(Bloomberg) -- Honda Motor Co. (T:7267) extended a bleak stretch for a car model widely regarded as one of the best on the U.S. market, showing just how swift consumer demand has shifted to SUVs and away from sedans.
Total deliveries for Honda rose 1.3 percent last month, trailing analysts’ average estimate. While sport utility vehicles including the Honda Pilot and Acura RDX are setting sales records, the Accord’s 11 percent drop lengthened a dismal run of declines to 10 straight months. Sedans also slumped for Toyota Motor Corp. and Ford Motor (NYSE:F) Co. as consumers snubbed models like the Camry and Fusion.
The Accord’s spell has spoiled Honda taking home the hardware for the North American Car of the Year award in January. While the family sedan won plaudits for sleeker styling, roomier interior and a standard safety system that recognizes traffic signs, Honda decided to dial back production so that it could boost the number of CR-V crossovers it builds for what’s been the hottest segment of the market.
SUVs including car-based crossovers like the CR-V “continue with their sharp improvement trajectories,” Ryan Brinkman, a JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM). analyst, wrote in a report last week. As a result, he predicted the industry probably increased average vehicle selling prices again in August.
U.S. auto demand has been a little better than analysts anticipated entering the year, as surging demand for relatively spacious and fuel-efficient SUVs has offset collapsing demand for traditional car models. The annualized rate of sales in August, adjusted for seasonal trends, probably accelerated to 16.8 million, from 16.6 million a year ago, when Hurricane Harvey hampered deliveries to Texas’s gulf coast.
