Honda Civic Sales Surged 20% in First Half of 2016

U.S. car buyers appear to like two things really well: pickup trucks and new versions of well-respected badges. The Civic from Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (NYSE: HMC) is among the latter.

Sales of the Honda Civic jumped 10.7% year over year in June, according to GoodCar-BadCar, mirroring sales increases since the 10th-generation model debuted last October and sales almost immediately improved. So far in 2016, year-over-year sales were up 43% in January, 32% in February, 22% in March, 23% in April and a paltry 2.7% in May. In the first six months of 2016, Civic has sold 189,840 units, well over half of last year’s total and up 19.9% compared with the first half of last year.

The Civic outsold the Corolla from Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) in June and leads the industry in compact car sales for the first six months of 2016. The Corolla sold 30,950 units in June, compared with 31,810 for the Civic, and year-to-date-sales totaled 182,193, more than 7,600 units behind the new Civic.

The basic 2016 Honda Civic sedan carries an manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of $19,475, according Kelley Blue Book, and buyers get a lot of bang for those bucks. The car’s fuel economy ratings are 27 miles per gallon (mpg) in city driving, 40 on the highway and a combined rating of 31 mpg. The car comes with a 2.0-liter three-cylinder engine, a six-speed manual transmission and front-wheel drive.

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At the higher end of Civic models is the Touring, with an MSRP of $27,355. The 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine posts fuel-economy numbers of 31 in the city, 42 on the highway and a combined reading of 35 mpg. The most expensive option available is 17-inch alloy wheels at just under $1,200. A wireless phone charger option is $305.

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