Automotive sales figures during the third quarter of the year showed the first signs of recovery following the downturn experienced earlier in the pandemic — although the recovery does not appear even among OEM brands, according to DesRosiers Automotive Consultants (DAC).
Andrew King, Managing Partner of DAC, said the recovery “was not evenly distributed between brands and especially not so at a model level.” Following up on the comment, DAC said this disparity paved the way for some models the rankings of its top ten selling lists.
That was the case for the Kia Forte, in the passenger car segment, which claimed an 8.6 per cent sales increase in Q3 to place fourth for Q3 and year-to-date. The Toyota Camry, up 39.2 per cent, slotted sixth for Q3, and the Nissan Sentra grew 44.4 per cent during the same period to claim ninth position on the list.
“Among light trucks, a 14.9 per cent increase in Ford F-Series sales further solidified the ever-popular truck’s position as sales leader, widening the gap between it and the closest competition, the Ram Pickup,” said DAC.
The Ram Pickups noted a 5.4 per cent decline in sales, while the Toyota RAV4 increased 19.8 per cent in Q3 to reach third place on DAC’s list.
“The stand-out performer,” said DAC, “was the Hyundai Kona.” The OEM’s model managed a 56.3 per cent sales increase, which is significant, and slotted seventh for both Q3 and year-to-date — up from tenth at the half-year mark.
