New car sales declines start to level off in April, Honda Accord is the month's best-seller

May 1, 5:03 PMDC Car ExaminerBrady Holt

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 The Honda Accord midsize coupe and sedan was last month's best-
 selling vehicle in the country for the first time in its history.
 

The CNN Money article on last month's new car sales is headlined "Auto sales plunge," but volume continues to steadily increase in the U.S. compared to recent months. 

CNN was referring to the estimated 31 percent drop in new car sales in April 2009 compared to April 2008, but at around 900,000, that's more than a 10 percent increase over last month and a decline of less than the 39 percent from between this March and March 2009. 

But not all automakers are improving; Chrysler and Toyota each saw steeper drops last month than they had in April: 48 percent and 40 percent, respectively.

Toyota saw its Camry midsize sedan drop from the number two sales position in the country to number five, the lowest slot it has held in years. Its sales declined by 37 percent compared to last April but held steady with last month, but the Honda Accord and Civic saw huge sales gains in April compared to March to overtake it -- though they too were down compared to last year and Honda is down 25 percent overall.

The Accord also unseated last month's best-seller -- the Ford F-Series pickup truck. Earlier in the decade the Big Three's full-size pickups always occupied the top three sales positions. All remain on the top-ten seller list but they are no longer leading it. 

---See the best-seller sales chart below this article---

Chrysler once again saw steep declines in its compact and midsize cars, though they were joined last month by a 54 percent drop in the sales of the Dodge Grand Caravan minivan. Also, March's declines were offset by a surprisingly strong performance from the Dodge Journey crossover, whose sales rally did not continue in April. Chrysler's dealers have said the automaker's bankruptcy will not likely hurt their sales further; a lineup that includes many mediocre products has already done enough damage to the automaker.

General Motors saw its sales fall 33 percent last month, a big improvement over March's 45 percent drop. The Chevrolet Impala, which was GM's best-selling passenger car until sales suddenly dropped by 60 percent this January compared to January 2008, recovered its former position in April, selling over 17,000 units. That's still a decline of 34 percent compared to last April, however, and many other GM cars fared far worse.

Ford sales fell by 32 percent, compared to 41 percent March-to-March, and overtook Toyota as the country's number two automaker in sales volume. The redesigned 2010 Ford Fusion midsize sedan and the accompanying new Fusion Hybrid went on sale in April to see sales increase 22 percent over last year, putting a Ford family sedan on the top-10 sellers list for one of the first times since it moved to discontinue the Taurus in 2005. (The Taurus was subsequently reintroduced but has not been a sales leader.)

That gain was offset by a huge loss from the former best-selling Ford car -- the Focus compact coupe and sedan -- whose sales fell 51 percent last month. Ford says its market share increased for the month, however.

Nissan sales fell 38 percent thanks to steep declines from almost all of its products. The Maxima midsize sports sedan stood out from the carnage with a 61-percent gain. 

Hyundai/Kia and Subaru continue their trend in recent months of faring the best by declining the least. Hyundai saw sales fall by 14 percent, with strong performance from the midsize Sonata and sporty Tiburon offset by big declines from the compact Elantra, the full-size Azera, and Santa Fe SUV; Subaru saw continued gains from its Forester SUV offset by modest declines in its Legacy, Outback, and Impreza combine for a 7 percent overall decline.