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More than half of Mazdas sold in 2018 are CX-5s, and other interesting sales facts

Last year was a seriously good year for carmakers. Overall, more vehicles were sold than in 2017, and the total number wasn't far off of the all-time record in 2016. Digging deeper into the numbers, you'll find some pretty usual stuff including the Ford F-Series still being the bestselling pickup truck in America, and a continued trend toward crossovers. But there are also some oddball factoids tucked in these sales reports, some that defy the trends, and some that are extremes of the public's buying preferences. We've compiled several interesting tidbits from last year's sales right here for your enjoyment. More than half of Mazda's sales were of CX-5s Yes, over half of all Mazda sales were of this one model. The company sold 300,325 cars in America last year, and 150,622 of them were CX-5 crossovers, or 50.1 percent. Just for emphasis, that means the other 49.8 percent of Mazda's sales were split among five other models, the Miata, 3, 6, CX-3 and CX-9. Breaking that down further, the second-best seller was the Mazda3 at 64,638, which isn't even half of the CX-5's sales. People are crazy for Mazda's middle crossover. Volkswagen actually sold more cars than crossovers It's clear that the crossover is the future king of car sales. For most mainstream brands, it already is. Chevy, Ford, Honda, Toyota, Subaru, Mazda and Nissan all sold more crossovers and SUVs than they did conventional sedans and hatchbacks. There are holdouts, though, and one of them is Volkswagen. At the end of 2018, the company sold 189,343 cars and 164,721 crossovers in the U.S. So that's one win for the classic car set, and it's justification for VW to maintain its car line for the foreseeable future. It's a bit of a hollow victory, though. Look closer and you'll see that car sales were down 28 percent from 2017, when VW sold 262,029 cars. Crossovers, on the other hand, jumped 112 percent from 2017 when 77,647 crossovers moved through U.S. dealers. So expect the tables to turn very soon. Mustang is still the muscle-car sales king, but Challenger is the only one to improve Once again, the Ford Mustang topped the muscle-car sales charts, beating out the Dodge Challenger and Chevy Camaro. Ford moved 75,842 of the ponies in 2018, while Dodge sold 66,716 Challengers for second place, and Chevy sold 50,963 Camaros to bring up the rear.

Mother's Day Suggestion No. 2,506

With Mother's Day coming up, we're always looking for new gift ideas to celebrate the occasion, but hot laps around a track might not be the best suggestion for Darius Khashabi. In a video posted on YouTube, Khashabi straps his mom into the passenger seat of his C6 Corvette Z06 for some laps around Sonoma Raceway (formerly Infineon Raceway) at "60 percent" with comical results.
Now this isn't the first time Mama Khashabi has gotten seat time in her son's car around a track, as his YouTube page shows him pulling a similar stunt - with similar results - around Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca last year. Scroll down for the video, but know that the action really gets going at around the 1:40 mark.

Chevrolet Captiva looks mildly refreshed and ready for family duty

We showed you Chevrolet's major debut yesterday, the 2014 Corvette Stingray Convertible, but General Motors is making a big push for Bowtie consideration in Europe, so it's also introducing the updated Captiva crossover here at the Geneva Motor Show.
While still based on the same platform as North America's fleet-only Captiva Sport (which is effectively a rebadged Saturn Vue), the Captiva is available in both five- and seven-seat iterations, and it looks far more modern. That's particularly the case with this updated model, which features revamped front- and rear ends that include restyled bumpers, grilles and LED taillamps, among other changes.
As before, the midsize Theta-platform CUV will be available in both front- and all-wheel drive, and is expected to carry a range of four- and six-cylinder gasoline and diesel engines. Important US programming note: Chevrolet sources tell us that America's Captiva Sport will not receive these updates.