The cars of summer: 10 winners and losers

With the beginning of August, car dealers are winding down their inventories of 2011 models and getting ready for the 2012 model year, which begins officially on October. So taking the temperature of a nameplate's health in July at the end of the summer selling season provides a good indication of its overall strength -- or weakness.

If you only read the buff books, you would conclude that Americans only want cars that are fast, sleek, and status-laden. Those may be their wants, but the cars they actually buy often fall into one of three popular segments: compact and midsize car, compact SUV, or crossover. For Toyota, being able to sell 400,000 Camrys trumps a few thousand Land Cruisers.

Here are July's leaders and laggards in those three most popular segments, using data compiled by Edmunds.com

NEXT: Winner: Chevrolet Cruze