Passenger car sales in 2026 have moved in extreme directions, with some nameplates surging and others nearly disappearing. Figures from automaker releases and goodcarbadcar tables through September show a Charger rebound alongside collapses at Subaru, Acura and Nissan. Here are twelve cars with the wildest swings so far this year.
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1. Dodge Charger: Relaunch Rocket
The biggest mover on the list is the Dodge Charger, which sold 8,029 units through September 2026, up 329.8% from a year earlier, according to goodcarbadcar sales tables. No other passenger car in the set posted a gain anywhere near that scale, and the figure tops the ranking of percentage swings by a wide margin.
The percentage looks even more dramatic because it is measured against a very small prior-year base, a result of the Charger’s relaunch. A few thousand additional sales can multiply a tiny starting number several times over, so the raw volume matters as much as the headline growth rate when judging the nameplate.
2. Subaru Legacy: Steepest Fall Here
The Subaru Legacy sold only 2,208 units through September 2026, down 87.0%, per the goodcarbadcar passenger car table. That is the steepest decline among the cars on this list and the figure behind the headline of the gallery.
The Legacy is a midsize sedan that long served as a core Subaru product, so a drop of this size stands out even in a segment where buyers have been moving toward crossovers. Few nameplates lose close to nine-tenths of their sales volume in less than a full year of reporting.
3. Acura TLX: Sport Sedan Slump
Acura sold just 1,104 examples of the TLX through September 2026, a decline of 82.0%, based on goodcarbadcar model rankings. Only the Subaru Legacy fell further among the cars compared here.
The TLX is Acura’s sport-oriented midsize sedan, and the numbers show a nameplate sliding to the low four figures for the first nine months of the year. Volumes that small leave little room for further erosion and raise the question of how much longer such a sedan can carry meaningful sales.
4. Nissan Versa: Budget Sedan Retreat
The Nissan Versa recorded 15,356 sales through September 2026, down 62.7%, according to goodcarbadcar passenger car figures. Even after that drop, the subcompact sedan sells in far larger numbers than the Acura TLX or Subaru Legacy.
The Versa has been one of the lowest-priced new sedans on the American market, which makes a decline of nearly two-thirds notable. Its volume remains in five figures, yet the year-over-year slide shows how sharply demand at the entry level of the car market can move.
5. Lexus ES: Luxury Sedan Drop
Lexus ES sales reached 10,333 through September 2026, down 65.3% on a calendar-year-to-date basis, based on the Toyota Motor North America release. The midsize luxury sedan is one of the larger decliners within Toyota’s own brand family.
The ES has historically been among the more popular sedans in the Lexus lineup, so a fall of about two-thirds changes its standing considerably. It also contrasts with the Lexus IS, another sedan from the same brand that posted a gain over the same nine-month stretch.
6. Lexus IS: Compact Sedan Surge
The Lexus IS delivered 22,257 sales through September 2026, up 51.7% on a calendar-year-to-date basis, according to the Toyota sales release. It is among the sedans on this list to post a sizeable gain.
The IS is a compact luxury sport sedan, and its rise stands in sharp contrast with the ES, which sits in the same brand’s lineup and moved in the opposite direction. Together the two Lexus sedans show that the swings are not uniform even inside a single automaker’s range.
7. Toyota GR86: Sports Coupe Slips
Toyota sold 5,642 GR86 coupes through September 2026, a decline of 30.4%, as shown in the calendar-year sales release. The decrease is smaller than the collapses seen at Subaru, Acura or Nissan.
The GR86 is a compact rear-drive sports coupe built for driving enthusiasts rather than volume, so its sales have always been modest next to Toyota’s mainstream cars. A drop of under a third counts as moderate on a list defined by dramatic swings, but it still marks a clear step back.
8. Toyota Crown: Flagship Sedan Eases
The Toyota Crown sold 6,683 units through September 2026, down 23.1%, according to the Toyota Motor North America figures. It is the mildest decline among the falling cars on this list.
The Crown is a larger Toyota sedan positioned above the Camry, and its sales are small compared with the brand’s best-selling models. A decrease of roughly one-quarter is modest next to the 87.0% plunge of the Subaru Legacy, though it still places the Crown among the year’s notable decliners.
9. Toyota Camry: Volume Leader Gains
Toyota sold 260,684 Camry sedans through September 2026, up 11.2% from 234,426 a year earlier, per the September and third-quarter release. Few cars on this list sell in anything close to that volume.
The Camry is a midsize sedan and a long-running Toyota staple, so an increase of more than eleven percent on a base that large adds tens of thousands of cars. It shows that the sedan segment is not simply shrinking across the board, with a top seller still growing strongly.
10. Toyota Corolla: Compact Stays Strong
The Toyota Corolla reached 195,141 sales through September 2026, up 8.4%, according to the Toyota sales results. Only the Camry sells in larger numbers among the Toyota cars covered here.
The Corolla is a compact car and a global mainstay for the brand, and its gain pairs with the Camry’s to show where Toyota’s passenger car volume lives. Growth of this kind at such scale contrasts sharply with the steep losses recorded for lower-volume sedans elsewhere in the table.
11. Toyota Prius: Hybrid Icon Falls
The Toyota Prius sold 29,223 units through September 2026, down 37.5% from 46,777 in the same period a year earlier, according to the Toyota quarterly release. The decline removes roughly seventeen thousand sales from the nine-month total.
The Prius is the car most associated with hybrid powertrains, which makes a fall of more than a third a notable turn for the nameplate. It also sits beside the Camry and Corolla, whose gains show that the weakness is specific to this model rather than to Toyota’s cars generally.
12. Ford Mustang: Pony Car Climbs
Ford reported that Mustang sales increased 7.5% in the third quarter and 17.9% through September, as laid out in its sales release filing. The wording gives two separate measures of growth, one for the quarter and one for the first nine months.
The Mustang is Ford’s pony car and one of the few sports coupes in the American market with an enduring following. The year-to-date gain exceeds the quarterly one, which indicates that the pace of growth was somewhat stronger earlier in the year than during the most recent three months.
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