American Honda, behind its largest decline in U.S. car sales this year, saw July U.S. light-vehicle deliveries drop 8.2 percent to 138,602 in July.
The company's overall car sales plunged 19 percent in July. With the exception of the Clarity, Insight and Acura RLX, each of American Honda's car nameplates posted a decline last month.
Light-truck sales rose 3.2 percent, reflecting higher deliveries of the Honda Pilot and CR-V, and the Acura RDX.
Brands: Honda off 8.4%, Acura down 6.6%
Notable nameplates: Accord down 19%, Civic off 28%, CR-V up 3.4%, HR-V down 7.1%, Pilot up 30%, RDX up 4.4%, MDX down 7.1%.
Incentives: $1,917 per unit at Honda/Acura, down 6.3% from a year earlier, ALG says.
Average transaction price: $28,064 at Honda/Acura, up 3% from a year earlier, according to ALG.
Quotes: "For the first time in our company's history, the Honda brand is on pace this year to sell more light trucks than passenger cars," said Henio Arcangeli Jr., senior vice president of the American Honda Automobile Division.
"The big news for Honda is Civic's big drop," said Akshay Anand, executive analyst for Kelley Blue Book. "The Civic has been a shining star in an environment where cars are hurting immensely, but July appeared to buck that trend. In fact, with the disparity in SUV and car sales for all brands, it's fair to wonder if the CR-V is the new poster child for Honda and all it has to offer. The Civic will be a big story in the coming months as a thermometer for car sales, because if it continues to dip, it could be a sign the disparity between SUVs and cars could be bigger than we even expected."
Did you know? Honda sold 1,972 Insights in the hybrid's first full month on sale in the U.S.
