See if your favorite car outsold the competition
If you just plain love cars or are in the auto business, you pay attention to sales rivalries.
Ford truck owners aren’t terribly fond of Chevys, and vice versa. If you think the world of your new Honda Civic, you may sneer at a Toyota Corolla.
So with the 2017 sales race having come to a close, which models triumphed in head-to-head matchups?
Based on sales figures from Autodata, here’s how it came out:
Compact cars
Toyota Corolla vs. Honda Civic
Winner: Civic. Honda sold 377,286 Civics during the year, compared with Toyota’s 308,695 Corollas. The restyled Civic, with a return to the longer hood and a more powerful look, has been a huge hit with buyers.
Midsize sedans
Honda Accord vs. Toyota Camry
Winner: Camry. This rivalry has gone on for decades, and it used to mean a lot more before the midsize-car category lost its popularity to SUVs. Autodata found that Camry came in with 387,081 sold, compared to 322,655 for Accord. This year, the race should be more interesting. Honda is winning lots of attention for its redesigned Accord, and it is a leading contender to be North American Car of the Year. If it wins, more sales could come its way.
Sporty cars
Ford Mustang vs. Chevrolet Camaro vs. Dodge Challenger.
Winner: Mustang. Ford freshened up Mustang, facing Camaro and a Chal-
lenger that came on strong. Ford sold
81,866 Mustangs, Chevy moved 67,940 Camaros and Dodge hawked 64,537 Challengers. Fiat Chrysler’s Dodge showed the value of press attention by creating a 707-horsepower Hellcat version of the Challenger, followed by the
840-horsepower Demon.
Minivans
Chrysler Pacifica vs. Honda Odyssey vs. Toyota Sienna
Winner: Dodge Grand Caravan. Yes, you read that right. The outgoing version of Fiat Chrysler’s minivan outsold all others because it was popular in government, commercial and rental fleets even if it was off the radar screen of most average buyers. When Grand Caravan is excluded, the race is close. Chrysler sold 118,274 new Pacificas, compared with Toyota’s 111,489 Siennas and Honda’s 100,307 Odysseys. Grand Caravan bested all three at 125,996.
Compact crossovers
Honda CR-V vs. Toyota RAV4
Winner: RAV4. Toyota saw a smashing gain in sales this year for its compact SUV, enough to best the CR-V. Toyota sold 407,594 RAV4s compared to Honda’s 377,895 CR-Vs.
Midsize pickups Toyota Tacoma vs. Chevrolet Colorado Winner:
Tacoma. Toyota sold 198,125 Tacomas compared with Chevy’s 112,996 Colorados. The race should be more interesting when Ford comes back to the market with the Ranger.
Full-size pickups
Ford F-Series vs. Chevy Silverado
Winner: F-Series. Ford’s F-150 has been the nation’s best-selling vehicle for decades. Chevy Silverado is No. 2. That never changes. Ford sold 896,764 F-Series pickups compared with Chevy’s
585,864 Silverados. Even when you throw in GMC Sierra, the corporate cousin of the Silverado, the total hits
802,870, far shy of F-Series.