10 on the list. They really need to get back to that. I think the new products are really the best they have ever been. Something that hurt them was not updating the Taurus along with their rivals' sedans. The new Taurus that is coming out is perhaps the best car Ford has ever made, but they lost many of their customers and I am sure it will be very hard to win them back simply because people get used to what they drive and tend to stick with it.

Adam,

For the first four months, Malibu is ahead 5,218 over Impala. For that same period vs. last year, Malibu is down 8,868. Impala is down 53,451. So doubt GM is pleased either way.

In fact, the Accord had the Camry beaten before. It was year 2001.

The Corolla + Matrix still got outsold by Civic? hm...Is it because they are cutting edges here and there?

I think there is some anti Toyota backlash going on.How many times can you hear "bulletproof reputation" and Camry Camry Camry before you get sick? I would take a Honda Civic anyday over a stogy Corolla or Camry.

Go Honda!!!!!! Where's the Altima??????

Seems too me we have alot of TOYOTA bashers TOYOTA is and will be favorable over honda, don't get me wrong honda is just as good BUT not as good as # 1...

Did anyone notice that 6 out of 10 were domestic? hmmmm. cool!

The altima got beat by the Fusion and Malibu last month. Probably the first time its ever happened. Altima moved about 12k units last month. The Fusion and Malibu have a real shot at the #3 spot in midsize sedans. Toyota has to be worried about these results. The Corolla and Camry got creamed by their Honda counterparts.

Seth, you are right on the camry and corolla got there a** beat this month by honda cars, toyota had the 2nd worst numbers behind gm, if iam not mistaken the worst numbers for toyota this year, but keep in mind sales of this year camry and corolla is outselling accord and civic... TOYOTA ROCKS & RULES

The Tundra is not in the top ten anymore? Are they back to their tightwad ways?

The Impala is a larger vehicle than the Malibu, with a great deal of standard equipment, and with incentives bringing the price lower than the Malibu. Fuel economy is virtually the same as the Malibu, and a V6 Impala LT actually has a curb weight that is less than a 4-cyl Malibu LTZ. The Impala also has a smaller turning radius than a Malibu. While the Malibu is newer, with more modern styling, the Impala represents real value in a time when people want the most for their money.

Just remember though, GM sold 5.7% > Honda, 33.7% > Toyota, 24.5% > Ford and 227.5% > Dodge. And this doesn't include the rest of the vehicles! Honda sales will decrease once the newness of the Accord wears off.

Dee:

Toyota had the worst performance of any major automaker except Chrysler. GM did better than Toyota AND Nissan last month in terms of sales declines. Ford was 2nd best behind Honda. Nissan has been doing poorly since last fall and they are in the same boat as Toyota.

Corolla and Camry wont be outselling Accord/Civic for long with more months like this. Whats crazy is that Toyota is doing much more in terms of rebates and low financing than Honda.

Impala has several advantanges over Malibu like trunk space, rebates, width and V6 gas mileage. If the price is right and the styling satisfies its a good buy. While the Impala is heavy on fleet sales there has been a drop off in fleet sales this year due to the economy so I bet a decent proportion of Impalas are sold to people. I see non rental Impalas all the time.

being a previous 2007 toyota camry le owner, and currently a 2009 acura tsx owner its no einstein why toyota are more appreciated then others i love my acura but just not like the toyota its suits everyday use and etc...

The Corolla issue is strange because both it and the Matrix were redesigned last year. While nothing is really performing better than last year, the decline in Corolla sales are worse than Civic which hasn't had a redesign since model year 2006.

DaveT:

Who can tell the corolla has been redesigned? No one except car nuts. Thats the problem. It was yet another conservative effort by Toyota. Aside from offering nav and bluetooth I would love to know how Toyota improved the Corolla. Its like they ignored the civic and 3 when they redesigned the car. Its also unattractive. There are only two reasons to buy a Corolla: reputation and fuel economy. Its not the best looking, best handling, fastest, cheapest or best covered by warranty. If you cross shop with other compacts there is no reason to select Corolla.

OS,
I think you're right on a lot of levels but they did advertise it with the super bowl last year, and for a toyota sedan it's pretty radical with those headlights. But with everyone else going edgy or cheap it's neither.

Kia Forte will be another competitor for it for sure.

Dave T.,
Could you confirm something I saw elsewhere (can't remember where) that the new Insight sold a little over 2000 units in April? Just curious because I saw it for the first time when I drove by a Honda dealer. When did sales for it start?

last month was the first full month and it sold 2,096 units. I wouldn't fixate on that number. It's an imported model and I'm guessing they're selling every one they get in. I'd give it til June before judging what it's volume will be. Plus, they just started advertising it.

Insight did sell about 2200 units last month. Not a full month but still not great sales for a model Honda wants to hit 100k units.

Dave:

Toyota's definition of "radical" is not very radical. I guess Toyota felt they shouldn't mess with success but you can only do that for so long. There was a time when Olds, Pontiac and Buick were successful and thought the same way. Younger people tend to buy affordable cars and they appreciate styling and handling. I dont know how the Corolla has stayed on top this long honestly. Things are only going to get tougher in 2010 when the Focus and Cruze come to market. The Forte is nice but Kia doesnt have the ad budget to really expose the car the way Chevy and Ford will expose their models. In the same way that the domestics had the full size truck market to themselves and had to face an influx of competitors, Honda/Toyota are going to find the small car field increasingly crowded. They will have to defend their turf in the way domestics have had to defend the SUV/truck market over the last decade.

honda insight indeed did sell well 2096 units in april, numbers at hondanews.com

dee:

Is that "well"? I'm not so sure since Honda projected 100k sales in the US. Its the first month of sales but Honda typically doesn't advertise vehicles until they have a product at dealerships. With gas this cheap and the economy in this state Honda is unlikely to meet its goals in the first year.

os:

of course honda and all others wont meet their sales goal, but definetly it wont with the new PRIUS due this spring...

correction SUMMER

ykyukuykuykyukyukyukyuyu

toyota sucks. American cars rule. put a end to toyota and honda. No more hondas and toyotas please.

I dunno, a real American, I don't really want to see the end of quality cars in the States... wake me up when Detroit can build cars that are better than the imports.

A REAL AMERICAN, I'm pretty sure GM, Ford, Chrysler gives shyt about America or about you. They are global, not American.

It looks like all sales is down for cars. I believe the Impala and Malibu will recover with the New GM. They are great cars.

The Honda Accord is the series of mid-size automobiles manufactured by Honda since 1976, and sold in most automotive markets throughout the world.

Great selling Honda Accord..I wanna donate my car.I have find this link.give me suggestion as soon.

http://www.outreachcenter.com