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Small cars and hybrids have become sales champs.
An analysis of first-half sales numbers shows a dramatic contrast between the biggest-volume percent gainers and losers. The gainers are mostly cars, many with four-cylinder variants that get around 30 mpg on the highway or above. The percent losers are mostly trucks. It was easy to come up with a Top 15 list of big-volume percent losers, based on models that accounted for at least 50,000 units in the first half last year. However, there weren't 15 big-volume gainers that met the same criteria. Nor were there any all-new vehicles without a year-ago comparison that qualified. Another difference was that the biggest losers lost a higher percentage of year-ago sales than the gainers gained.
Here's a list of the Top Sellers in order by increased sales percentage.
1. Chevrolet Malibu
First-half sales, 2008: 87,410
First-half sales, 2007: 60,025
Increase: 45.6%
2. Toyota Yaris
First-half sales, 2008: 64,680
First-half sales, 2007: 46,522
Increase: 39%
3. Ford Focus
First-half sales, 2008: 123,449
First-half sales, 2007: 96,732
Increase: 27.6%
4. Hyundai Elantra
First-half sales, 2008 61,978
First-half sales, 2007: 49,932
Increase: 24.1%
5. Pontiac G6
First-half sales, 2008: 85,682
First-half sales, 2007: 69,995
Increase: 22.5%
6. Chevrolet Cobalt
First-half sales, 2008: 114,250
First-half sales, 2007: 96,437
Increase: 18.5%
7. Honda Civic
First-half sales, 2008: 204,961
First-half sales, 2007: 173,800
Increase: 17.9%
8. Ford Edge
First-half sales, 2008: 68,727
First-half sales, 2007: 58,783
Increase: 16.9%
9. Honda Accord
First-half sales, 2008: 205,671
First-half sales, 2007: 180,302
Increase: 14.1%
10. Nissan Altima
First-half sales, 2008: 158,006
First-half sales, 2007: 140,253
Increase: 12.7%
11. Ford Fusion
First-half sales, 2008: 87,923
First-half sales, 2007: 78,695
Increase: 11.7%
12. Nissan Sentra
First-half sales, 2008: 59,104
First-half sales, 2007: 57,079
Increase: 3.5%
13. Ford Escape (nonhybrid)
First-half sales, 2008: 82,020
First-half sales, 2007: 80,761
Increase: 1.6%
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