Commercial Van Sales In America - September 2016 YTD

After climbing 17.5% through the first two-thirds of 2016, U.S. sales of commercial vans declined 2.5% in September 2016, a sudden downturn not caused by the segment-leading Ford Transit.

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U.S. Vehicle Sales By Model - September 2016 YTD

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The Transit, now routinely the leader of the pack, posted its 16th consecutive year-over-year sales increase, rising 6% to 10,799 units. Earning 38% of the full-size market, the Transit was part of a Ford van lineup which accounted for 51% of the overall commercial van segment in September.

In fact, the Transit led a full-size sub-segment which posted real growth in September. Blame for the overall van category's decline can be cast upon the smaller vans, including Ford's own Transit Connect, the Chevrolet City Express, the little Chevrolet's Nissan NV200 donor van, and the Ram ProMaster City. 

Excluding the tweener-sized Mercedes-Benz Metris, small commercial van sales were down 29% in September 2016. Year-to-date, sales through the first three-quarters of 2016 are up just 9% in the small commercial van sector.

Click Chart To Expand

Why, in a market blossoming with new small contenders, is growth among small commercial vans so limited compared with the more established full-size sector? You can blame fuel costs, perhaps, at least as part of an overall financial equation which favours larger vans. To the practical and pragmatic fleet buyer, the extra cost of the full-size van – both in terms of MSRPs and fuel – is clearly more than counteracted by the vast difference in capacity. 

In the full-size sector, GM's market share in September 2016 fell to 23.3% from 26.4% one year ago. At the same time, inventory of GM's increasingly outdated full-size vans is ballooning. GM had a 103-day supply of Express vans heading into September, according to Automotive News, and a 218-day supply of Savanas. Ford, meanwhile, is more closely matching supply to (greater) demand. There are currently 75 days of Transit supply, much closer to the industry average of 61 days.

You can click any model name in the tables below to find historical monthly and yearly U.S. auto sales data. You can also select a make and model at GCBC's Sales Stats page. This table is sortable, so you can rank commercial vans any which way you like. Mobile users can now thumb across the table for full-width access. Suggestions on how GCBC should break down segments can be passed on through the Contact page.

Click Column Headers To Sort • October 2016 • August 2016 • September 2015

Van	September 2016	September 2015	% Change	2016 YTD	2015 YTD	% Change
Chevrolet City Express ²	296	1024	-71.1%	5750	7404	-22.3%
Chevrolet Express ³	5663	6666	-15.0%	49,751	44,208	12.5%
Ford E-Series ³	4073	3988	2.1%	40,195	39,036	3.0%
Ford Transit ³	10,799	10,154	6.4%	112,607	86,085	30.8%
Ford Transit Connect ²	2714	3852	-29.5%	33,753	36,827	-8.3%
GMC Savana ³	1004	728	37.9%	13,896	16,392	-15.2%
Mercedes-Benz Metris ²	565	---	---	4154	---	---
Mercedes-Benz Sprinter ³	2405	2317	3.8%	21,002	20,274	3.6%
Nissan NV ³	1395	1437	-2.9%	13,383	12,538	6.7%
Nissan NV200 ²	1284	1400	-8.3%	14,379	12,934	11.2%
Ram Cargo Van ²	---	9	-100%	21	2146	-99.0%
Ram ProMaster ³	3218	2762	16.5%	26,544	19,225	38.1%
Ram ProMaster City ²	856	920	-7.1%	12,649	5369	136%
---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Full-Size Commercial Vans ³	28,557	28,052	1.8%	277,378	237,758	16.7%
---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Small Commercial Vans ²	5715	7205	-20.7%	70,706	64,680	9.3%
---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Total	34,372	35,257	-2.5%	348,084	302,438	15.1%

Source: Automakers
Sprinter & Metris sales combined by Mercedes-Benz, not GoodCarBadCar, and displayed with full-size commercial vans for the time being.

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Commercial Van Sales In America - October 2016
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Commercial Van Sales In America - September 2015
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Top 30 Best-Selling Vehicles In America - September 2016

The Ram P/U claimed second spot among new vehicles in the United States sales race in September 2016, the first time the Ram has earned the silver medal position since March 2014. 

Up 29%, year-over-year, the Ram was still outsold – by a wide margin – by the Ford F-Series, sales of which fell 3% to 67,809 units, 20,017 sales in excess of the F-Series. 

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U.S. Vehicle Sales By Model - September 2016 YTD

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The Ram was also still outsold by the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra, twins from General Motors. But that strong September now puts the Ram on track for nearly 490,000 sales in calendar year 2016. If the heavy incentives remain, could Ram sell 500,000 pickups this year?

Click Chart To Expand

Compared with September 2015, the Dodge Journey, Jeep Patriot, and Toyota Tacoma stepped in to the top 30 to take the place of the departed Ford Focus, Kia Soul, and Nissan Versa.

We've already published September lists for the 20 best-selling cars, 20 best-selling SUVs and crossovers, and complete figures for every pickup truck, links to which you'll find above. Throwing all those vehicles into one group results in this list of the 30 best-selling vehicles overall. We end up with five pickup trucks, 11 cars, and 14 utility vehicles.

Historical monthly and yearly sales figures for any of these top-selling vehicles can always be accessed through the dropdown menu at GCBC's Sales Stats page, and for those not viewing the mobile version of this site, near the top right of this page, as well. Mobile users can now thumb across the table for full-width access.

October 2016 • August 2016 • September 2015

Rank	Vehicle	September 2016	September 2015	% Change	2016 YTD	2015 YTD	% Change
#1	Ford F-Series	67,809	69,651	-2.6%	595,656	564,451	5.5%
#2	Ram P/U	47,792	37,004	29.2%	361,086	333,537	8.3%
#3	Chevrolet Silverado	45,380	53,725	-15.5%	425,556	440,904	-3.5%
#4	Toyota Corolla	32,272	27,978	15.3%	289,002	280,095	3.2%
	Toyota Corolla *	31,167	26,636	17.0%	275,818	278,742	-1.0%
	Toyota Corolla iM/Scion iM *	1,105	1,342	-17.7%	13,184	1,353	874%
#5	Honda CR-V	31,884	29,925	6.5%	263,493	259,499	1.5%
#6	Toyota Camry	30,707	34,487	-11.0%	297,453	326,330	-8.8%
#7	Toyota RAV4	29,438	27,104	8.6%	260,380	227,922	14.2%
#8	Honda Civic	28,184	28,278	-0.3%	283,783	249,749	13.6%
#9	Honda Accord	27,204	33,641	-19.1%	258,619	264,814	-2.3%
#10	Nissan Rogue	26,459	25,064	5.6%	241,619	213,207	13.3%
#11	Ford Escape	25,065	28,473	-12.0%	234,764	233,012	0.8%
#12	Nissan Altima	25,031	24,224	3.3%	242,321	262,424	-7.7%
#13	Chevrolet Malibu	21,521	17,066	26.1%	170,389	147,161	15.8%
#14	Ford Fusion	20,570	24,942	-17.5%	210,462	231,475	-9.1%
#15	Hyundai Elantra	19,382	20,724	-6.5%	157,050	193,962	-19.0%
#16	Ford Explorer	19,146	20,715	-7.6%	188,425	190,171	-0.9%
#17	Jeep Grand Cherokee	18,507	15,715	17.8%	153,926	141,679	8.6%
#18	GMC Sierra	18,068	19,754	-8.5%	164,440	161,653	1.7%
#19	Jeep Cherokee	17,995	20,484	-12.2%	158,346	160,341	-1.2%
#20	Subaru Outback	16,978	15,126	12.2%	126,426	108,419	16.6%
#21	Subaru Forester	15,883	15,364	3.4%	130,652	129,568	0.8%
#22	Toyota Tacoma	15,723	11,608	35.5%	142,711	133,672	6.8%
#23	Hyundai Sonata	15,347	16,124	-4.8%	155,279	157,680	-1.5%
#24	Chevrolet Equinox	15,261	21,537	-29.1%	173,736	214,042	-18.8%
#25	Chevrolet Cruze	15,216	14,032	8.4%	138,012	177,970	-22.5%
#26	Toyota Highlander	14,937	12,310	21.3%	127,045	116,760	8.8%
#27	Jeep Wrangler	14,255	17,486	-18.5%	148,627	157,255	-5.5%
#28	Nissan Sentra	13,670	14,196	-3.7%	169,476	154,270	9.9%
#29	Jeep Patriot	12,316	9,280	32.7%	96,039	89,666	7.1%
#30	Dodge Journey	12,091	11,442	5.7%	77,946	82,035	-5.0%

Source: Automakers
* Corolla breakdown by variant with newly included Scion iM, now the Toyota Corolla iM

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Top 30 Best-Selling Vehicles In America - October 2016
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U.S. Auto Sales Brand Rankings - September 2016
Top 20 Best-Selling Cars In America - September 2016
Top 20 Best-Selling SUVs In America - September 2016
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