USA Auto Sales Brand Rankings - February 2014 YTD

In Total, Nissan USA Sold 17,197 Rogues In February 2014

America's February 2014 auto sales reports were released by every automaker today. 

Early results were almost prophetically mixed, as Hyundai blames the weather, in part, for a 6% decline, even as the Nissan brand set a February sales record with nearly 106,000 sales. In the end, relatively substantial increases from Jeep, Ram, Nissan, Subaru, Buick, Lincoln, and Jaguar - among others - were offset by substantial decreases from many big brands, including Honda, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Ford.

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

The Chrysler Group reported an 11% year-over-year increase in total volume. The Jeep brand posted gains of 14,782 units as Cherokee/Liberty sales rose by more than 10,000 units. 

• Top 20 Best-Selling Cars In America In February 2014

Click Chart To Expand

Ford Motor Company says fleet sales lost from bad weather in February will be made up in  March; it won't be hard to test that claim if we wait four weeks. Sales of the F-Series rose 3% to 55,882 units, 32% of the Ford brand's February 2014 total. For Volkswagen, a 14% year-over-year decline was traced back to the disappearance of outgoing models and the lack of incoming replacements, for now. General Motors enjoyed an Encore-fuelled boost at Buick but sales at GM's other three brands decreased last month. 

The Toyota brand is down by nearly 20,000 sales through the first two months of 2014, compared with the first one-sixth of 2013. Harsh declines from the Yaris, Prius, Avalon, Venza, and Sienna hurt Toyota in February 2014, although positive signs continue to be lit up by the RAV4. American Honda enjoyed a slim uptick in Acura sales despite the Acura division's 27% decline in car sales, but total Honda brand sales slid 8% as Honda's cars fell 10%.

More details after the results.

Don't like to see automakers arranged alphabetically? Click column headers to sort automakers by February ranking, February 2014 sales, year-over-year change, year-to-date totals, or any other order. Best seller lists for cars, trucks, and SUVs will be added later this afternoon. In the coming days, GCBC will also publish a complete list of February sales for every single vehicle line, a list which includes brand results. To find out what you can expect, you can see December's year end version of that post here. You can always find historical monthly and yearly sales figures for any brand by clicking the brand name in the table below or by selecting a make (or model) at GCBC's Sales Stats page.

Click column headers to sort by specific categories. Using the mobile version of GoodCarBadCar? Switch to the web version at the bottom of the page, at which point columns should be sortable.
February 2015 - March 2014 - January 2014 - February 2013
Updated at 4:32 PM AT on 03.03.2014

Rank	Automaker	February 2014	% Change	2014 YTD	% Change	February 2014 Market Share	YTD  Market Share
#21	Acura	11,545	1.6%	22,368	7.3%	1.0%	1.0%
#22	Audi	10,881	0.1%	20,982	0.2%	0.9%	1.0%
#35	Bentley	191	6.1%	383	4.1%	0.1%	0.1%
#17	BMW	22,017	3.3%	40,270	6.5%	1.8%	1.8%
#18	Buick	19,192	18.8%	32,470	9.6%	1.6%	1.5%
#20	Cadillac	13,437	-2.9%	24,823	-7.9%	1.1%	1.1%
#2	Chevrolet	153,913	-2.9%	273,002	-7.7%	12.9%	12.4%
#14	Chrysler	25,230	0.6%	46,343	1.2%	2.1%	2.1%
#6	Dodge	49,744	-10.6%	84,649	-14.4%	4.2%	3.8%
#29	Fiat	3465	4.9%	6687	15.2%	0.3%	0.3%
#1	Ford	176,688	-7.2%	324,209	-7.9%	14.8%	14.7%
#10	GMC	35,562	-0.6%	63,295	-5.0%	3.0%	2.9%
#5	Honda	88,860	-8.0%	169,668	-6.1%	7.5%	7.7%
#7	Hyundai	49,003	-6.3%	93,008	-3.1%	4.1%	4.2%
#23	Infiniti	9729	6.4%	18,727	15.1%	0.8%	0.8%
#32	Jaguar	1552	35.2%	2899	33.2%	0.1%	0.1%
#8	Jeep	45,946	47.4%	87,856	42.9%	3.9%	4.0%
#9	Kia	41,218	-0.7%	78,229	0.5%	3.5%	3.5%
#27	Land Rover	4006	2.6%	8680	7.1%	0.3%	0.4%
#19	Lexus	18,855	8.7%	36,492	8.8%	1.6%	1.7%
#24	Lincoln	6661	36.4%	12,634	39.2%	0.6%	0.6%
#34	Maserati	837	426%	1405	325%	0.1%	0.1%
#16	Mazda	23,341	-2.4%	43,155	-6.7%	2.0%	2.0%
#15	Mercedes-Benz ^	24,030	3.3%	47,922	2.3%	2.0%	2.2%
#31	Mini	2459	-42.8%	5002	-37.3%	0.2%	0.2%
#25	Mitsubishi	5977	-1.2%	10,844	1.3%	0.5%	0.5%
#4	Nissan	105,631	16.7%	187,103	13.9%	8.9%	8.5%
#30	Porsche	3232	15.2%	6328	2.7%	0.3%	0.3%
#12	Ram	30,481	27.9%	56,514	26.1%	2.6%	2.6%
#26	Scion	4529	-10.4%	8540	-14.1%	0.4%	0.4%
#33	Smart	941	20.2%	1462	15.7%	0.1%	0.1%
#11	Subaru	34,909	24.0%	67,909	21.6%	2.9%	3.1%
#36	Suzuki	---	-100%	---	-100%	0.0%	0.0%
#3	Toyota	135,900	-5.6%	260,617	-7.1%	11.4%	11.8%
#13	Volkswagen	27,112	-13.8%	50,606	-16.3%	2.3%	2.3%
#28	Volvo	3991	-18.0%	7783	-20.1%	0.3%	0.4%
---	-----	-----	-----	-----	-----	-----	-----
	General Motors	222,104	-1.0%	393,590	-6.1%	18.6%	17.9%
	Ford Motor Company	183,349	-6.1%	336,843	-6.7%	15.4%	15.3%
	Toyota Motor Corporation	159,284	-4.3%	305,649	-5.7%	13.4%	13.9%
	Chrysler Group	154,866	11.4%	282,049	9.9%	13.0%	12.8%
	Nissan Motor Company	115,360	15.8%	205,830	14.0%	9.7%	9.3%
	Honda Motor Company	100,405	-7.0%	192,036	-4.8%	8.4%	8.7%
	Hyundai-Kia	90,221	-3.8%	171,237	-1.5%	7.6%	7.8%
	Volkswagen  Group *	41,416	-8.6%	78,299	-11.0%	3.5%	3.6%
	Daimler	24,971	3.8%	49,384	2.6%	2.1%	2.2%
	BMW-Mini	24,476	-4.4%	45,272	-1.2%	2.1%	2.1%
	Jaguar-Land Rover	5558	10.0%	11,579	12.6%	0.5%	0.5%
---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
---	Total	1,192,467	-0.02%	2,203,668	-1.4%	---	---

Source: Automakers & ANDC 
Red font indicates declining year-over-year volume
* Does not include Lamborghini
^ Excluding Sprinter: up 2.6% to 22,609, up 1.5% to 45,213 YTD.
• HybridCars.com estimates for Tesla total 1400 February sales.


Huge increases at Subaru occurred with the Forester (up 95%) and the XV Crosstrek (up 68%), powering record February sales for the brand. "Only" 39% of Porsche buyers came to the brand in February for a Cayenne - Porsche Canada relied on the Cayenne for 68% of its February sales. 

Mazda's product revolution isn't currently paying dividends, as the new 3 is selling much less often than it did a year ago - February 3 sales slid 31%. 

Mercedes-Benz USA sold nearly as many S-Classes as CLAs, more MLs than GLKs, and more SLs than SLKs, which is one way of making lots of money. New third-gen (BMW) Minis are coming off boats in North America as we speak, and dealers certainly need them to arrive soon. After a tough January, Mini brand sales slid 43%, a loss of 1843 units, in February 2014. Audi's A3 is back, and its 563-unit February (a 44% jump) helped propel the brand to a four-unit year-over-year increase.

Hyundai suffered a significant 4817-unit drop in Sonata sales. Excluding the midsize sedan, Hyundai brand sales would have risen 4.2% as Accent, Elantra, Santa Fe, Tucson, and Veloster sales all increased. Kia sales declined slightly in February as Rio, Optima, and Sorento fell. Mitsubishi produced nearly one out of every five sales with the Mirage, which might be good news or bad news, depending on your perspective. Maserati sales blossomed in the post-SuperBowl light with a 426% - 678-unit - increase. 

For Volvo, February marked the third occasion in three months that sales dipped below 4000 units. Jaguar's expanded XF range accounted for 58% of the Jag lineup's volume in February; Land Rover relied on the Range Rover Sport and Range rover for 58% of the brand's sales.

RECOMMENDED READING
U.S. Auto Sales Brand Rankings - February 2015 YTD
U.S. Auto Sales Brand Rankings - March 2014 YTD
U.S. Auto Sales Brand Rankings - January 2014
U.S. Auto Sales Brand Rankings - 2013 Year End
U.S. Auto Sales Brand Rankings - February 2013 YTD
Top 30 Best-Selling Vehicles In America - February 2014

2014 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid Review - It Might Make You Want A Fusion Hybrid

Acknowledging Lincoln's image problem, I made it my mission last week to rehabilitate the local perception of the brand during the 2014 MKZ Hybrid's stay in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

My mother, no spring chicken by her own admission, appreciates the idea of an extremely efficient midsize Lincoln. My peers, on the other hand, didn't know this car existed, don't care now that they now know, and won't care if they're never reminded of its existence again. 

Yes, because 3-Series.

But I'm nothing if not a congenial fellow, a man who's given to helping out the common man. Or in this case, the premium division of one of the world's largest automobile corporations. So when I drove the Lincoln MKZ Hybrid from the humble military/fishing village of Eastern Passage to Fall River, Nova Scotia's wealthiest provincial electoral district, I wore a fleece hoodie emblazoned with the word CANADA - hood partially up - and black sweatpants.

THE GOOD Stellar fuel economy Silent operation Ride/handling compromise Seats adjust in a million ways Won't get lost in a crowd

THE BAD Severely short-changed trunk Face can be a challenge to accept MyLincolnTouch better left untouched Interior simply doesn't feel expensive There are a lot of nice cars at $50K

The day before, we drove to Babies"R"Us, rather than a retirement community, because we have a child under the age of 40, which very few Lincoln buyers are known to possess. 

When one of a thousand satellite radio stations started playing Lorde's Team, I turned up the volume on the MKZ's 11-speaker stereo - it's flat at low volume but offers great clarity when blasted - so people three blocks over could hear something other than Lawrence Welk's orchestra quietly emanating from a Lincoln.

I haven't surveyed the city to see if my perfectly conceived plan caused the citizenry to view Lincoln in a whole new light, but I do know one person on whom the MKZ Hybrid rubbed off in an increasingly positive way last week. In spite of its irksome interior.

C'est moi.

188 horsepower isn't a lot, but the MKZ delivers what torque it has low down in the rev range. The MKZ Hybrid never feels slow and power is delivered in a smooth and consistent manner. The engine periodically ignites a bit gruffly, but it doesn't switch off and on that often. By no means is this hybrid powerplant/continuously variable transmission tandem a detriment to the experience. The MKZ Hybrid also has the same base price as the conventional 240-bhp MKZ, and despite the bitterly cold weather, we saw some amazing fuel economy returns throughout the week, the kind of figures we certainly did not see in the identically-powered (but all-wheel-drive) Fusion last year.

2014 LINCOLN MKZ HYBRID Base Price * (CDN): $40,225 As-Tested Price * (CDN): $49,625 Engine: 2.0L DOHC 16-valve I-4 (Atkinson) Transmission: continuously variable Horsepower: 141 @ 6000 rpm Torque: 129 lb-ft @ 4000 rpm Battery: 1.4 kWh Li-ion Battery Power: 35 kW Combined Horsepower: 188 Curb Weight: 3911 pounds Drive Type: front-wheel-drive Length: 194.1 inches Width: 73.4 inches Height: 58.1 inches Wheelbase: 112.2 inches Passenger Volume: 2730 litres Cargo Volume: 314 litres Centre Console: 14 tennis balls ^ Glove Compartment: 11 tennis balls EPA City: 45 mpg = 5.2 L/100km EPA Highway: 45 mpg = 5.2 L/100km Observed: 45.2 mpg Observed: 5.2 L/100km * includes destination/delivery.  ^ MKZ swallows another 29 behind/under dash panel

If you're willing, however, what will make the MKZ's driving experience an enjoyable one isn't its mannerly powertrain or the knowledge that, if you modulate the throttle in just the right way, your fuel bill will be extraordinarily low. 

In fact, while not an outright corner carver, the MKZ's ride and handling balance is simply spot-on. Because of severe temperature fluctuations this winter, Maritime roads have never been worse. The potholes are volcanic in their shape and dimensions. Yet the MKZ never once felt as though it was disturbed by the roughness. 

That's fine - it's not the only car to ride softly. But it also handles quite sweetly, very much like the Ford Fusion on which it's based. The steering could be faster, true, but this combination of serene ride quality and composed handling makes for a take-the-slightly-longer-way-home mentality that I hadn't dared to expect. 

Many pedestrian onlookers - I think there were four of them in total - watched this MKZ Hybrid cruise past them on one of HRM's best twisty routes, Waverley Road. They thought one of three things: a) "He's gonna get a ticket," or b) "He's driving a Lincoln that quickly?", or c) "Them are some nostrils, eh."

All Photo Credits: Timothy Cain ©www.GoodCarBadCar.net
Click Any Image For A Larger View - (iPhone 4 Filtered Through Tadaa)

I won't deny that the MKZ's styling grew on me over the course of the week. The rear end's classiness was never in doubt, the profile view is mostly pleasing but is definitely droopy, and these optional 19-inch wheels are spectacular. Unfortunately, like other Lincolns, the MKZ Hybrid has something going on up front that makes children try to pull boogers out of its grille. 

Too harsh? Styling is subjective? Yeah, whatevs. (Whatevs is something kids say, so by using it in this review, I'm bringing the average age of Lincoln buyers down by at least three years.)

At $49,625, this specific MKZ Hybrid didn't feature Ford's parallel parking assist. The famed MKZ retractable glass roof? Nope. There's no Lane Keeping Assist; no rain-sensing wipers; no rear DVD. Our MKZ test car was fitted with Lincoln's infinitely-adjustable multi-contour seats - both front seats have all sorts of bolstering which expand and contract in degrees, and they massage. If you can't get comfortable in these seats, you can't get comfortable. So long as you're not too tall, as the smaller sunroof does eat into headroom. 

The front seats also have a huge range of motion and can eat into rear seat space if the driver is long of leg or just unkind. As a result of the big battery pack, cargo capacity has dropped 28% compared with the non-hybrid MKZ. 

The space it has and the space it doesn't, the features which are present and the features which are missing nevertheless have little impact on the final impressions left by the MKZ Hybrid's interior. It feels unfinished. Underneath the steering wheel's two menu controllers are sharp edges that seem out of place in anything built since 1987. The centre console's storage compartment door tends not to close. After a few moments of warming bums, the front seats vented puffs of cool air on the rear occupants with some frequency. MyLincolnTouch doesn't actually want to be touched. Ford's infotainment system seems logical enough, but it doesn't always respond to inputs, and when it does it's slow to complete a task.  

Worst of all, by far the worst of all, the matte black plastic that covers mostly everything is a lame excuse for a luxury car material. It looks like Scandinavian minimalism in pictures. In person, it's more dismal than minimal. This plastic is even used on the centre stack-mounted drive selector, and I don't like anything that leads me to believe that a piece which allows me select Reverse might fail next year.

The MKZ Hybrid doesn't deserve complaints regarding its dynamics or its powertrain. I mostly dislike the way it looks, but you might not, and I do like it more today than I did yesterday. But the interior ambience doesn't just seem out of place because we're discussing a $49,625 MKZ; it wouldn't be appropriate in in the basic $40,225 MKZ Hybrid. I'd expect better build quality and materials in a car which costs $35,000. And rightly so - the Honda Accord Hybrid and Volkswagen Passat TDI Highline which visited GCBC in January both felt much more expensive, irrespective of the MKZ's heated and cooled and hugely adjustable front seats and its hushed on-road presence. 

Do feelings matter? The best cars feel like they cost more than they actually do. The Lincoln MKZ Hybrid feels like it needs ought to be deeply discounted.

There will be those who can get past the interior's this-ain't-a-Lexus sensation. Those are likely the same people who'll love the way the 2014 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid looks. There aren't many of these people of course, particularly in Canada. Americans registered nearly 27 times more MKZs than Canadians did in January.

In 2014, GCBC Instituted ISTBTP, AKA Interior Storage Tennis Ball Test Protocol.
The Lincoln MKZ Hybrid's ISTBTP Results Are In The Spec Chart Above. 

Now that a few residents of the small city of Halifax know that youngerish people can be seen in a Lincoln, a Lincoln which can be hustled while still consuming very little fuel, MKZ sales are bound to increase dramatically. Or not. Overall Lincoln sales will increase dramatically, once the handsome MKC arrives with an interior that uses actual buttons and knobs rather than swipe pads to control audio volume. 

If Lincoln's grandfatherly, airport taxi image was cast aside, the second-gen MKZ would, on merit, sell more often.

But the perfect 2014 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid would, while driving just like our test car, add to this car's equipment load Ford's fantastic Park Assist and a handful of other now-normal active safety features. It would look a little less strange; it would look a little more like an Aston Martin. It would cost around $40,000, rather than a hair under $50,000. Come to think of it, that car does exist. It's called the Ford Fusion Hybrid Titanium.

RECOMMENDED READING
Historical Monthly & Yearly Lincoln MKZ Sales Figures
2013 Ford Fusion SE EcoBoost AWD Driven Review
2014 Honda Accord Hybrid Driven Review
2014 Buick Regal Turbo AWD Driven Review
2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid SEL Driven Review