As of a month ago, the Japanese tsunami had not created a discernable impact on the list of best-selling cars in the United States.
But sales data released today for May 2011 paint a different picture -- be it the result of a crippled supply chain or newly invigorated competition, the mainstay models of Honda and Toyota have slipped dramatically since April.
It has likely been many years since there was a month in which neither Honda nor Toyota was represented in the top-10 best-seller list -- typically, Honda's Civic and Accord and Toyota's Corolla and Camry are present, and the Accord and Camry frequently trade off for the title of America's best-selling car.
In May 2011, the Camry was the top seller of those four in 12th place for the month; the others were close behind. All four remain on the Top 10 list year-to-date.
Taking over as best-selling passenger car were the nearly-tied Nissan Altima -- another Japanese midsize car, that automaker's only model even close to the Top 20 list last month -- and the Chevrolet Malibu
The Ford F-Series full-size pickup line remained the country's best-selling vehicle overall, by a particularly comfortable margin.
See the full Top-20 best-seller sales charts for May 2011 and year-to-date in today's slideshow, and click here for top 10 best-seller lists by individual market classes.
See also:
Top 20 best-selling cars of April 2011
Top 10 best-selling cars of April 2011, by class
Top 20 best-selling cars of May 2010
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