It’s mostly happy times for full-size SUV sales in United States for the month of August and overall in 2016. General Motors continues to dominate the charts with a wide selection of body-on-frame truck-based SUVs. Chevy Tahoe is at the top, but its big lead is starting to shrink as Ford Expedition makes huge strides with 68.3% growth in August and 46.1% increase for the year. Ford Expedition and its luxurious cousin, Lincoln Navigator, will get a complete redesign for 2018 as Ford’s big SUVs switch to aluminum body construction.
If you combine Chevrolet, GMC, and Cadillac SUVs, General Motors sold around 26,000 units in August, 2016. This dwarfs by comparison the nearly 7,000 units that Ford and Lincoln sold.
Not all SUVs are enjoying big sales improvements. The aging Toyota Sequoia continues to decline, while the fully redesigned 2017 Nissan Armada has not yet ramped its deliveries to boost the Armada sales.
Full-size SUVs – August 2016 Sales Chart
| Aug 2016 # | Aug ’16 / ’15 % | YTD 2016 # | YTD ’16 / ’15 % | |
| Chevy Tahoe | 8,297 | 0.9% | 59,949 | 2.3% |
| Chevy Suburban | 5,737 | 27.5% | 33,707 | 4.7% |
| Ford Expedition | 5,725 | 68.3% | 39,446 | 46.1% |
| GMC Yukon | 5,324 | 18.5% | 30,029 | 15.3% |
| GMC Yukon XL | 3,478 | 59.9% | 20,613 | 15.1% |
| Toyota Sequoia | 905 | -13.6% | 8,227 | 0.9% |
| Nissan Armada | 514 | -42.3% | 6,371 | -28.9% |
Luxury SUVs – August 2016 Sales Chart
While all full-size SUVs can be pricy with options, the luxury models take it to the next step. While the Escalade is still at the top, competition from Infiniti and Toyota/Lexus is heating up. The overall numbers are not big, but the Infiniti QX80 is growing more than the Caddy. Lexus LX nearly doubled its volume in August, and the Land Cruiser grew by impressive 64.6%.
| Aug 2016 # | Aug ’16 / ’15 % | YTD 2016 # | YTD ’16 / ’15 % | |
| Cadillac Escalade | 1,867 | 5.5% | 14,034 | 5.1% |
| Infiniti QX80 | 1,261 | 16.1% | 10,592 | 11.6% |
| Cadillac Escalade ESV | 1,170 | -10.7% | 8,903 | -0.8% |
| Lincoln Navigator | 797 | -24.4% | 7,362 | -4.1% |
| Lexus LX | 403 | 95.6% | 3,306 | 58.0% |
| Toyota Land Cruiser | 270 | 64.6% | 2,230 | 36.2% |
