Honda Civic Sales Grow Stronger As Other Brands Get Out Of The Segment

Honda is enjoying some very healthy sales numbers, scoring a 20 percent gain in August and making it the brand’s best month of sales.

The sales increase was lead by the CR-V compact SUV, which sold a record 44,235 units, with the Passport and HR-V also selling at record numbers. However, the star of the show remains the Civic, which enjoyed a 26 percent gain last month to 34,808 units and kept its lead in the compact car segment over the Toyota Corolla by almost 20,000 examples this year.

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Sales of the Civic might not be close to its record highs -which were achieved just after the current generation was launched- but its deliveries were increased by 1.3 percent this year through August, making it one of the very few mainstream cars to have done so.

“As the market shifts more to trucks, those people that prefer passenger cars are coming to us in droves. Almost 20 percent of the passenger cars sold in America are Hondas. That is crazy,” said Steven Center, vice president of the auto sales division for American Honda to AutoNews.

Other cars that saw their sales increasing last month included the Honda Accord, the subcompact Fit and the Insight Hybrid. “Forty-seven percent of our sales are passenger cars [at Honda], and we’re picking up share in the passenger car segment — almost two points compared to the other mainstream brands,” said Center.

A major advantage of the Civic family is the choice of bodystyles as it comes in sedan, coupe and hatchback forms. “Civic is just on fire. And when you consider it’s at the farther end of its life cycle, to be achieving such sales volumes is absolutely incredible,” Center added.

Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds’ executive director of industry analysis, added that the Civic has outlasted several of its rivals thanks to its winning formula. “Civic has successfully endured the market shift toward SUVs because there is still a strong demand for cheaper, basic transportation at a price point below small SUVs. Civic fills this niche with a reliable brand name that has been a standout in the segment for decades,” Caldwell said.

“Since price-sensitive car shoppers are less likely to take financial risks, Honda’s reputation for longevity and quality makes Civic a safer prospect,” she added. “The largest source of sales comes from prior customers, so with high quantities of Civics sold throughout the years, the buyer base is massive and is only going to expand as other brands shutter their car lines.”