U.S. SUV And Crossover Sales By Brand - September 2015 YTD

As consumer appetites turn very slowly away from traditional passenger cars, the U.S. auto industry is prepared for a strong fourth-quarter that could make 2015 the best year ever for new vehicle sales in America.

Strong pickup truck sales help. Sales of essentially ten nameplates have risen 10.5% to nearly 1.9 million units through the first three quarters of 2015. But while pickup trucks account for 14.3% of the 13 million new vehicles sold in the first nine months of 2015, SUVs and crossovers account for approximately 36% of the industry's volume in 2015, up from 33% of the 12.44 million vehicles sold in the first nine months of 2014.

Which brands are generating the greatest amount of SUV/crossover attention? Jeep sits atop the leaderboard with 68,473 more SUV/CUV sales than any other brand. Jeep, of course, does not sell anything but utility vehicles.

The top five SUV/crossover brands – Jeep, Ford, Chevrolet, Toyota, Honda – generate 52% of all U.S. SUV/crossover volume. Only one brand's utility vehicles are generating less sales activity this year than last. That brand, Mini, markets two crossovers which are among the least SUV-like of all utility vehicles. Acura and BMW have narrowly managed to produce gains.

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U.S. Vehicle Sales Rankings By Model - September 2015 YTD
U.S. SUV/Crossover Sales Rankings By Model - September 2015 YTD

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The biggest year-over-year percentage improvements come from Audi, Volvo, Lincoln, Lexus, Porsche, and Land Rover, six premium brands which have greatly expanded or revitalized their utility vehicle lineups in the very recent past. 

At Audi, the Q3 was added late last year. At Volvo, a new XC90 was finally brought to market this year. Lincoln added the MKC last year and introduced a second-gen MKX this year. Lexus added the very popular NX. Porsche's Macan debuted last year. Land Rover switched out the LR2 for the Discovery Sport this year.

Click Column Headers To Sort • Click Chart Above To Expand

SUV/Crossover Brand	September 2015 YTD	September 2014 YTD	% Change
Jeep	632,910	516,387	22.6%
Ford	564,437	526,092	7.3%
Chevrolet	450,554	408,724	10.2%
Toyota	426,862	386,392	10.5%
Honda	387,704	321,262	20.7%
Nissan	362,377	304,479	19.0%
Subaru *	304,725	270,193	12.8%
GMC	209,768	195,929	7.1%
Hyundai	129,476	115,866	11.7%
Dodge	125,501	118,697	5.7%
Kia	124,769	109,221	14.2%
Lexus	121,993	94,979	28.4%
Mazda	98,211	92,260	6.5%
Mercedes-Benz	97,234	81,250	19.7%
Buick	96,070	82,354	16.7%
Acura	81,961	81,472	0.6%
BMW	81,139	79,988	1.4%
Cadillac	75,842	63,060	20.3%
Audi	60,719	44,554	36.3%
Land Rover	48,403	38,424	26.0%
Infiniti	45,978	37,673	22.0%
Lincoln	45,573	34,759	31.1%
Mitsubishi	40,923	33,134	23.5%
Volkswagen	27,535	24,320	13.2%
Volvo	23,475	17,431	34.7%
Porsche	22,548	17,589	28.2%
Mini	13,376	18,623	-28.2%
Fiat	3,456	---	---
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Total *	4,703,519	4,115,112	14.3%

* Subaru SUV/crossover figures in the majority of GCBC posts, including our complete SUV/crossover rankings, do not include the Outback and XV Crosstrek. The total for the brand and thus the overall total for the sector in this post do include the Outback and XV Crosstrek.

Timothy Cain is the founder of GoodCarBadCar.net, which obsesses over the free and frequent publication of U.S. and Canadian auto sales figures. Follow on Twitter @goodcarbadcar and on Facebook.