2012 Toyota Camry SE: The Sales Crown

Bland sells in the USA. Most people see cars as transportation appliances to take them from point A to point B. The Camry does this in the most inoffensive manner possible, thus lots of sales. See VW as exhibit A on how this works in the USA. We enthusiasts may make snide remarks about the Jetta but VW is laughing all the way to the bank.

What I am most surprised about is that 5,577 Saabs found homes. LOL

That list can't be right. Ram only sold 47,009 units in 2011? I'm going to take a guess that they belong somewhere near the top of that list with something closer to 250,000 or so. Sure that's still less than the Camry. But it's far more than what you're crediting them with.

Check the numbers again.

smart is a dead man walking.

It's also interesting to look at the consumer (non-fleet) sales (based on the numbers above):
1: Camry @ 266861
2: Accord @ 233504
3: Altima @ 200660
4: Sonata @ 198846
5: Fusion @ 166205

Another interesting note: Camry non-fleet sales are only short of the total Altima sales (#2) by about 2120 cars.

Conversely, the fleet sales:
1: Fusion @ 81862
2: Altima @ 68321
3: Camry @ 41649
4: Sonata @ 27115
5: Accord @ 2121

Finally, @lime679: And yet Saab was above smart...

Kudos to Hyundai for exercising restraint with the Sonata's fleet sales, that's outstanding.

Regarding Nissan, I was wondering just how the Altima's sales were up so notably, and this does help explain that to some degree. I'd love to know the fleet sales for CY 2010 for this set of vehicles.

Beige is King!

To bonzjr:

"That list can't be right. Ram only sold 47,009 units in 2011? I'm going to take a guess that they belong somewhere near the top of that list with something closer to 250,000 or so. Sure that's still less than the Camry. But it's far more than what you're crediting them with."

According to our crack Pricing and Industry Analysis team, Chrysler decided to move the Ram, Dakota and their Cargo vans over to an entirely separate line up late in 2011.
The numbers are so low because they don’t have a full year’s sales.

Regards,
Albert

Interesting stuff... personally I don't find the Camry to be an offensive piece as it is exactly what it's manufacturer markets it to be. The hard ones to swallow are the sedans masquerading as sports cars (Challenger), economy cars pretending to be sporty/fashionable (Fiat 500) and station wagons pretending they are tough trailer towing, mountain climbing hombres (Explorer, Pathfinder, Traverse, etc.) What's really amazing is that Smart couldn't sell more cars with gas over $3/gal. than Saab who has been on death's door since 2010 and represented the biggest risk of 30k since the invention of the $100 Blackjack table.

Seems like Toyota was able to cut back on fleet for the Camry in 2011 (can't say the same for the Corolla).

Here are the fleet nos./% for 2010.

1. Fusion 68,364 - 31.20%
2. Malibu 63,935 - 32.20%
3. Camry 56,799 - 17.30%
4. Altima 43,707 - 19.10%
5. Sonata 21,738 - 11.10%
6. Accord 11,525 - 4.10%

To Albert (SnakeDoctor):

Have your crack Pricing Team double check yet again.

Per the December official release on PRNewswire found here:

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/chrysler-group-llc-reports-december-2011-us-sales-increased-37-percent-full-year-sales-up-26-percent-136653443.html

They seemingly are categorized as "Ram" for a full year (check the 2011 Curr Yr numbers).

And to prove Chrylser didn't try any 'funny stuff' at year end to bolster or consolidate the statistics, you can pull an example from mid-year -- here's one from July 2011 -- also an official Chrysler release:

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/chrysler-group-llc-reports-july-2011-us-sales-increased-20-percent-best-july-sales-since-2007-126586498.html

That shows they reported them that way for well more than just "the end of the year."

So, ummm, yeah. Have them correct the chart. It's a full year's sales. There's the documentation.

;-)

As an addition, yes I do see the separate little distinction in July 2011 for "Dodge" at the bottom that merges the two brands for reporting purposes (that is missing from the December one).

It's clearly still a separate brand in July. To not aware them 'full credit' for all of 2011 doesn't tell the full picture.

It's like a 'pro-forma' comparison in business with financial statements. Keeps it all apples-to-apples if you will.

Just my 2 cents. I know I won't 'win'. :-P

I drove a brand new Camry LE rental (in Detroit, of all places haha!) and I found it to be a very competent vehicle. My biggest gripe was the ugly steering wheel. If I were looking for a "family car," the Camry would rank high, and above the Sonata.

The Camry is my #1 choice in this price of cars.
...until the 2013 Fusion debuts.

To bonzjr:

It is a matter of Fiat-Chrysler's classification for their brands. Edmunds' Price and Data Analysis responded:

"On the bottom link you can see that it says Total Dodge below Ram. When we collected the data, we included the Ram vehicle sales under Dodge until the releases became more explicit in distinguishing Ram as a standalone brand (note in the December release attached has no “Total Dodge” data). Since the data is from our collections of the sales as they come in, the figures in the chart don’t reflect the full year of Ram sales.

In any event, there is no need to not include the complete years Ram Sales. If we total all of the units that are now considered Ram vehicles, we get a total of 257,610. Still less than Camry but certainly higher on that sales list."

I think our figures (if not our minds) now match!

Regards,
Albert

@billt9
It could be a lead changer in the segment. it's gorgeous. There are those who will just get the Camry because it's a Toyota and they are brand loyal or won't buy an american car because they had a bad experience, even though most of these cars are built in the USA.

And there's Ford's dirty little secret with the Fusion. They did very well in overall sales numbers for sure, but 33% Fleet - that's gotta be close to what they used to do with the Taurus before it was completely jettisoned. I'm amazed the Accord is so low in fleet - less than 1%? Wow.

At least this time around I feel like they put some effort into earning those sales rather than just trading on the name. Unlike the previous generation, while it may not be the best choice, it isn't a bad choice either.

missmymiata, interesting list because I rarely see any of those cars in fleet. The Impala seems to be the king of fleet around here.

"And there's Ford's dirty little secret with the Fusion. They did very well in overall sales numbers for sure, but 33% Fleet - that's gotta be close to what they used to do with the Taurus before it was completely jettisoned. I'm amazed the Accord is so low in fleet - less than 1%? Wow."

Interesting.

I'd like to know the lease numbers. How many are actually retail bought?

I wonder if the Accords numbers suffered from the Tsunami?!

"The Camry is my #1 choice in this price of cars.
...until the 2013 Fusion debuts."

It already has.

"What's really amazing is that Smart couldn't sell more cars with gas over $3/gal."

ROFL..really? Have you read even one review or ever been in one? A total crap car...IL had one in the LT fleet and HATED it. It does not get good MPGS for how small it is AND you have to put 91 octane in it.....a total German failure. Proof that just because it comes from Europe it does not meant its any good. They make turds just like every other country.

Like some of us talked about in another thread.....fleet sales do have an upside...around 30% is about as high as it should go but sales keep factories working and Americans employed. And fleets like American cars because they are cheaper to maintain and repair....also they are more flexable in making special configurations than foreign companies. Price is of course a factor but it is far from the only reason.

@missmymiata

Thank you for stating the truth. Ford's still blow'n smoke as usual.