Americans' appetite for Honda and Nissan trucks and SUVs appears to be insatiable, judging by January 2011 new vehicle sales numbers. Overall, Honda/Acura was up 13.0 percent with sales of 76,269 units, while Nissan/Infiniti had sales increase 14.8 percent to 71,847 units.
Honda - Up 13.2 percent
Every Honda truck and SUV was up in January, from the Ridgeline to the Odyssey. That minivan had another huge month with sales up 44.4 percent compared to January 2010. The Pilot sold almost as well, with sales up 37.8 percent. Those numbers may sound impressive, but it was the CR-V that outsold every Honda including the Accord and Civic. A total of 16,339 units were sold; the small SUV was up 68.9 percent.
Acura - Up 11.6 percent
The MDX was again Acura's best-selling vehicle, with 3127 units purchased. The smaller RDX crossover was up 41.9 percent with sales just seven units shy of 1000 and the ZDX (148 units, down 14.0 percent).
Nissan - Up 15.4 percent
Nissan's car lineup was flat in January 2011, but the automaker's trucks and SUVs rose 43.9 percent. Credit the Rogue and Frontier pickup for that success. The Rogue sold 9423 units last month, up 71.9 percent compared to January 2010. The Frontier was up 43.0 percent, with 2796 trucks leaving dealerships. The Murano, Titan, Xterra, and Pathfinder were all relatively flat.
That certainly couldn't be said for the Versa subcompact entry, which sold 46.8 percent better than the same month last year. The Sentra had a positive month, too, with 9538 units sold. The Altima outsold the Accord for January even though the Nissan was down 11.7 percent to 16,454 units. Eighty-seven Leafs and 22 GT-Rs were sold in January.
Infiniti - Up 10.3 percent
Only one Infiniti experienced a sizable decline in volume, and that was the EX wagon/crossover. Sales of the EX were down 14.8 percent and 482 units were sold. The G sedan sold well, with sales up 21.2 percent. The G coupe and the M sedan were flat last month. Meanwhile, demand for the QX56 is still high: sales were up 17.8 percent in January. Altogether, Infiniti sold 7405 units compared to Acura's 7961 units.
*Honda sales numbers are calculated on a daily selling rate basis, while Nissan's numbers do not account for a potential difference in the number of selling days.