Showing posts with label US Subcompact Car Sales. Show all posts
Showing posts with label US Subcompact Car Sales. Show all posts
Friday, October 8, 2010

Subcompact Car Sales And Compact Car Sales In America - September 2010

Joined by 516 sales of the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze in September, the gradually-deceasing Chevrolet Cobalt's total last month makes it look like "General Motors" and "small car" go together like, well, "General Motors" and "small car". But wait, the Cruze is supposed to be a really nice car. October should tell a very different story. Even so, don't be surprised if buyers don't respond favourably (at first) to a GM small car without huge incentives.

Cars of this type, both compact and subcompact, had a difficult road to tred in September 2009. Cash For Clunkers was over, and in the month prior, sales had spiked as most people who wanted a new fuel-efficient car got one in the month of August. To see September 2010 sales improve upon September 2009's totals should surprise no one. That being said, Toyota Corolla/Matrix sales were down last month and are down year-to-date, as well. Suzuki SX4 sales were down 38.8% in September 2010. Kia Rio sales were down 41.7% last month. Other than those cars and the currently-changing-over Cobalt, every single subcompact and compact car on sale in America improved on last year's figures. 

Which, you know, says something about the Corolla's performance, in particular, something Toyota might not care about since the Corolla/Matrix was the best-selling small car in America in September 2010.


As for the 2011 Ford Fiesta, which of course wasn't on sale last year, sales have yet to reflect any efforts by Ford Motor Company to find more stock for North American dealers. This comes along with news yesterday that the Ford Fiesta is the best-selling car in the UK - again - with over 19,000 sales. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's over 19,000 Fiestas that somehow made it to UK Ford stores, unravaged by hurricanes and bad railways and bodystyle selections (ahem... no ugly sedans?) which didn't reflect potential buyers' tastes. Ford would've needed to more than double sales of the Fiesta in the U.S. last month just to be number two in the segment.
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Saturday, September 11, 2010

Subcompact Car Sales And Compact Car Sales In America - August 2010

This marks the end of Ford's excuses for the 2011 Fiesta. Hurricanes, train tracks, parts suppliers.... I don't care anymore. Sales figures for the Fiesta haven't been up to where they should be yet, beaten soundly by four competitors in the USA in August, and Ford has been in a valid place with its reasons why. Come September Sales Stats, however, and low-rung Ford Fiesta sales volume will be criticized for what it is: the results of what appears to be an overpriced subcompact car. August Fiesta sales were actually lower than July's.

One size segment up, Ford isn't struggling to sell the highly incentivized Focus. Only the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla were more popular compact cars in America in August 2010. Again, thanks discounts... and SYNC. GM's small car numbers should improve dramatically in the near future with the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze now in production in Lordstown, Ohio. Images of the 2012 Chevrolet Aveo bode well for the subcompact segment, as well.

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Thursday, August 12, 2010

SUBCOMPACT CAR SALES AND COMPACT CAR SALES IN AMERICA - JULY 2010

Don't judge the 2011 Mazda 2's long-term potential for success on July 2010. On sale for only a few days, the month for the Mazda 2 to try and outshine its fraternal twin, the 2011 Ford Fiesta, is August. Numbers for August, hopefully numbers higher than 38 sales, will be revealed in early September after The Good Car Guy gets back from another vacation to Prince Edward Island.

Whether or not the Ford Fiesta will be able to attract large numbers of clients and secure those clients despite its high price, the influence of the Ford Fiesta didn't harm the segment leader in July. Though Nissan Versa sales dropped 9.4% from last year during the same period, Versa sales jumped from 6,762 in June 2010 to 7,725 in July 2010, a month in which we can safely say the Fiesta was known as the newest/latest/greatest/brightest/bestest. 

GoodCarBadCar.net is holding out hope for the Fiesta - in hatchback form it's a looker with a fuel efficient powertrain, great dynamics, and loads of features - but with a base price 33% beyond the Versa's, the Fiesta could be in for a tough fight if it wants to take over the category.

Up a notch in size and expense, generally speaking, Toyota and Honda and Hyundai proved the merits of their respective compacts. The new Elantra, known as the Avante in other parts, isn't far off, but sales of the current Elantra are as strong as can be expected. Honda's Civic, in its eighth generation, feels like it's been around forever but still managed to out-sell the Mazda 3 by 13,526 units in the USA last month. And the Corolla, with its Matrix hatchback sibling, was the second-best-selling car in America in July. 

Details on July's U.S. sales of subcompact and compact cars are in the Graphs below.
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Wednesday, July 7, 2010

SUBCOMPACT AND COMPACT CAR SALES IN THE USA - JUNE 2010

kia rio 5
Nobody grows up hoping to one day sell the least-expensive, least-profitable product on the market. When a business case is made, however, anyone and everyone will jump at the opportunity. With increasing frequency, the subcompact car class in North America is seeing new models or rejigged old models. With the Fiesta, Ford is back in the segment for the first time since the.... *puke*.... Aspire. The current Chevrolet Aveo will be replaced by something more like the Aveo RS concept. And the soon-coming Hyundai Accent will inevitably spawn a new Kia Rio.

It should be no surprise to you then that this is one dog-eat-dog segment. Except, no dogs are being eaten. Although it appears as though the Fiesta is struggling, it's early days. The Kia Rio looks likes it's down for the count, but in fact, being only 5,000 units behind the class leader means the next-generation Rio stands a great chance at becoming a class leader. This is a tight knit group of contenders, very unlike the midsize segment where the difference between the top-sellers and bottom-dwellers is far, far greater.

One notch up the belt is the compact category where two of America's favourite cars reside. The Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla were, of course, dominant in June 2010. North of the border, Mazda's 3 is in a fight with the Civic to be Canada's best-selling car in 2010. Yet in the States, the 3 is an alternative, not the obvious choice, with the Honda out-selling the Mazda 3 by more than 3-to-1 in June. Hyundai, Chevrolet, and Ford looked poised to make a run for it once the new Elantra, Cruze, and 2012 Focus arrive.

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Wednesday, June 9, 2010

U.S. SALES OF SUBCOMPACT CARS - MAY 2010

Think of three reasons people buy subcompact cars when there are larger, more powerful, better-equipped available. The first thing that probably came to mind was price. That led your mind towards value. Thinking of value brought further thoughts of cost. 

Yep. Price, value, and cost - come to think of it, the exact same thing. How much money do you have to spend, how little can you spend? Typical buyers would choose a Hyundai Elantra instead of a Hyundai Accent.... if the Elantra didn't require spending more money. In other words, people buy a subcompact car because that's what they can afford. As an added bonus, small cars require very little fuel and don't depreciate nearly as much as a very expensive large car. 

Thus, the fact that the most popular car on this list is also the second-cheapest, only $20 more than the cheapest, won't surprise you at all. You like the Honda Fit best? You'll be forced to pay the highest price. Outside of incentives, the domestic alternative from Chevrolet costs a couple grand more; even the Korean Kia Rio is priced above the Nissan Versa. The Hyundai Accent actually has the lowest U.S. base price ($9,970) so it won't shock you to discover it's one of Canada's most popular cars. The hype regarding the introduction of the 2011 Ford Fiesta is well-deserved: the Fiesta is a really nice car. But keep in mind, the Fiesta's base price is $13,320.
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Thursday, May 13, 2010

U.S. SALES OF SUBCOMPACT CARS - APRIL 2010

The car buying public in America doesn't seem to care that The Good Car Guy is wholeheartedly against the purchase of a Nissan Versa sedan. As the most popular subcompact car in America last month, surely some of the Versa's 6,599 sales were of the ugly sedan sort. Shed a tear for those poor souls.

Granted, the alternatives aren't drop-dead gorgeous. At least the first-gen Honda Fit was cute; the new car sure ain't. The Chevrolet Aveo's massive grille doesn't suit the current car (but does suit the future Aveo). But the continued allegiance Americans hold toward the Nissan Versa is shameful. It's cheap and quite unloveable. So why do they buy it? Few cars create so much space with such a small footprint - Versas are cavernous inside. 

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Tuesday, April 20, 2010

U.S. SALES OF SUBCOMPACT CARS - MARCH 2010

Spy shots of the next Hyundai Accent have leaked. The social media ramp-up to the launch of the 2011 Ford Fiesta has been something to behold. It's possible that the 2011 Chevrolet Aveo will be downright wicked. Yep, the subcompact class of vehicles could be quite desirable before the clock strikes 2012. We North Americans will feel downright European when small cars start to look appealing.

In March, the rather horrifically ugly Nissan Versa is the best-selling car in the class, at least in the United States. Take a look at the Graph below for all the details. And don't forget to keep in mind 677 sales of the smart fortwo and 3,610 sales of the Mini Cooper; the Mercedes-Benz and BMW answers to the usual half-dozen.


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