Filed under: Car Buying, By the Numbers
Honda, Toyota And Nissan Make Big Gains, Domestics Not Far Off

The summer sales season came to a close last month with all of the major auto companies we follow posting double-digit sales increases in August. Smaller companies with multiple brands like Jaguar-Land Rover, which was up a relatively impressive 40 percent, are at the top of the list, but companies that sell in much larger volumes were right behind.
Japanese automakers led the way with Honda/Acura climbing 26.7 percent, Toyota/Lexus up 22.8 percent and Nissan/Infiniti increasing 22.3 percent. US domestic automakers, however, had an August to celebrate as well, with General Motors gaining 14.7 percent, Ford and Lincoln up 12.2 percent and all of Chrysler (including Fiat) up 11.5 percent.
August was a month of records, as well, with Subaru, a perennial hot-selling brand on our table, beating its old all-time sales record in the US with 41,061 units sold last month – an increase of 45.1 percent versus last year. Hyundai, up 8.2 percent, set an all-time sales record for August, as did Honda and Kia. Maserati had its best month ever in the US, and Mazda had its best August in 10 years. Even Toyota reported achieving its best month of sales in more than five years.
Check all of last month’s sales figures in the chart below.
*Brands and companies are displayed in descending order according to their percentage change in volume sales. There were 28 selling days in August 2013 and 27 selling days in August 2012, so there is a difference between the change in monthly sales volume and the change in average daily sales rate (DSR) for each brand/company. Also, brands are combined and reported as companies only if their sales figures are released jointly.
August 2013: Sizzling Summer Edition originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 04 Sep 2013 15:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Just like any spending spree, there are consequences. And for the second straight month, the automakers that benefited most from Cash For Clunkers have seen their sales figures fall through the floor compared to August of last year. The program officially ended August 24, 2009, and if you take a look at the chart below, the brands with inexpensive, fuel efficient rides suffered the most last month.

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