October Sales: Winners, Losers, and More Record Breaking Months For Some

Written by: Trevor Dorchies [G+] on November 2 2012 11:42 AM

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Loser: Nissan -6%

Nissan moved 70,928 units last month, down six percent over the same month last year. Although it comes as little surprise, the all-new Altima paced Nissan’s sales with 24,623 units sold; an increase of 12.8 percent over the same time last year. The all-electric Leaf enjoyed a hardy October with 1,579 units sold; up 86 percent from the same month last year. The all-new Pathfinder also saw its sales figures rise 46.9 percent with 3,043 units sold. The biggest losers for Nissan included the Sentra (-32.9 percent), Armada and Xterra (both down 34.3 percent), Murano (-29.9 percent) Frontier (-29.1 percent), Titan (-25.2 percent), and GT-R (-14.9 percent). Every single truck of van, with the exception of the Quest and Pathfinder, saw sales decline over the same time last year.

Loser: Mitsubishi -9.1%

Picking on Mitsubishi’s sales struggles as of late is like hitting someone with glasses; you just don’t do it. However, the purpose of this list is to show you which automaker had a good October as well as those who didn’t. This is old hat for Mitsubishi as the Japanese automaker was only able to move 3,981 units last month. That number represents every single vehicle sold in the United States of America last month; down 9.1 percent over the same time last year. The Outlander Sport made up almost half of that figure with 1,675 units sold last month; good for a 17.9 percent increase over last October. Mitsubishi shouldn’t spend too much crying into its cereal though as current models in production were up seven percent over October 2011.

Loser: Volvo -14.3%

Volvo didn’t have much fun last month with its sales taking a hit to the tune of 14.3 percent when compared with the same time last year. Over the course of 31 days, Volvo was able to muster 4,200 units sold but that year-to-date sales are still down 2.2 percent with only two months remaining in 2012. Volvo’s best-seller came in the form of the XC60 with 1,562 units sold; an 82.1 percent climb over October 2011.

Loser: Lincoln -15.4%

Another automaker that appears lost lately is Lincoln. As a whole, Ford’s luxury arm was down 15.4 percent with every vehicle in the automaker’s portfolio (with the exception of the MKT and Navigator) posting losses. That includes the MKZ (-17.4 percent), MKS (-28.7 percent), and MKX (-9.2 percent). The two lone bright spots for Lincoln included the MKT (+15.4 percent) and Navigator (+8.5 percent).

Loser: Land Rover/Jaguar -20/-23%

Land Rover experienced a 20 percent decrease in sales last month over the same time last year. Land Rover is banking on the all-new 2013 Range Rover to pull the brand out of this funk when it goes on sale next month. Jaguar, on the other hand, saw October sales drop 23 percent over the same month last year but the 2013 model year lineup is revamped and should also rejuvenate a brand that’s been working on reworking its image.