We all expected this to happen but apparently the rise of the crossovers is happening faster than anticipated. The once-dominating-the-sales-charts Toyota Camry sedan has lost the first place in sales by not one but three compact SUV models through July in the US market.
The three SUVs are Nissan’s Rogue, the Toyota RAV4 and the Honda CR-V, with the former selling the most units in the US market since the start of the year, Bloomberg reports.
American consumers are shifting towards compact SUVs faster than analysts expected, with car companies mostly trying to catch up. “It’s so hard to forecast small SUVs,” Bob Carter, Toyota’s top U.S. sales executive, said. “We forecast for growth, then it blows through the forecast and goes further.”
The Toyota RAV4 is in second place and only around 1,500 units behind the Nissan, with the company working with suppliers in order to boost the production of the hybrid version, which is made in Japan.
This might not be enough however to steal the crown from Nissan, which expanded the range with the Rogue Sport, a slightly smaller and cheaper version of the Rogue which just now reached nationwide distribution.
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