Top Selling Cars and Trucks for November 2018

Sedan sales continue to sink, dragging down overall numbers for the month.

Rick Press | 

Dec 11, 2018 | 3 min read

Ford

Two of the country’s best selling passenger cars (Toyota Camry and Honda Civic) recorded steep sales declines in November 2018, further accentuating the great divide in America’s auto tastes: Trucks, SUVs and crossovers continue to capture the imaginations of most buyers, while the once-popular sedan seems to be fading into oblivion.

GM announced in November that it will eliminate production of all but the most popular sedans to focus on the future of electric and autonomous vehicles. There appears to be no end in sight for slumping sedan sales, which continued a four-year decline in November 2018. That, taken together with increases in interest rates, contributed to 0.5 percent drop in auto sales overall for the month.

But there were some bright spots among the list of Top 20 best-sellers, including big gains by Jeep, RAM and Toyota’s top-selling RAV4 crossover.

Ford

1. Ford F-series: 72,102 trucks sold in Nov. 2018; down 0.9% from last year

Key takeaway: Ford’s mighty F-series continued to truck along at the top of the charts, with only a slight decline year over year. It remains well on pace to surpass last year’s sales totals and outdistance its next closest competitor by several hundred thousand trucks.

FCA

2. RAM 1500-3500: 52,056 sold, up 41.8%

Key takeaway: The new generation of the 1500 series was introduced in September, and it is still powering big gains for RAM. (GM has shifted to reporting their sales quarterly, so its popular Silverado pickup does not appear on the November list but will likely be among the top five at year’s end.)

Toyota

3. Toyota RAV4: 35,350 sold, up 23%

Key takeaway: The redesigned RAV4 began rolling into dealerships in early December 2019, and it appears plenty of buyers feasted on the 2018 leftovers in November. The crossover’s big month helped offset a nearly 30% drop in Camry sales for Toyota.

Nissan

4. Nissan Rogue: 31,860 sold, down 11.7%

Key takeaway: Rogue may have lost a sliver of the spotlight to its rival RAV4 in November, but Nissan’s top dog remains strong for the year.

Honda

5. Honda CR-V: 31,488 sold, down 2.28%

Key takeaway: The popular crossover continued to hang tough with Rogue and RAV4, but one of Honda’s other top sellers, the Civic, took a hit in November with sales tumbling nearly 30%.

THE REST OF THE TOP 20

6. Toyota Camry: 24,545 sold; down 29.9%
7. Honda Accord: 23,367 sold; up 1.6%
8. Honda Civic: 21,890 sold; down 29.8%
9. Ford Escape: 21,516 sold; down 14.3%
10. Toyota Corolla: 21,105 sold; up 9.4%
11. Ford Explorer: 20,473 sold; down 15.1%
12. Jeep Cherokee: 20,296 sold; up 22.6%
13. Toyota Highlander: 20,139 sold; up 5.8%
14. Toyota Tacoma: 19,685 sold; up 21.55%
15. Jeep Grand Cherokee: 18,717 sold; 0.6%
16. Tesla Model 3: 18,650 sold; NA
17. Hyundai Elantra: 18,148 sold; down 4.8%
18. Ford Fusion: 16,652 sold; up 11.8%
19. Subaru Forester: 16,066 sold; up 9.6%
20. Jeep Wrangler: 15,963 sold; up 20.1%

Manufacturer sales information:

Ford, Fiat Chrysler, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Subaru, Tesla, Hyundai

Rick Press

After a long career as an editor for a major metropolitan newspaper and website, in 2017 I joined Capital One as its Managing Editor for Auto Content. I’ve been fortunate to cover everything from breaking news and Super Bowls to CEOs and celebrities, and now I am excited to explore the connection we all have to our cars and help consumers navigate the car-buying journey. Let’s ride!