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The Toyota RAV4 is one of America's top-selling vehicles. With August sales of a whopping 49,481 units, it is only topped by a few truck series, which are really multiple sizes/models rolled into one name. Another model that deserves recognition for its sales is the Honda CR-V. Honda's CR-V sales of 44,235 units are impressive because Honda shies away from fleet sales. Toyota does not. If you'd like to buy a few hundred or a few thousand for your municipality or rental car company Toyota will return your call promptly. As a former full-time on-the-road salesperson I think Toyota is making a wise choice here. I purchased my 2007 Highlander after returning from a business trip during which I drove a rental Highlander. Rental cars make great test-drive vehicles.
Related Story: Choosing A Rental Car? Here's Why The Nissan Rogue Crossover Is The Perfect Pick
Brands That The RAV4 Outsells
One of the brands that the RAV4 outsells in the U.S. market is the largest in the world. Volkswagen sold 35,412 vehicles in total in the U.S. last month. And Volkswagen was psyched! The company's sales report noted that this past August of 2019 was the best August for VW in six years.
Next up is Mazda. Like anyone who tests it, we love Mazda's CX-5 and the vehicle is doing great. If Mazda could add more capacity by building a domestic U.S. factory in which to build it, we suspect that Mazda would increase its sales dramatically. In fact, Mazda is hard at work doing that right now. In August. Mazda sold 22,828 vehicles in total and the CX-5, the RAV4's segment peer, accounted for the majority of those sales.
Here's an interesting brand that the RAV4 outsells. Lexus. And not by a little. Lexus sold just under 30,000 vehicles in August. In fairness, comparing expensive premium brands to sales of mainstream branded models is not really a fair comparison. But we will do it anyway. Buick and Cadillac combined sell seven different crossovers. Yet, the brands' total combined vehicle sales of all types add up to under 30,000 units per month. And with the workers that build them now headed into their third week of a strike, don't expect those numbers to be going up any time soon. GMC sells about 50K vehicles each month. GM quit reporting its monthly sales earlier this year. We'll give the brand the benefit of the doubt and say that the RAV4 tied it for sales in August. Want some more brands the RAV4 outsells? Add in Acura, Infiniti, Lincoln, Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz.
One Brand the RAV4 Did Not Outsell - Subaru
We have included Subaru in stories like this, but not for a while. You see, Subaru is quietly becoming a relatively large brand. And is doing so with three main models. Subaru has three models that compete with the RAV4. They are the Forester (17,076), the Outback (17,110) and the Crosstrek (15,860). The other Subaru models are also relatively strong sellers. In total, Subaru sold a very respectable 70,039 vehicles in the U.S. in August. Interestingly, Subaru didn't point its vehicle design when it dolled out the credit for its best-ever sales month. “In closing out August, we are ecstatic to see Subaru achieve its best sales month in our history, with a record 93rd month of consecutive sales increases,” said Thomas J. Doll, President and CEO, Subaru of America, Inc. “It is through the dedication of our retailers in satisfying our customers that we continue to see growing demand for our products, which should result in another record year for our franchise.” Pretty modest of Subaru to pass the credit for its success back to its retail sales partners.
That reminds us. The one company with auto sales in America without dealers, Tesla sold about 16,000 vehicles in America last month. Funny how the headlines about Tesla would make you think the company was delivering a lot of vehicles. When in fact, the company sold in all of August about 8 days worth of RAV4 s.
Related Story: The Toyota Prius Outsells Every Car Model At This List of Major Brands
In addition to covering green vehicle topics, John Goreham covers safety, technology, and new vehicle news at Torque News. You can follow John on Twitter at @johngoreham.
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