SANTA MONICA, Calif. -

As the auto industry hit the half-way mark for the year, Edmunds.com took a look back at the past few months to see who “scored” big and which OEMs and vehicles notched the most sales. And with June car sales performing better than expected, 2012 pushed ahead by double digits from the first-half of last year.

Specifically, as this past month came to a close, sales for the first half of 2012 sat at 7.27 million vehicles, up 14.9 percent from the first-half of 2011, according to the site.

This marks the best outcome “for the industry’s best first-half performance since pre-recession 2008,” officials noted.

And as for how individual players performed during the past six months, Edmunds.com started out by highlighting the best-selling vehicle of the period: the Toyota Camry.

This particular unit has been America’s best-selling car for 10 years and 14 of the past 15 years, the site shared. And it looks like the unit might make it to 11 years at the top, if first-half 2012 results are any indication.

The Camry has notched 213,902 sales during the past six months. 

“Critics charged that the seventh-generation redesign of the 2012 Camry was only evolutionary and not very exciting,” said Michelle Krebs, Edmunds.com senior analyst.

 “Car-buying consumers apparently don’t care as they are buying about 30,000-plus each month,” Krebs further explained, noting that mediocre reviews do not seem to be effecting shopper behavior regarding the redesigned Camry.

Moving along, the site also highlighted the most improved vehicle for the first half of the year, choosing from a brand whose sales has been soaring in the U.S. this past spring.

The Volkswagen Beetle holds the title of Most Improved, with its new, more “manly” redesign.

“It’s no secret that the old New Volkswagen Beetle appealed more to women than men, with its rounded crown and dashboard flower vase,” said Krebs.

“The newest Beetle features a more squared off noggin along with a more masculine longer, lower, wider stance, not to mention that Volkswagen ditched the posy container,” she continued.

This redesign is apparently working, since the site reported the the newest Beetle is selling much better than the model it replaced, and last month was its best June sales performance since 2002 with 2,914 units sold.

And as for newcomers onto the market, Edmunds.com recognized the Chevy Sonic as the Rookie of the Year, so far, with 42,240 sales this year.

“The vehicle made quantum leaps beyond the Aveo that consumers definitely recognized,” said Krebs.

“In addition to being a far superior replacement to the South Korean-built Aveo, the Sonic broke new ground by being the first subcompact built by a Detroit automaker in the United States, and with unionized workers who are covered by a lower cost labor agreement tailored to fit the lower profit margins of a small car,” she further explained.

For more analysis from Edmunds.com on the first half of 2012, see here.