Top 10 Best-Selling Cars: May 2012

Toyota dominated the sales landscape last month, with May sales up nearly 90%. That's versus a weak May 2011, when Japan's earthquake and tsunami had shoppers thinking Toyota, Lexus and Scion showrooms would have few cars in stock. It actually wasn't the case, noted Toyota spokeswoman Carly Shaffner; Automotive News data show Toyota maintained higher inventory in May 2011 then it did this past May, but the perception dried up demand and the automaker lost a third of its sales. Last month, it more than made them back: Camry and RAV4 sales more than doubled, Corolla/Matrix sales jumped 87.5% and Prius sales tripled. Even sales for the Lexus RX, which topped last month's Buzz Index, gained 82.1%.

Toyota wasn't the only mover.

Top 10 Best-Selling Cars: April 2012

Eight of March's 10 best-sellers returned to the table in April, but one of the newbies may surprise you. In March, an incentive-heavy Nissan Altima fell just 1,517 cars short of the redesigned Toyota Camry, clinching the No. 2 best-selling car position. Incentives remain high, but Altima sales dropped drastically enough to knock it off the top 10 list. Instead, shoppers drifted toward the Honda Accord and Toyota Prius.

The Accord, one of April's two newcomers, gained 25.6% last month, snapping three months' sales malaise to fall just 1,435 cars short of the hard-charging, recently redesigned Camry. The shift surprised us, given the Accord is in its final year before a redesign while incentives are about the same as a year ago.

There's little surprise that the Prius' sales catapulted 101.7% despite gas prices leveling off this month. Three new Prius variants — a subcompact Prius c, larger Prius v and rechargeable Prius Plug-in — accounted for 76% of that rise. Strip those away, however, and even the original Prius handily outpaced its year-ago sales.

Top 10 Best-Selling Cars: February 2012

Chrysler and Hyundai saw big increases in February sales as shoppers, spurred by positive economic news and rising personal income, hit dealerships to find incentives remain high. Dealer and manufacturer discounts, including trade-in bonuses and discount financing, totaled 16.1% off the average car's MSRP in early February, CNW Market Research reports. That's about even with January but much higher than February 2011's 13.3% in total discounts.

Sales for Ford's F-Series improved 25.9%, with the V-6 model — both naturally aspirated and EcoBoost (turbocharged) models — accounting for nearly 60% of sales. The Escape, an SUV that made the best-selling list for nine months running, dropped off as sales increased a modest 3.7%. Ford keeps piling on Escape incentives — up versus February 2011 — but perhaps enough shoppers are waiting for its replacement.

The redesigned Toyota Camry maintained a thin lead over the Nissan Altima to remain America's best-selling sedan, despite the Altima selling nearly 60% better. Nissan is cleaning up: Altima incentives are just a tad higher than they were a year ago, and the car is selling despite being in its twilight years. A redesigned Altima will debut at next month's New York auto show.

Top 10 Best-Selling Cars: June 2010

As we near the dog days of summer, the general malaise of the summer months seems to be taking its toll on car sales earlier than usual.

Many large automakers saw only incremental sales gains in June, with Ford up 13.3%, GM up 10.7%, Toyota up 6.8% and Honda only up 6.2%.

Despite the lull, some automakers managed to outperform. Beleaguered Chrysler saw a 35% sales boost in year-over-year sales; to be fair, the automaker was just exiting bankruptcy this time last year, making any comparisons between the two months extremely misleading. Korean automaker Hyundai also continues its sales gains, up 35%.

Significant changes on June’s top 10 include the Nissan Altima falling off the list and the Honda CR-V making the top 10. It’s the first crossover represented on the top 10 since April.

Find out which cars came out on top below. If you want to follow our breaking sales coverage every month, follow us on Twitter @kickingtires.

Top 10 Best-Selling Cars June 2010

• Ford F-Series: 46,502
• Chevrolet Silverado: 30,994
• Toyota Camry: 28,435
• Honda Accord: 26,792 (includes 1,848 Accord Crosstours)
• Honda Civic: 26,474 (includes hybrid)
• Toyota Corolla: 21,876 (includes Matrix)
• Chevrolet Malibu: 20,720
• Ford Fusion: 18,412
• Hyundai Sonata: 17,771
• Honda CR-V: 16,041

2010 Toyota Camry Hybrid Not Recalled, Still On Sale

The Toyota Camry Hybrid is not included in the current recall of 2.3 million Toyotas, including the gasoline-powered Camry. That means Toyota dealers are allowed to sell the 2010 Camry Hybrid on lots right now. However, the Camry Hybrid is part of an earlier recall of 3.8 million Toyota vehicles over floormats that can become trapped under the accelerator.

Toyota Recalls 2.3 Million Vehicles Over Sticking Accelerator Pedal

A new recall announced today by Toyota includes approximately 2.3 million Toyota cars, trucks and SUVs. No Lexus or Scion models are included. The recall is to fix accelerator pedals that become stuck and lead to severe accidents. This recall is separate from the 4.2 million vehicles recalled over floormats trapping the accelerator pedal. Toyota says 1.7 million vehicles are included in both recalls.

Below is Toyota’s explanation as well as the models affected.

Explaining the Toyota Floormat Recall

Toyota is in the process of recalling nearly 4 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles for an issue with their floormats. A number of complaints have shown that the floormats can creep forward and get stuck under the accelerator, which can lead to unintended and potentially dangerous acceleration. (Yes, we know the recall is not official yet, but for clarity we will call it a recall).

We had a 2010 Toyota Prius in our test fleet this week and noted its floormat set-up is similar to Toyotas included in the recall. The 2010 Prius is not included in the current recall, but the 2005-2009 Prius is. Toyota spokesman John Hanson said that the 2010 model uses the same type of floormats as the older Prius, as do many other current Toyota models not included in the recall.

The 2010 Prius, which has only been on sale for a relatively short time, is not included in the recall at this time because there have been no specific complaints filed with either Toyota or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about the floormats, Hanson said. However, when the recall is finalized, which could be as early as next week, the 2010 Prius may be included, he said. Other models haven’t been included based solely on the lack of complaints. A number of factors including pedal placement and keyless ignition in addition to the floormats may have contributed to the complaints against the recalled cars.

So, what is it about these floormats that’s causing the problem?

3.8 Million Toyota, Lexus Recalled Over Floor Mats

The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration issued a wide-ranging announcement late today that Toyota will recall 3.8 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles. The recall stems from faulty floormats that can become stuck under the accelerator pedal causing unexpected acceleration. The defect is suspected to be the cause of one recent fatal accident.

The recall includes the following models:

• 2007-2010 Camry
• 2005-2010 Avalon
• 2004-2009 Prius
• 2005-2010 Tacoma
• 2007-2010 Tundra
• 2007-2010 ES 350
• 2006-2010 IS 250 and IS350

NHTSA suggests all owners remove the driver-side floormat from these cars immediately and not replace them with anything. Toyota has released a warning for owners including steps to take in case of an accelerator issue. We've posted the notice below.

Toyota Offering Five-Year Leases to Comply With Cash for Clunkers

Part of the small print in the Cash for Clunkers legislation is that it can only be applied to leases with terms of at least five years. Most lease deals are for much shorter terms — two to three years — because the allure of a lease is that you get out of a car and into a new one quickly.

Toyota is one of the few automakers we’ve heard of that will offer five-year leases, created just for the program. The 60-month leases are available for the Yaris, Corolla, Camry, RAV4 and Tacoma. One sample offer for a Yaris lease lists a headline-grabbing monthly payment of $79 per month for 60 months. The money you’d have to pay up front is $5,229, but if you deduct the $4,500 Cash for Clunkers credit, you’d end up paying $729 up front.

How much would it cost you to buy a Yaris in the same scenario and own it outright at the end of the term? Financed at 2.9% for 60 months, with that same down payment, it would be $125.03 a month, not including tax or destination.

The lease also allows you to drive only 12,000 miles a year. Offers vary by region.

2009|Toyota|Yaris

2009|Toyota|Corolla

2009|Toyota|RAV4

2009|Toyota|Camry

2010 Toyota Camry: Hey, I Get 33 MPG, Too!

The mileage wars continue: The Toyota Camry, which snagged the sales crown among cars in 2008, will get an EPA-estimated 33 mpg for the 2010 model year. The vaunted highway figure is something GM’s midsize triplets — the Chevy Malibu, Saturn Aura and Pontiac G6 — have dangled in Toyota’s face for the better part of a year.

Not anymore; with a new four-cylinder engine and six-speed manual or automatic options, the face-lifted 2010 Camry will get 22/33 mpg city/highway with a stick shift and 22/32 mpg with an automatic, Toyota spokesman Bill Kwong said. Though you have to shift your own gears to get the 33 mpg rating — something we suspect few Camry drivers will opt for — you can bet Camry commercials will blare “33 mpg” all year long. (As long as they don’t blare “Saved by Zero,” we won’t argue.) Though GM’s competitors can get 33 mpg with an automatic,  the Malibu and G6 require you to get the uplevel six-speed auto to achieve it; only the Aura has the six-speed standard. With the base four-speed auto, highway mileage in the Malibu and G6 drops to 30 mpg.

The Camry’s new figures are up 1 to 2 mpg over the 2009 model, whose smaller four-cylinder and five-speed transmissions returned 21/31 mpg. The 2010 model hits dealerships this spring. Of course, we’d expect another wave of mpg one-upmanship from Ford, as the redesigned 2010 Fusion will peg 23/34 mpg when using a six-speed automatic. Among the major players, it looks like GM and Toyota will have to fight it out for second place: