Honda Accord Steals Camry’s Best-Seller Title… Sort of

Honda’s Accord out-sold the Camry in 2013 if you ignore Toyota’s fleet sales.

Honda just announced that its Accord mid-size sedan beat the Toyota by selling 360,089 units to individual customers in 2013 compared to 342,007 for the Camry excluding fleet sales. Counting sales to companies that use the Camry as a fleet vehicle, Toyota sold 408,484.

Most of Honda’s sales are to individual customers. The company’s strategy to avoid boosting numbers with fleet sales can serve to help build customer loyalty in the long run because fleet sales can hurt the residual value of a vehicle. Fleet sales are also less profitable to manufacturers.

“Our focus on retail sales to individual buyers has a direct correlation to the high resale value of Honda products, which is a key factor in the value proposition for our customers,” said Honda sales executive vice president John Mendel.

Honda launched its new Accord for the 2013 model year compared to the current Camry, which arrived for the 2011 model year.

GALLERY: 2013 Honda Accord

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