Total vehicle sales in 2017 were strong, but not strong enough to surpass the record-setting sales in 2016. That ends a seven-year run of annual sales records. What’s a little more concerning is what’s happening in the passenger car market. Of the top 10 best selling cars of 2017, only three increased their sales numbers. Seven were either stagnant or fell sharply.
You’ve already heard that SUVs and trucks are dominating vehicle sales right now. And yes, it’s reducing the number of cars sold in the U.S. Nonetheless, these top 10 best selling cars of 2017 aren’t going away anytime soon.
The Chevrolet Malibu was revamped just a couple years ago in the 2016 model year. It’s Chevrolet’s midsize sedan offering, and it’s pretty snazzy for a domestic car. Its interior can be rather upscale and it has new driver-assistive features in this generation.
Perhaps the change in the engine lineup hurt the Malibu’s sales. It has a turbocharged 1.5-liter, a turbocharged 2.0-liter, and a 1.8-liter hybrid powertrain as the only options. That’s unfamiliar to domestic car buyers, and could be the reason the Malibu slumped 18.4 percent compared with 2016, dropping to just 185,857 cars sold compared with the previous year’s 227,881.
It seems people love the Subaru lineup, particularly the functionality of the Subaru Outback. It’s had steadily increasing sales in recent years despite being a vehicle that doesn’t look that special. It’s solely a wagon, which is also an unusual segment. Still, here it is on the best selling cars list.
The Outback has extremely reliable engines, offered in either a 173-horsepower 2.5-liter or a 256-horsepower 3.6-liter BOXER engine. Most notably, every Outback comes standard with Symmetrical AWD. For 2017, the Outback is up in sales by 3.3 percent, from 182,898 in 2016 to 188,886 in 2017.
The Hyundai Elantra is one of the more surprising models on the list in that it isn’t in a higher position. There aren’t many cars that give you so much for so little. The sixth-generation Elantra is more of a fastback sedan than a traditional midsize car, but that’s what seems to be what car buyers want.
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Along with a fantastic level of base features, the Hyundai Elantra starts at around $14,000. For 2017, the Elantra loses 4.9 percent of its 2016 overall sales, going from 208,319 down to 198,210.
Car buyers are getting bored of the Ford Fusion. Largely unchanged in five years other than a few cosmetic details, the Fusion has hit a slump. Riding the benefits of SYNC 3 and EcoBoost engine options won’t cut it if Ford wants to stay relevant in the midsize car segment. They can’t just rely in the F-150 to make their quotas.
The Ford Fusion lost ground big time in 2017. In 2016, Ford sold 265,840 units in the United States. That number plummeted to 209,623 in 2017, a loss of 21.1 percent year over year.
One car that has done well after a facelift in 2016 is the Nissan Sentra. The makeover brings its appearance in line with its bigger siblings, the Altima and Maxima. Aside from its refined look, the Sentra is run-of-the-mill. You get average fuel efficiency up to 37 mpg, basic features that don’t include much in the way of driver-assistive technology, and uninspired powertrains.
Still, people are buying the Nissan Sentra. From 2016, the Sentra moved up slightly in sales, from 214,709 to 218,451. That’s a very modest increase of 1.7 percent.
The Nissan Altima took a wallop in the past year. Buyers have recognized that they don’t need to replace their old Altima yet, because it’s almost unchanged since 2012. A light refresh in 2016 brought new bumpers and the V-Motion grille, but not much else. It’s still powered by the same 2.5-liter 4-cylinder or 3.5-liter V6, and the CVT transmission doesn’t do much to make it fun to drive.
It’s the first year since 2011 that the Altima has sold fewer than 300,000 cars. It fell from 307,380 units in 2016 to 254,996 in 2017, a decrease of 17 percent.
Brand new midway through 2017 was the tenth-generation Honda Accord. No doubt, the release of a new design affected their sales. Whether it was sparse availability, the fastback design, or the loss of higher-displacement engines, the Accord didn’t finish the year the way Honda would’ve liked. It’s available now only with a 1.5-liter turbo or 2.0-liter turbo engine. Or perhaps some buyers are waiting for the coupe to be released.
In any case, the Honda Accord dropped 6.5 percent in 2017. Its 2016 sales were 345,225 compared with the most recent sales number of 322,655 in 2017. It’s pretty safe to expect a rebound in 2018.
Surprisingly, one of the hardest-hit models is one of the best selling cars in the U.S. for many years now. With a name meaning “small crown,” there’s an expectation that it’s going to be one of the best selling cars. The Toyota Corolla had an aggressive redesign for the 2013 model year that injected much-needed attitude for the working-class compact sedan. Since then, it’s become somewhat blah.
The 2017 sales figures for the Toyota Corolla tallied up to 329,196 units. That’s down a huge 13 percent from 2016’s sales of 366,927.
The Honda Civic is the only one of our top five best selling cars of 2017 that had a sales increase. It’s riding a high based on the tenth-generation Civic with a sedan, coupe, hatchback, SI four-door hatch and a Civic Type R available. The common cars have a 2.0-liter naturally-aspirated four-cylinder with 158 horsepower or a 1.5-liter turbo four-cylinder with 174 horsepower as standard equipment, and one of the most refined interiors of a car in its class.
In 2017, the Honda Civic sold 377,286 units. Compared with 366,927 in 2016, it’s an increase of 2.8 percent.
The best selling car for 2017 is a repeat winner. Toyota released the 2018 Toyota Camry in mid-2017, and sales have been booming. The midsize sedan looks larger, sportier and has some of the best technology in the non-luxury market. Toyota Safety Sense technologies – some of their driver-assistive features – are standard equipment, and an available red leather interior is quite avant garde.
Year-over-year sales are virtually the same for the Toyota Camry, dipping just 0.4 percent. 387,081 Toyota Camrys hit the road in 2017 compared with 388,618 in 2016.
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