Q1 2020 Car Sales Report: How Is The Industry Coping?

The COVID-19 Pandemic has undoubtedly shaken the automotive industry but to what extent? The 2020 Q1 car sales report is out so we can use data to evaluate how the industry and manufacturers are coping so far.

Below is a list of 20 best performers and their 2020 Q1 sales figures compared with the Q1 2019. There have been some major and even unexpected rearrangements. To begin with, Ram is back to its typical third-place spot. Ram managed to beat up the Silverado sales in 2019, but so far in 2020, it’s awarded a bronze medal. However, the Ram Pickup is among the only four models with an increase in sales, accompanied by the Silverado, RAV4, and GMC Sierra.

As for other rearrangements, compared to how the 20 most popular cars in the US in 2019 looked, Toyota Camry is up from the 8th to the 5th spot where the CR-V previously was. The Rouge is down from 6th to 10th place with the 36-percent sales decline, the biggest number in the list. Another surprising fact is that during the first quarter, Nissan Altima has seen more sales than the Honda Accord. The difference is only 222 items, but it still counts.

There are two newcomers in the top-20 of the Q1 2020 car sales report: Ford Explorer and Subaru Forester. The other two models: Nissan Sentra and Jeep Wrangler haven’t made it to the top 20.

Position	Model	Q1 2020	Q1 2019	% change
1	Ford F-series	186,562	214,611	-13.1
2	Chevrolet Silverado	143,698	114,313	25.7
3	Ram Pickup	128,805	120,026	7.3
4	Toyota RAV4	97,631	83,820	16.5
5	Toyota Camry	77,188	81,684	-5.5
6	Chevrolet Equinox	73,453	88,500	-17.0
7	Honda CR-V	71,186	87,280	-18.4
8	Toyota Corolla	69,214	78,606	-11.9
9	Honda Civic	63,944	78,185	-18.2
10	Nissan Rogue	59,716	93,81	-36.3
11	Ford Explorer	56,310	61,922	-9.1
12	Toyota Tacoma	53,636	58,183	-7.8
13	GMC Sierra	53,009	40,546	30.7
14	Jeep Grand Cherokee	50,083	57,749	-13.3
15	Ford Escape	48,117	60,702	-20.7
16	Toyota Highlander	47,890	52,621	-9.0
17	Nissan Altima	47,347	51,480	-8.0
18	Honda Accord	47,125	64,411	-26.8
19	Jeep Wrangler	39,668	49,978	-20.6
20	Subaru Forester	39,080	40,656	-3.9

Though data highlights the virus effect on the automotive industry, there are some real reasons for being optimistic about the future. Many dealerships have already switched to contactless vehicle sales and services that enable car buyers to shop entirely online with no physical contact involved.

This is a very defining moment for dealers that were previously reluctant to bring technological changes to their workflows and invest into digital solutions rather than into luxury showroom interior designs.

The severity of the pandemic impact will be more clear from the Q2 2020 car sales report which we will definitely publish in this blog, so stay tuned.

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