Honda racks up best November ever
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LOS ANGELES -- American Honda posted its best November ever, with U.S. sales rising 39 percent to 116,580 units.
Despite the strong showing, Honda still trailed Chrysler Group by 5,985 units as the fifth-ranked automaker in the United States for the month.
"We are now surpassing sales records set pre-recession, a true sign that our business has recovered," John Mendel, American Honda Motor Co. executive vice president, said in a statement.
"Honda's all-time best November demonstrates the fundamental strength of our core products. The new Accord is hitting its stride; and with the new Civic now arriving in dealerships, we're ready for a strong finish to 2012," he added.
Leading the way was the Honda Civic, which rode heavy lease deals to move more than 30,000 units.
The outgoing 2012 Civic was criticized for its cheap interior plastics and poor layout, requiring higher-than-typical incentives. The midcycle change arriving this month will have a much cleaner interior and higher grade plastics. Honda will sharply drop its spending on incentives in response, Mendel said in a recent interview.
The redesigned 2013 Honda Accord is off to a strong start, with 26,248 sales, up 83 percent from last year. Dealers were still selling off the last of the old model, and the new model was still arriving in dealerships in volume in November.
The Honda CR-V compact crossover, redesigned early this year, had its ninth monthly sales record, selling 22,333 units.
Acura sales were up 24 percent in November, led by the aging MDX mid-sized crossover. The RDX compact crossover is gaining traction, nearly becoming the brand's volume leader, while the ILX compact sedan is finally outselling the TSX it is meant to replace.
You can reach Mark Rechtin at mrechtin@crain.com. -- Follow Mark on 
