Let's Not Pretend: Calling It A Golf Doesn't Mean Americans Are Going To Buy Wagons

Here are a few key facts from last week's GCBC post on Jalopnik's Kinja platform.

• U.S. sales of the Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen declined 27% between 2011 and 2014.

• As the Golf SportWagen takes over from the Jetta SportWagen – which was already a Golf wagon – April sales of the duo slid 28%, year-over-year. True, the Golf SportWagon isn't yet plentiful on dealer lots, but the figure includes a fair number of Jetta SportWagens.

• Moreover, the Volkswagen Tiguan, an afterthought in the small SUV segment, easily outsold Volkswagen's wagons in April.

• It wasn't just Volkswagen. Volvo, with three wagon nameplates, sold 1139 wagons in April 2015. But Volvo also sold 1819 XC60 crossovers. BMW sold nearly 9000 crossovers but likely no more than 500 3-Series wagons.

• Yet perhaps you'll be surprised that, in supposedly hatchback-hating America, the Audi A7, a hatch, outsells the Mercedes-Benz CLS, its most direct rival.

Chevrolet SS Sales Are Finally Rising, Albeit Barely

General Motors sold more Chevrolet SS sedans in April 2015 than they did in April 2014.

Albeit only 16 more, to be precise. 5.7% more.

Yet not in any of the previous five months in which the SS could produce a year-over-year increase did it manage to do so. (October 2014 sales jumped 11,400% from one reported sale in October 2013 to 115.)

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U.S. Vehicle Sales Rankings By Model - April 2015 YTD
U.S. Car Sales Rankings By Model - April 2015 YTD

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Moreover, the SS’s April 2015 sales total was the second-highest level ever for the Aussie-built sedan.

Are we finally seeing an SS recovery, or is this just a blip on the Dodge Charger SRT’s radar?

After SS volume tumbled to just 313 units in the fourth-quarter of 2014, a 25% year-over-year drop and a 64% decline compared with the SS’s strongest quarter from early 2014, sales have now increased in four consecutive periods on a month-to-month basis.

From just 93 sales in December 2014, monthly SS volume has climbed to 115, 215, 264, and 299 units in the following four months. Year-over-year, first-quarter sales in 2015 slid 31%. But the signs of momentum, however slight and inconsequential, are still present.

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Historical Monthly & Yearly Chevrolet SS Sales Figures
U.S. Large Car Sales Figures - April 2015 YTD

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If General Motors was able to sustain this level of volume, Chevrolet would be selling 3600 SSs in America each year. But after the SS was selling at its best level so far – during the first-half of 2014 – GM proved unable to sustain interest. Inventory ballooned, and with little marketing support and outrageous Hellcats from Dodge stealing thunder, SS sales in the second-half of 2014 were less than half what they were in the first-half.

Keep in mind, based on first-half figures, Chevrolet was on pace to sell more than 3000 SSs in America last year, not a lot, but a lot more than the 2479 they ended up selling.

If a lack of manual availability was blamed for part of the decline last year, did the arrival of a manual transmission provide this April 2015 boost? It seems doubtful. Even if we account for the notion that the manual-trans SS sedans may move faster or are simply being handed directly into owners’ hands, the fact that Cars.com shows only 1% of current inventory being made up by DIY shifters is downright telling.

As for the SS’s position in the sales rundown, in April it was still outsold by uncommon vehicles like the Smart Fortwo, BMW i3, Audi A8, Volvo V60 Cross Country, Porsche Boxster, and the Mini Cooper Convertible. Inside Chevrolet showrooms, the SS accounts for 0.35% of the new cars sold so far this year, 0.13% of the new vehicles sold by Chevrolet, and 0.09% of the new GM vehicles sold.

Rarity isn’t a death knell. You don’t expect to see Mercedes-AMG GT coupes scattered about your local Wal-Mart parking lot or Jaguar F-Types lined up outside elementary schools in the suburbs. But oddly, GM hasn’t really used the SS as a marketing tool to elevate the image of the Chevrolet brand. And why would they? They have the Chevrolet Corvette to fill that role.

They sold nearly 3500 of those in April alone.

Timothy Cain is the founder of GoodCarBadCar.net, which obsesses over the free and frequent publication of U.S. and Canadian auto sales figures. Follow on Twitter @goodcarbadcar and on Facebook.

Volkswagen USA Hardly Sells Any SUVs, But Were April 2015's Results A Foreshadowing?

In a market that's gone gaga for SUVs and crossovers over the last couple of years, Volkswagen USA's inability to even moderate their Tiguan and Touareg volume has stood out like a sore thumb.

Consider the first-quarter of 2015, a period in which sales of the smaller Tiguan dropped 8% and larger Touareg slid 9%. During the same three-month span, overall U.S. sales of SUVs and crossovers increased 12%, year-over-year. 

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U.S. Vehicle Sales Rankings By Model - April 2015 YTD
U.S. SUV/Crossover Sales Rankings By Model - April 2015 YTD

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Those results partially explain why the increases reported by the Tiguan and Touareg in April 2015 were so unusual. U.S. sales of the Tiguan grew 20% from 1998 in April 2014 to 2402 in April 2015. The Touareg's 4% increase translated to a scant 22 extra units, but that's still better than the decreases reported in each of the previous four months.

Indeed, decreased Touareg volume has historically been the order of the day. Annually, U.S. Touareg sales declined in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009 before rising much more slowly than it declined in 2010, 2011, and 2012. Touareg volume in 2014 was down 34% compared with 2012; down 15% compared with 2013.

Tiguan sales peaked in 2012 at 31,731 but decreased modestly in 2013 and more sharply in 2014. 137,351 have been sold since its arrival in 2008. 

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Historical Monthly & Yearly Volkswagen Tiguan Sales Figures
Historical Monthly & Yearly Volkswagen Touareg Sales Figures

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A Mexican-built second-generation Tiguan with an available third row and a Crossblue Concept-inspired Highlander/Pilot/Explorer rival will dramatically alter the Volkswagen landscape. In the moment, even in a good month like April 2015, utility vehicles account for just 10% of Volkswagen brand sales in America. Compare that with other German brands like BMW (33%), volume brands like Toyota (26%), and other similarly-sized brands like Mazda (43%), and you see that Volkswagen simply isn't competing in the growth market. 

Do April results show potential? No, these growth figures were likely nothing more than the exception to the rule. But they bring to mind Volkswagen's product plans, and the possibility that Volkswagen's next batch of SUVs nad crossovers will eventually arrive to alter the brand's U.S. portfolio. Hopefully, for VW's sake, not just in time to see the crossover craze wane.

Timothy Cain is the founder of GoodCarBadCar.net, which obsesses over the free and frequent publication of U.S. and Canadian auto sales figures. Follow on Twitter @goodcarbadcar and on Facebook.

SLS AMG Be Gone: Mercedes-Benz's AMG GT Experiment Pays Off In April 2015

Mercedes-Benz keeps moving their high-end sports cars down market just as the company keeps making their high-end sports cars more attractive. The SLR McLaren was absurd in more ways than one, and it took a couple of vehicular lifetimes for Mercedes-Benz to rid themselves of all the copies they built.

The SLS AMG, on the other hand, was a bold yet tasteful manoeuvre into a more reasonable supercar sector, where prices are closer to $200K than $400K, and if by reasonable we mean the domain of Ferraris with eight, rather than twelve, cylinders.

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U.S. Vehicle Sales Rankings By Model - April 2015 YTD
U.S. Car Sales Rankings By Model - April 2015 YTD

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The new AMG GT, on the other hand, has an advertised base price of $129,900, just ten grand more than the new S-Class Coupe and some $21,000 below the price of a Porsche 911 Turbo. Two different AMG variants of Mercedes-Benz’s own SL-Class have significantly more costly points of entry.

Not surprisingly, then, Mercedes-Benz sold more copies of the AMG GT in its first month on sale in the United States than the SLS AMG ever managed at any point in its tenure.

Mercedes-Benz USA reported the company’s first 205 AMG GT sales in April 2015, a figure only vaguely approached by the SLS AMG in, you guessed it, the SLS’s first month on sale. Initial demand for this kind of car is a significant factor to consider, and the fact that Mercedes-Benz sold more than 200 AMG GTs in April doesn’t mean that, like the Porsche 911 with its immense staying power, the AMG GT can continue to attract a couple hundred well-off new owners per month. The SLS AMG, for instance, even in its second-best month of March 2012, was down 27% compared with its first month of availability, May 2010.

Since that month five years ago, Mercedes-Benz USA has sold 2724 SLS AMGs, far more than the number of overpriced SLR McLarens (713) sold between 2004 and 2010.

As for other high-end sporting cars, Audi sold 69 R8s in April, a 14% year-over-year drop. BMW i8 volume, which peaked in its second full month of October 2014 at 204 units, stood at 138 units in April 2015. Dodge sold 56 Vipers, a 42% decline compared with April 2014. Nissan GT-R sales rose 32% to 162 units.

Mercedes-Benz’s own SL-Class was down 24% to 434. Figures for the S-Class Coupe are rolled into the overall S-Class’s total, sedan included, of 2021 April sales. Its CL-Class predecessor averaged 57 monthly sales in the U.S. between 2010 and 2014, but CL volume has declined every year since 2008.

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Mercedes Learns From Mistakes: AMG GT Is A $129,900 Surefire Success

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Porsche’s wide-ranging 911 lineup was down 7% to 897 units in the best-ever month for the Porsche brand in America.

With the AMG GT and the aforementioned i8, Mercedes-Benz and BMW certainly have the vehicles with which the fight can be taken to the Porsche 911 in a new, exciting format. Challenging the iconic Porsche on volume terms, however, outside the venue of a car magazine comparison test, is a different can of worms. With an exhaustive array of body styles and engines and extremes and its legendary status, the 911 is king, no matter how far Mercedes-Benz moves its supercar downmarket.

This article also appears on The Truth About Cars.

Chart Of The Day: The State Of Detroit's Full-Size SUVs - U.S. Sales 2005-2015

Full-size, truck-based SUVs from volume brands have seen their U.S. sales rise 15% to 85,544 units through the first one-third of 2015.

Those are big figures.

But they're not that big. 

To place the numbers in context - particularly after seeing that, last month, GM couldn't match the sales pace of April 2014 when their latest versions were being launched - we've charted the sales figures for all the remaining Detroit brand full-size SUV nameplates. (Click the chart for a larger view.) 

GM has six SUVs represented; Ford and Lincoln bring in another two. We skipped over the Excursion, which was extinguished in 2006. The Dodge Durango is no longer a truck-based SUV.

As the chart shows, Detroit's big brutes are on the upswing, rising much faster this year than the overall industry. But will that growth be sustained throughout 2015? Our projected estimates for this year are somewhat conservative to reflect the fact that growth through the first four months of 2015 is not likely to be matched as the year goes on. 

Moreover, it's abundantly clear that these vehicles, from the Chevrolet Tahoe to the Lincoln Navigator, simply do not sell with the frequency they once did. Blame crew cab pickup trucks. Blame roomy three-row crossovers. Blame the fact that these vehicles have rapidly moved upmarket. One way or another, they're popular. Just not that popular.

RECOMMENDED READING
April 2015 YTD U.S. Large SUV Sales Figures
April 2015 YTD U.S. Large Luxury SUV Sales Figures
All 92 SUVs & Crossovers Ranked By April 2015 YTD U.S. Sales
Yesterday's Chart Of The Day

Chart Of The Day: Audi A3 Reports Record U.S. Sales In April 2015

Audi USA reported 3187 total A3 family sales in April 2015, a 48% year-over-year increase compared with the first month in which the latest generation of A3 was readily available (April 2014) and 106 sales better than the previous best month of March 2015.

The A3 – which takes into account the sedan and convertible with all powertrains and the S3 – was Audi's second-best-selling model in both April 2015 and the first four months of 2015. It accounted for 19% of all U.S. Audi sales in the first one-third of 2015 and in its record-setting month of April. 

Subtract the A3 from the Audi equation and brand-wide Audi sales were up just 1.1% in the A3's record-setting month. But with the A3 included, Audi sales jumped 7.5% to 16,827 units, the best April ever for the Audi brand and the 52nd consecutive month in which the brand reported record monthly sales.

Meanwhile, Audi Canada also reported record A3 sales last month. With 548 Canadian sales, the A3 accounted for 17% of Audi Canada volume. And what are we driving this week? Visiting GCBC Towers is a blue Audi S3, pictured above.

RECOMMENDED READING
Historical Monthly & Yearly Audi A3 Sales Figures
U.S. Vehicle Sales Rankings By Model - April 2015 YTD
U.S. Auto Sales Brand Rankings - April 2015 YTD

April 2015 Midsize Truck Sales In America - Segment Jumps 48%

Midsize pickup truck sales jumped 48% to just under 31,000 units in April 2015, a gain of 10,000 units.

In April, the overall U.S. auto industry grew by approximately 64,000 sales. Overall pickup truck sales increased by 15,000 units. In other words, much of the growth in the pickup truck market last month was generated by the smaller quintet.

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U.S. Auto Sales Brand Rankings - April 2015 YTD
U.S. Vehicle Sales Rankings By Model - April 2015 YTD
U.S. Pickup Truck Sales Rankings By Model - April 2015 YTD

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Year-to-date, the Toyota Tacoma-led small/midsize category has grown by more than 38,000 sales, slightly more than the 36,000 sales added by full-size pickup trucks. 

While their bigger brethren are growing faster than the rate of the overall industry, it's the arrival of new GM midsize twins and continued growth from the two key established midsize players that are causing the overall pickup truck market to appear so especially healthy.

Yes, even as Chevrolet and GMC added 35,696 sales to the midsize category through the first four months of 2015 – equal to 31% market share – the Toyota Tacoma hasn't suffered, nor has the Nissan Frontier.

Small/Midsize Truck	April 2015	April 2014	% Change	2015 YTD	2014 YTD	%  Change
Toyota Tacoma	15,656	13,871	12.9%	55,322	49,100	12.7%
Chevrolet Colorado	7010	5	140,100%	26,136	22	118,700%
Nissan Frontier	5827	5697	2.3%	24,929	23,559	5.8%
GMC Canyon	2432	---	---	9584	2	479,100%
Honda Ridgeline	43	1328	-96.8%	470	5172	-90.9%
---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Total	30,968	20,901	48.2%	116,441	77,855	49.6%

Year-to-date, the Tacoma's market share has plummeted from 63% to 48%. But if there was ever a situation in which market share tallies matter not, surely this is it. Toyota Tacoma sales jumped 13% through the first one-third of 2015 and in April more specifically. The Tacoma is on track for its best year since 2007, perhaps even 2006.

Nissan Frontier sales are also rising. In fact, the Frontier's rate of growth matches the rate of expansion in the full-size truck category. April sales of the Frontier increased only marginally, however, and the 5827-unit total was the lowest for the Frontier since July of last year. Nevertheless, the pace of improvement through the first one-third of 2015 suggests Nissan will easily exceed last year's U.S. sales total, which was the best since 2006.

As for the GM twins, April was the best month yet for the new Chevrolet Colorado. At 7010 units, April was about 10% better than the first-quarter average for the Colorado. GMC Canyon sales have hovered between 2400-2500 per month over the last three months. Combined, the twins continue to trail the Toyota Tacoma by a wide margin and will continue to do so until one of two factors takes effect: either Tacoma sales will drop as the automaker prepares to launch a significantly revised 2016 model or GM will decide there's enough demand to support increased production.

This article also appears on The Truth About Cars.

Small And Midsize Luxury SUV Sales In America - April 2015 YTD

Land Rover USA reported the first 147 sales of the LR2-replacing Discovery Sport in April 2015. If Land Rover is to make the Discovery Sport, which is available with a third row of seating for little ones, their best seller, it'll need to gradually build up to a point where it's averaging more than 1600 monthly sales in America.

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U.S. Vehicle Sales Rankings By Model - April 2015 YTD
U.S. SUV/Crossover Sales Rankings By Model - April 2015 YTD

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If Land Rover were to sell 2000 Discovery Sports per month, for example, it would continue to be a lower-volume player in the small luxury SUV sector. But remember, Land Rover also sells nearly 1100 copies of the more costly Range Rover Evoque per month. Suddenly the brand's small SUV output would appear more appropriate alongside the big boys. 

Click Chart To Expand

Acura sold just under 4000 RDXs in April; Audi sold 3762 Q5s and 1065 Q3s; BMW sold 4207 X1s, X3s, and X4s; and Mercedes-Benz USA sold 5152 GLKs and GLAs. 

Then there's Lincoln, where the one-year-old MKC is no longer building. 1866 MKCs were sold in April 2015, the MKC's fifth-best month so far. Here's hoping, for Lincoln's sake, that the new MKX's launch is more of a volume-generator. In its first full year, 2007, Lincoln averaged more than 3100 MKX sales per month.

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 luxury SUVs and crossovers 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 • April 2016 • May 2015 • March 2015 • April 2014

Compact Luxury SUV	April 2015	April 2014	% Change	2015 YTD	2014 YTD	% Change
Audi Q3	1065	---	---	4252	---	---
BMW X1	886	1130	-21.6%	3647	9098	-59.9%
Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class	2081	---	---	7750	---	---
---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Total	4032	1130	256.8%	15,649	9098	72.0%

Small Luxury SUV	April 2015	April 2014	% Change	2015 YTD	2014 YTD	% Change
Acura RDX	3972	4344	-8.6%	15,314	14,565	5.1%
Audi Q5	3762	3293	14.2%	13,116	12,067	8.7%
BMW X3	2401	3544	-32.3%	8407	13,974	-39.8%
BMW X4	920	---	---	2381	---	---
Infiniti QX50	185	225	-17.8%	767	942	-18.6%
Land Rover Discovery Sport	147	---	---	147	---	--
Land Rover LR2	6	260	-97.7%	63	1312	-95.2%
Land Rover Range Rover Evoque	1081	867	24.7%	4875	4043	20.6%
Lexus NX	3421	---	---	12,532	---	---
Lincoln MKC	1866	---	---	7096	---	---
Mercedes-Benz GLK-Class	3071	3144	-2.3%	8728	11,415	-23.5%
Porsche Macan	1537	---	---	4137	---	---
Volvo XC60	1819	1263	44.0%	7754	5052	53.5%
---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Total	24,188	16,940	42.8%	85,317	63,370	34.6%

Midsize Luxury SUV	April 2015	April 2014	% Change	2015 YTD	2014 YTD	% Change
Acura MDX	4970	5180	-4.1%	19,407	19,777	-1.9%
Acura ZDX	---	12	-100%	1	48	-97.9%
Audi Q7	1620	1462	10.8%	5072	5551	-8.6%
BMW X5	4095	4393	-6.8%	15,846	14,153	12.0%
BMW X6	522	342	52.6%	1945	1442	34.9%
Cadillac SRX	6390	4547	40.5%	18,684	19,450	-3.9%
Infiniti QX60	2829	2281	24.0%	11,634	10,705	8.7%
Infiniti QX70	436	369	18.2%	2137	2215	-3.5%
Land Rover LR4	777	94	727%	2842	1238	130%
Land Rover Range Rover Sport	1758	2006	-12.4%	7983	6829	16.9%
Lexus GX460	1950	1639	19.0%	7430	6546	13.5%
Lexus RX	6810	8130	-16.2%	29,046	29,362	-1.1%
Lincoln MKT	428	452	-5.3%	1285	1735	-25.9%
Lincoln MKX	1357	1828	-25.8%	5325	8929	-40.4%
Mercedes-Benz M-Class	4945	3831	29.1%	15,428	13,965	10.5%
Porsche Cayenne	1773	1839	-3.6%	5299	6119	-13.4%
Volkswagen Touareg *	619	597	3.7%	2049	2162	-5.2%
Volvo XC70 *	426	436	-2.3%	1635	1346	21.5%
Volvo XC90	256	412	-37.9%	367	1778	-79.4%
---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Total	41,961	39,850	5.3%	153,415	153,350	0.0%

Source: Automakers & ANDC
* indicates a vehicle which is also shown in another GCBC segment breakdown
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. This explains you'll see the XC70 listed with luxury cars as well as with SUVs and crossovers and the Touareg with luxury SUVs and mainstream SUVs... 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
Small & Midsize Luxury SUV Sales In America - April 2016 YTD
Small & Midsize Luxury SUV Sales In America - May 2015 YTD
Small & Midsize Luxury SUV Sales In America - March 2015 YTD
Small & Midsize Luxury SUV Sales In America - April 2014 YTD
Top 20 Best-Selling SUVs In America - April 2015
U.S. Auto Sales Brand Rankings - April 2015 YTD
Large Luxury SUV Sales In America - April 2015 YTD