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Filed under: Car BuyingCamry and Civic lead comeback of Toyota, Honda



When 2011 ticked over to become 2012, something changed with the dynamic that had been in place nearly all of last year. We had become so used to the domestics seeing increased sales month after month while Toyota and Honda struggled to keep their heads above water while fixing disaster-related production issues. No more.



January saw both Toyota and Honda report strong positive sales figures (up 9.00 and 9.25 percent, respectively). That's good enough to out-trend Ford (up 8.29 percent) and General Motors (down 6.11 percent), the latter of which saw its new year kick off with a decline after finishing 2011 with 11 out of 12 monthly sales gains. Conversely, Honda kicked off its new year right after posting eight straight months of sales declines to end 2011.







The Chrysler Group was King of the Hill in January, posting a 44.26-percent increase in sales.

Both Toyota and Honda should especially be pleased with how their traditional top sellers performed. The redesigned 2012 Toyota Camry entered the market without skipping a beat and posted a 55.9-percent increase on 28,295 units sold. Likewise, the Honda Civic, which received a harshly criticized redesign in 2011, bounced back in January with a 49.5-percent increase on sales of 21,883 units. It replaces the aging Accord at the top of Honda's sales heap, which remained flat in January with just 13,659 units sold.



What about Chrysler? Shockingly, the Chrysler Group was King of the Hill in January, posting a 44.26-percent increase in sales compared to 2011, led by an indomitable Chrysler brand that reported an 81.39-percent increase in sales on the back of strong performances by its 200 and 300 sedans. Ram (41.86 percent), Jeep (37.40 percent) and Dodge (29.37 percent) all reported strong sales, as well.



Additional mentions should be made for Mazda (up 68.19 percent) and Volkswagen (up 47.87 percent). Mazda enjoyed a 532.6-percent in Mazda2 sales to 3,032 units, as well as a 118-percent increase in Mazda6 sales to 4,929 units. Meanwhile, the Volkswagen Passat went from selling just 108 units last year to moving 6,318 last month.



Check out the rest of last month's sales numbers in the table below.









Brand/Company

Vol. %

Jan 2012

Jan 2011

DSR* %

Jan 2012

Jan 2011



Chrysler

81.39

17,604

9,705

81.39

734

404



Mazda

68.19

23,996

14,267

68.19

1,000

594



Volkswagen

47.87

27,209

18,401

47.87

1,134

767



Bentley

43.90

118

82

43.90

5

3



Ram

41.86

18,470

13,020

41.86

770

543



Land Rover

41.13

3,205

2,271

41.13

134

95



Smart

38.55

496

358

38.55

21

15



Jeep

37.40

31,710

23,079

37.40

1,321

962



Dodge

29.37

31,454

24,314

29.37

1,311

1,013



Kia

27.81

35,517

27,789

27.81

1,480

1,158



Mercedes-Benz

22.91

21,230

17,273

22.91

885

720



Mini

21.19

3,334

Tags: auto sales, automotive sales, by the numbers, featured, january 2012 auto sales, monthly auto sales

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January 2012 - Hangover Edition was originally published by Autoblog. Read the full story by clicking here.