Midsize Car Sales In America - February 2014 YTD

Through the first one-sixth of 2014, typically the slowest time of the year for auto sales in America, the Nissan Altima is the best-selling midsize car, and the best-selling car overall. Altima sales are up 8.5%, having risen 11.3% to nearly 31,000 in February 2014.

• 2013 Nissan Altima 2.5 SV Driven Review

That's nearly as many sales as Toyota USA managed with the Camry in February 2013, but then Camry volume slid 7% in February 2014. Camry volume is down by 10,837 units leading into March.

• All Vehicles & Brands Ranked By February 2014 YTD U.S. Sales
• All 147 Cars Ranked By February 2014 YTD U.S. Sales

Click Chart To Expand

Volkswagen's Passat exemplifies the issues we're currently seeing at VW of America. It's a product that's still fresh, it was much ballyhooed leading up to its arrival, it offers a diesel configuration that's not seen in its rivals, but it doesn't sell that well. Comparisons with the leading trio are difficult. 

Toyota, Honda, and Nissan sell an average of 91,000 Camrys, Accords, and Altimas every month, put together. But Volkswagen has only crested the 10K monthly mark eleven times since the Passat went on sale some 30 months ago. In each of the last six months, Passat sales have decreased on a year-over-year basis.

The problem for Volkswagen isn't the Passat's inability to sell like an Altima, Camry, or Accord - that was never the short-term goal. It's that the Passat can't sell like a Malibu, Sonata, or Optima, let alone a Ford Fusion. To crack the 150K annual mark, Volkswagen would likely need a month or two above 15K and nothing below 10K. This Passat, admirable though it is in our eyes, has never sold more than 11,000 copies in the United States in a single month. 

The Passat ranked tenth among conventional midsize cars in America in February 2014.

Among continuing nameplates, no midsize car suffered a year-over-year decline worse than the Subaru Legacy. The Legacy is about to be replaced by a new model, but as you can see in the image above, it doesn't exactly shout, "This is a new thing!"


You can click any model name in the tables below to find historical monthly and yearly U.S. auto sales data. You can also select a make and model at GCBC's Sales Stats page. These tables are now sortable, so you can rank midsize cars any which way you like. Suggestions on how GCBC should break down segments can be passed on through the Contact page.

Click Column Headers To Sort • February 2015 • March 2014 • January 2014 • February 2013

Midsize Car	February 2014	February 2013	% Change	2014 YTD	2013 YTD	% Change
Buick Regal	2200	1474	49.3%	3634	2479	46.6%
Chevrolet Malibu	17,448	14,817	17.8%	29,270	30,640	-4.5%
Chrysler 200	12,046	11,446	5.2%	22,958	20,292	13.1%
Dodge Avenger	8189	9980	-17.9%	12,984	19,608	-33.8%
Ford Fusion	23,898	27,875	-14.3%	44,615	50,274	-11.3%
Honda Accord	24,622	27,999	-12.1%	45,226	51,923	-12.9%
Hyundai Sonata	11,190	16,007	-30.1%	21,005	29,254	-28.2%
Kia Optima	11,226	13,195	-14.9%	21,205	24,447	-13.3%
Mazda 6	3945	2702	46.0%	7117	4849	46.8%
Mitsubishi Galant	25	209	-88.0%	42	433	-90.3%
Nissan Altima	30,849	27,725	11.3%	53,364	49,189	8.5%
Subaru Legacy	2575	3745	-31.2%	5310	6929	-23.4%
Suzuki Kizashi	---	446	-100%	---	732	-100%
Toyota Camry	28,998	31,270	-7.3%	52,330	63,167	-17.2%
Volkswagen Passat	6997	7532	-7.1%	13,233	16,388	-19.3%
Volkswagen CC	964	1123	-14.2%	1845	2315	-20.3%
---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Total	185,172	197,545	-6.3%	334,138	372,919	-10.4%

Midsize Hybrids & Electrics	February 2014	February 2013	% Change	2014 YTD	2013 YTD	% Change
Chevrolet Volt	1210	1626	-25.6%	2128	2766	-23.1%
Ford C-Max	1853	3183	-41.8%	3271	5908	-44.6%
Honda Insight	339	388	-12.6%	656	707	-7.2%
Nissan LEAF	1425	653	118%	2677	1303	105%
Toyota Prius	8437	12,121	-30.4%	16,445	22,680	-27.5%
Toyota Prius Sedan ^	7396	11,428	-35.3%	14,601	21,113	-30.8%
Toyota Prius Plug-In ^	1041	693	50.2%	1844	1567	17.7%
Toyota Prius V	1743	2543	-31.5%	3473	5065	-31.4%
---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Total	15,007	20,514	-26.8%	28,650	38,429	-25.4%

Tall Wagons  & Crossovers	February 2014	February 2013	% Change	2014 YTD	2013 YTD	% Change
Honda Crosstour *	1125	1234	-8.8%	2301	2507	-8.2%
Subaru Outback *	8967	9016	-0.5%	17,197	17,648	-2.6%
Toyota Venza *	2472	3745	-34.0%	4465	7116	-37.3%
---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Total	12,564	13,995	-10.2%	23,963	27,271	-12.1%

Source: Automakers & ANDC
* indicates a vehicle that is also shown in another GCBC segment breakdown
^ Prius breakdown by variant
GCBC isn't here to break down segments, an impossible task for any group, but to display sales data for the sake of comparison. The more ways sales data can be displayed, the better, right? This explains why you'll see the Outback and Venza listed with midsize SUVs, too... because readers have wanted it both ways. You can always find the sales results for EVERY vehicle and form your own competitive sets by using the All Vehicle Rankings posts.

RECOMMENDED READING
Midsize Car Sales In America - February 2015 YTD
Midsize Car Sales In America - March 2014 YTD
Midsize Car Sales In America - January 2014
Midsize Car Sales In America - February 2013 YTD
Top 20 Best-Selling Cars In America - February 2014 YTD
U.S. Auto Sales Brand Rankings - February 2014 YTD
Small Car Sales In America - February 2014 YTD
Large Car Sales In America - February 2014 YTD