LOS ANGELES -- American Honda Motor Co. finished the year with a 3.2 percent U.S. sales gain and a record 1,637,942 Honda and Acura vehicles sold.
December was also a good month for the automaker, with sales up 6.4 percent to 160,477 vehicles.
Sales for the Honda division rose 6.9 percent for December (143,329 sales) and 4.8 percent for 2016 (1,476,582 sales). As with much of the industry, it was Honda’s light trucks that drove sales. Its crossovers, Odyssey minivan and Ridgeline midsize pickup were up a combined 6.7 percent for 2016 to 705,387 units. The compact CR-V hit a record of 357,335 units for the year, up 3.4 percent; a redesigned 2017 CR-V hit the market near the end of the year.
With more capacity allotted to the HR-V, sales of the subcompact crossover nearly doubled in 2016 to 82,041 units. But tight capacity did sting Honda on its Pilot three-row crossover, which was down 9.5 percent in December and off 11 percent for 2016.
Despite an industry that’s fleeing from car sales -- or making up for lost consumer appetite with sales to rental fleets -- Honda’s cars were up 3.1 percent for 2016. The Accord dipped 2.9 percent to 345,225 sales for the year, but the Civic rose 9.4 percent to 366,927 units, and the subcompact Fit gained 7.4 percent.
Things were less rosy for the Acura division.
While sales rose by 1.9 percent in December, it wasn’t enough to offset losses earlier in the year. The brand closed out 2016 down 8.9 percent to 161,360 sales, leaving it trailing Cadillac by roughly 9,000 units, but well ahead of Infiniti.
Poor car sales were the main culprit for Acura. Its sedans dropped 21 percent for the year, while its two-crossover portfolio fell 1.3 percent.
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