DALLAS — Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. reported July sales of 214,233 units, a 1.4 percent decline, as record sales of light trucks failed to offset the fall in car deliveries at both the Toyota and Lexus divisions.
Last month’s numbers represented an improvement over June’s 5.6 percent sales drop and a 9.6 percent drop in May.
The Toyota division sold 186,343 vehicles, down 0.5 percent. Toyota-badged vehicles fell 2 percent. The Scion brand -- which is being phased out and merged into the Toyota brand lineup for the 2017 model year -- rose 66 percent on the strength of its iA and iM models launched last summer.
The Lexus luxury division sold 27,890 units, down 6.5 percent.
Toyota said this was its best July ever for light-truck sales, and followed supply constraints that dragged down sales for some of its hot-selling SUVs and trucks in recent months.
“Light trucks remained the hottest segment for the industry in July,” said Bill Fay, group vice president and general manager at the Toyota division, in a statement. He noted record July results for the Highlander and RAV4 crossovers.
In the car category, sales of the Corolla compact rose 4.9 percent to 31,717 units, while the perennially best-selling Camry midsize sedan saw deliveries slump 11 percent to 34,122. The Prius hybrid line fell 29 percent.
Lexus also scored with trucks, while every car model, except the bread-and-butter ES -- with a scant 1 percent increase -- saw lower July sales.
“Lexus luxury utility vehicles had another strong sales month, with RX, NX and LX up,” Jeff Bracken, Lexus division group vice president and general manager, said in a statement. “With these results, we had our best-ever July for light trucks and are up nearly 10 percent for the year.”
Lexus’ volume leader, the RX crossover, gained 3.1 percent to 8,522 units.
For the year, group sales were down 2.5 percent at 1,412,033. Car sales are off 9.4 percent, while truck sales are up 5 percent, mirroring market trends toward crossovers, sport-utility vehicles and trucks amid relatively low gasoline prices.