2013 Auto Sales: Top 10 Leaderboards

Now that the books are officially closed on the 2013 selling season, let's do a quick rundown of the leading players in the leading segments from the past year, with a focus on the mainstream entries for today. But first, some context: After a difficult December in which the industry managed a modest .3 percent gain in volume, the final tally for the year—according to the data published in the Wall Street Journal—showed automakers delivering 15,600,199 units in 2013 and achieving a combined 7.6 percent increase in volume as compared to 2012.

With that mark as the baseline for whether a vehicle outperformed the industry as a whole last year, and noting that all volume numbers come directly from the automakers, let's start with the smaller cars and work our way up. (Also, hybrids and alternative-fuel vehicles will be covered in a separate report.)

For the random collection of city cars and sub-subcompacts down at the bottom of the size spectrum, there was a clear separation between the trio at the top and everyone else:

1. Chevrolet Spark—34,130 sales, up 175.6 percent
2. Fiat 500—35,834 sales, down 18.1 percent
3. Mini Cooper—29,278 sales, up 4.3 percent
4. Smart fortwo—9,264 sales, down 7.4 percent
5. Scion iQ—4,046 sales, down 54.4 percent
6. Mitsubishi Mirage—2,438 sales in its first year on the market

Notes: The Chevy Spark did most of its best work earlier in the year, and ended the year with a 23.2 percent drop in volume in December; the results for Mini refer solely to the hardtop version; and the Mitsubishi Mirage has been at dealerships for just two months.

2013 Auto Sales: Subcompact Leaderboard

The untraditional Kia Soul is included here among the traditional subcompacts since it’s a match for the segment dimensionally, if not necessarily in other metrics. On the other hand, with Chevy and Ford entries outpacing those from Honda and Toyota, non-traditional finishes are getting to be par for the course here:

1. Kia Soul—118,079 sales, up 2.0 percent
2. Nissan Versa—117,352 sales, up 3.6 percent
3. Chevy Sonic—85,646 sales, up 5.4 percent
4. Ford Fiesta—71,073 sales, up 25.2 percent
5. Hyundai Accent—60,458 sales, up .9 percent
6. Honda Fit—53,513 sales, up 8.4 percent
7. Kia Rio—40,742 sales, up 11.5 percent
8. Toyota Yaris—21,342 sales, down 30.2 percent
9. Mazda Mazda2—11,757 sales, down 39.1 percent

Notes: 2013 was a record sales year for the Ford Fiesta and Nissan Versa; also, an all-new Honda Fit is on its way to market and will likely rearrange the 2014 standings considerably.

2013 Auto Sales: Compact Leaderboard

It looks like the significant efforts to refresh the fairly new Honda Civic have paid off, as the car not only led the compact segment in sales last year, it also was the No. 3 car overall, behind only the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry:

1. Honda Civic—336,180 sales, up 5.7 percent
2. Toyota Corolla—302,180 sales, up 3.9 percent
3. Chevy Cruze—248,224 sales, up 4.4 compact
4. Hyundai Elantra—247,912 sales, up 22.7 percent
5. Ford Focus—234,570 sales, down 4.6 percent
6. VW Jetta—141,259 sales, down 3.9 percent
7. Nissan Sentra—129,143 sales, up 21.4 percent
8. Mazda Mazda3—104,713 sales, down 15.1 percent
9. Dodge Dart—83,388 sales, up 230 percent
10. Kia Forte—66,146 sales, down 12.2 percent

Notes: Hyundai Elantra sales include Elantra Coupe and GT; VW Jetta sales are for the sedan only; the Dodge Dart's growth rate is exaggerated because it wasn't on sale for all of 2012.

2013 Auto Sales: Midsize Leaderboard

This is where the big boys play, with nine out of 10 players exceeding 100,000 sales and the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord also finishing 2013 as the best-selling cars in the country:

1. Toyota Camry—408,484 sales, up .9 percent
2. Honda Accord—366,678 sales, up 10.5 percent
3. Nissan Altima—320,723 sales, up 5.9 percent
4. Ford Fusion—295,280 sales, up 22.4 percent
5. Chevy Malibu—200,594 sales, down 4.9 percent
6. Hyundai Sonata—203,648 sales, down 11.7 percent
7. Kia Optima—155,893 sales, up 2.3 percent
8. Chrysler 200—122,480 sales, down 2.4 percent
9. VW Passat—109,652 sales, down 6.3 percent
10. Dodge Avenger—93,842 sales, down 3.1 percent

Notes: The Ford Fusion and Nissan Altima set annual sales records last year; backed by a recent refresh just one year after its launch, the Malibu capped off 2013 with a 33.2 percent spike in volume in December.

2013 Auto Sales: Full-size Leaderboard

New entries continue to revitalize this segment, as evidenced by the fact that three of these choices—from Chevy, Toyota and Hyundai—were significantly redesigned for the 2014 model year, while the Kia Cadenza just finished up its rookie season:

1. Chevy Impala—156,797 sales, down 7.4 percent
2. Dodge Charger—98,336 sales, up 19 percent
3. Toyota Avalon—70,990 sales, up 140.2 percent
4. Ford Taurus—69,063 sales, up 4.5 percent
5. Chrysler 300—57,724 sales, down 18.4 percent
6. Nissan Maxima—53,896 sales, down 9.2 percent
7. Buick LaCrosse—48,798 sales, down 14.5 percent
8. VW CC—15,672 sales, down 27.6 percent
9. Hyundai Azera—11,221 sales, up 33 percent
10. Kia Cadenza—8,626 sales in its first few months on the market

Notes: Chevy's decision to transform the Impala from fleet favorite to flagship sedan has resulted in double-digit retail sales gains since the updated model launched.

2013 Auto Sales: Small Crossover/SUV Leaderboard

The crossover segments aren't quite as rigid as they are on the car side of the ledger, with this group chosen mostly because all entries are shorter in length than the shortest of the true mainstream players—the 178.1-inch Ford Escape:

1. Jeep Wrangler—155,502 sales, up 9.8 percent
2. Jeep Patriot—75,797 sales, up 22.2 percent
3. Subaru Crosstrek XV—53,741 sales, up 626.6 percent
4. Jeep Compass—52,993 sales, up 31.7 percent
5. Hyundai Tucson—41,906 sales, down 14.3 percent
6. Nissan Juke—38,157 sales, up 4.9 percent
7. Kia Sportage—32,965 sales, down 9.3 percent
8. Buick Encore—31,956 sales in its first year at dealerships                        
9. Mini Countryman—21,012 sales, up 25.9 percent

Notes: The Jeep Wrangler, of course, is no crossover, but a full-fledged SUV; the Subaru Crosstrek XV launched late in 2012, meaning its year-end 2013 growth rate comes with a large grain of salt; the Nissan Juke earned an annual sales record during 2013.

2013 Auto Sales: Medium Crossover Leaderboard

Here are the high-volume two-row crossovers of at least 178.1 inches (the length of the Ford Escape), although the new Nissan Rogue and Dodge Journey are available with three rows.

1. Honda CR-V—303,904 sales, up 7.9 percent
2. Ford Escape—295,993 sales, up 13.4 percent
3. Chevy Equinox—238,192 sales, up 9.0 percent
4. Toyota RAV4—218,249 sales, up 27 percent
5. Jeep Grand Cherokee—174,275 sales, up 12.6 percent
6. Nissan Rogue—162,751 sales, up 14.3 percent
7. Ford Edge—129,109 sales, up 0.9 percent
8. Subaru Forester—123,592 sales, up 61.9 percent
9. Subaru Outback—118,049 sales, up 0.4 percent
10. Kia Sorento—105,649 sales, down 11.7 percent

Notes: Showing how much action there was in this segment in 2013, the Honda CR-V, Ford Escape, Nissan Rogue and both Subarus all set volume records last year; also, the Jeep Cherokee topped 15,000 sales in its first December.

2013 Auto Sales: Pickup Leaderboard

The Ford F-Series captured its 37th straight title as best-selling truck in the country and extended its ongoing streak as the country's top-selling vehicle of any kind to 32 years.

1. Ford F-Series—763,402 sales, up 18.3 percent
2. Chevy Silverado—480,414 sales, up 14.8 percent
3. Ram 1500—355,673, up 21.1 percent
4. GMC Sierra—184,389 sales, up 17.3 percent
5. Toyota Tacoma—159,485 sales, up 12.8 percent
6. Toyota Tundra—112,732 sales, up 10.9 percent
7. Nissan Frontier—62,837 sales, up 13.4 percent
8. Honda Ridgeline—17,723 sales, up 26 percent
9. Nissan Titan—15,691 sales, down 27.3 percent

Notes: The Ram 1500 garnered particular attention for its EcoDiesel V6 engine, setting a new sales record in the final month of the year and surpassing the Toyota Camry to be the third-best-selling vehicle in the country in December.

2013 Auto Sales: Big Crossover/SUV Leaderboard

Three old-school body-on-frame choices got in on the action here, and it's worth noting that the GMC Yukon, which didn't make the top 10, still delivered more than 28,000 units (up 1.7 percent) and outsold the Ford Flex and Mazda CX-9: 

1. Ford Explorer—178,311 sales, up 12.6 percent
2. Toyota Highlander—127,572 sales, up 5.4 percent
3. Honda Pilot—126,678 sales, up 10.3 percent
4. Chevy Traverse—96,467 sales, up 12.7 percent
5. GMC Acadia—89,793 sales, up 14.7 percent 
6. Nissan Pathfinder—88,632 sales, up 108 percent
7. Chevy Tahoe—83,502 sales, up 21.2 percent
8. Dodge Durango—60,727 sales, up 42.6 percent
9. Chevy Suburban—51,260 sales, up 6.5 percent
10. Ford Expedition—38,350 sales, up .8 percent

Notes: The Nissan Pathfinder is in its first full year as a unibody crossover, so its 2013 results aren't really directly comparable to its 2012 performance.

2013 Auto Sales: Minivan Leaderboard

It looks like it's just not going to happen for the Nissan Quest, the one new-ish Nissan that doesn't seem to have picked up the buzz around the rest of the lineup:

1. Honda Odyssey—128,987 sales, up 2.4 percent
2. Dodge Caravan—124,019 sales, down 12.3 percent
3. Chrysler Town & Country—122,288 sales, up 9.4 percent
4. Toyota Sienna—121,117 sales, up 5.6 percent
5. Mazda Mazda5—13,884 sales, down 5.2 percent
6. Nissan Quest—12,874 sales, down 29.6 percent
7. Kia Sedona—7,079 sales, down 59.6 percent
8. VW Routan—2,109 sales, down 79.9 percent

Notes: Volkswagen put the Routan—a thinly disguised Chrysler Group product—out of its misery in 2013.