October 2012 U.S. Sporty Car Sales And Premium Sporty Car Sales

For the first time in the Hyundai Veloster's U.S. sales history we are able to see how the car is getting on one year after it went on sale. September sales rose 262%, but the comparison with the abbreviated September 2011 was basically invalid. These October year-over-year results show the Veloster as it is now, with apparently weak supply, and the Veloster as it was when consumers were hyped up and excited about a sporty little Korean number.

Compared with October 2011, U.S. Hyundai Veloster sales fell 34% in October 2012. This still means Hyundai sold ten times as many Velosters as Honda sold CR-Zs. It also means Hyundai's Accent-based three-door managed to outsell the Scion tC by 810 units in what was also a poor month for the tC.

In regards to more genuinely sporting machines, the Scion FR-S rather predictably had its worst full U.S. sales month yet. Since the Scion's true release in June, sales haven't been able to keep up with the early wave of support. But as winter nears and hype subsides, it's hard to keep a rear-wheel-drive sports car with barely usable rear seats at 1500+ units per month. Subaru BRZ sales were at their lowest level since May, as well.

Sporty Car Sales Chart
Click Either Chart For Larger View

Among American muscle cars, the Ford Mustang closed the year-to-date gap on the Chevrolet Camaro by 206 sales. The Camaro and Mustang are America's 48th and 51st-best-selling vehicles so far this year. In order for the Ford to overtake the Chevrolet, Mustang sales need to be 971 units better in each of the next two months.

BMW's 6-Series, with assistance from a new sedan bodystyle (that they call the Gran Coupe), easily outsold snug two and four-seat coupe rivals in October, and it outsold the BMW 7-Series for the fourth time in 2012. The Porsche 911 was able to fend off the Mercedes-Benz SL-Class in October, but only by a scant 16 units. Through the first ten months of 2012, the 911 leads the 6-Series by 992 units and the SL-Class, which got a late start in R231 sixth-gen form, by 3421 units. Combined, the 911 and 6-Series Gran Coupe-rivaling Porsche Panamera outsold the 6-Series by 7443 units through the end of October.

All 265 Vehicles Ranked By October 2012 YTD U.S. Sales

Premium Sporty Car Sales Chart

As will always be the case in the future, historic brand and corporate totals (monthly and yearly going back to 2002) are now available through the dropdown menu at GCBC's Sales Stats page, along with results for more than 260 currently sold vehicles. That's where you'll find out that, though Mazda Miata sales are rising this year, they're not exactly at historic levels.

After the jump you'll find detailed October 2012 and year-to-date U.S. sales figures for a number of wildly different sporty vehicles. If the vehicle you're looking for isn't grouped together with these premium-priced vehicles, it may be listed in the small/entry luxury car category, the small car category, or any other segment you can access through the eighth dropdown menu on GCBC's Tally page.

Sporty Car	October 2012	% Change	Year To Date	YTD % Change
Audi A5	1308	- 6.2%	14,313	+ 9.1%
Audi TT	129	- 33.5%	1815	- 2.2%
BMW 1-Series	778	+ 14.6%	6313	- 12.9%
BMW Z4	246	+ 167%	2198	- 27.3%
Chevrolet Camaro	5122	- 16.3%	74,090	- 3.0%
Chevrolet Corvette	1167	+ 23.4%	11,737	+ 4.6%
Dodge Challenger	2686	- 13.3%	36,309	+ 9.2%
Ford Mustang	5328	+ 8.8%	72,149	+ 17.3%
Honda CR-Z	244	- 15.6%	3705	- 64.6%
Hyundai Veloster	2464	- 33.8%	30,802	+ 576%
Infiniti G37 Coupe/Convertible	718	- 14.3%	11,004	- 11.8%
Mazda MX-5 Miata	461	+ 30.2%	5542	+ 9.9%
Mercedes-Benz SLK	435	+ 105%	3723	+ 35.5%
Mini Convertible	371	- 7.0%	4163	- 5.3%
Mini Coupe	347	- 16.2%	2553	+ 517%
Mini Roadster	306	-----	1902	-----
Mitsubishi Eclipse	28	- 87.8%	1127	- 84.4%
Nissan 370Z	383	- 13.3%	6482	- 0.6%
Porche Boxster	453	+ 608%	2052	+ 22.1%
Porsche Cayman	4	- 96.7%	448	- 62.6%
Scion FR-S	1107	-----	8572	-----
Scion tC	1654	- 14.2%	19,790	+ 2.7%
Subaru BRZ	402	-----	3120	-----
Subaru Impreza WRX	1100	- 27.0%	10,629	- 6.1%
Volkswagen Eos	331	- 41.3%	5529	- 17.8%
Volkswagen GTI	966	- 20.4%	14,226	- 1.2%
Volkswagen Golf R	274	-----	3325	-----
Volvo C70	200	- 29.6%	3941	- 8.7%

Premium Sporty Car	October 2012	% Change	Year To Date	YTD % Change
Audi R8	47	- 31.9%	701	- 24.5%
BMW 6-Series	770	+ 86.0%	6252	+ 138%
Jaguar XK	161	+ 66.0%	1394	- 3.5%
Lexus LFA	3	- 25.0%	36	- 25.0%
Mercedes-Benz CL-Class	54	- 46.5%	589	- 27.0%
Mercedes-Benz SL-Class	574	+ 567%	3823	+ 201%
Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG	28	+ 115%	734	+ 57.2%
Nissan GT-R	86	- 14.9%	1054	- 12.4%
Porsche 911	590	+ 33.8%	7244	+ 39.4%

Source: Manufacturers & ANDC
Clearly GoodCarBadCar is not suggesting that the cars in the two tables above are all direct competitors. Establishing categories among cars as unique as even the Audi TT and Porsche Boxster has never pleased a single reader, so cars have been lumped together so you can simply see how buyers looking for sports cars, roadsters, hot hatches, convertibles, GTs, and wanna-be sports cars spend their money. Greater categorization of cars would only lead to problems that automakers create by not isolating model-specific sales figures: we don't know how many M3s BMW has sold or how many Civics are Si models, for example. The numbers we do have are listed above.

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
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Sporty Car & Premium Sporty Car Sales In America - September 2012
Sporty Car & Premium Sporty Car Sales In America - October 2011
Top 30 Best-Selling Vehicles In America - October 2012
U.S. Auto Sales Brand Rankings - October 2012