SUV/CUV 2009 Sales Race Through October

Honda CRV, the eighth best-selling vehicle overall in 2009, leads the SUV/CUV sales race in 2009 with 158,573 sold through October, down 7.4 percent from the same ten months in 2008 but that's because the competition is heating up as SUV shoppers crossover and more entries arrive to carve up the sales pie.

Ford Escape, which Ford calls a CUV (Crossover Utility Vehicle), has sales of 138,739 in 2009, up 2.3 percent from 2008, putting it in eleventh spot in overall sales, trailing CRV by less than 20,000 units in the  race.

Toyota Rav4 rounds out the top three with sales of 120,834 so far this year is a gain of 1.6 percent over 2008.

GM's Chevrolet Traverse, new to the market this year, has sold 75,156 in 2009.
Toyota's Lexus RX350 sales are at 73,641, a 7.7 percent rise from 2008.
Ford Edge sales are 72,624, a drop of 27.2 percent.
Chrysler's Jeep Wrangler sales of 70,350, is just a 2 percent drop from 2008.
Toyota Highlander sales this year are 67,463, down 24.2 percent from last year.
Subaru Forester sales are 65,610, up 33 percent from the same period a year ago.
Nissan Rogue sales are 65,570, up 8.1 percent over last year.
Hyundai Santa Fe sales are 64,515, up 6.8 percent from last year.
GM's Chevrolet Equinox sales are 63,850, up 8 percent from last year.
GM's Chevrolet Tahoe sales are 57,443, a 29.1 percent decline.
Toyota Venza, another new entry, has sales of 44,451 this year.
GM's GMC Acadia sales are 43,957, a decrease of 26.8 percent from 2008.
Chrysler's Jeep Grand Cherokee sales are 43,146 this year, down 31 percent from 2008.
Nissan Murano sales are 43,120, a drop of 29.1 percent from 2008.
Dodge Journey sales are 41,520 in 2009, up 4 percent over last year when it came to market.
Ford Explorer, the one-time dominant SUV leader, has sales of 41,138 this year, a 39.8 percent decline from 2008.
Kia Sportage sales are at 40,042, a 37 percent jump from a year ago, just crossing the 40,000 threshold through the end of October 2009.