February 2010 - Small Cars

[waymondospiff]

B-Segment

Nissan Versa - 11,609

Hyundai Accent - 5,308

Toyota Yaris - 4,138

Honda Fit - 2,925

Chevy Aveo - 2,062

Kia Rio - 1,949

 

The Fit fell flat on its face - I'm thinking there was a supply issue or something. Also interesting, the Versa is the only car on the list to outsell its "big brother" (in this case, the Sentra.) The Sentra is not a great car, and the Versa, while not great, does everything the Sentra does, just about as well, for less money and with more interior room. Interesting formula for success in this category. But to grow this category, the Fiesta, new Aveo, new Accent, & Fiat 500 are going to have to make an appeal that these cars just don't capture. I'm not sure what that appeal will be, but hopefully it'll work: this category will need to triple in size (at least) to make the new cars viable.

 

 

Boxy Utility Cars

Chevy HHR - 4,658

Kia Soul - 3,600

Nissan Cube - 2,814

Mazda5 - 1,975

Scion xB - 1,539

Honda Element - 919

Scion xD - 628

Chrylser PT Cruiser - 627

 

The PT Cruiser was saved from the grave (again) - but why? Not for 600 units a month. Scion is basically dead with that kind of volume. The Element needs a refresh. The Mazda5 is on track for another 20K year. The Soul & Cube are doing "okay." And the HHR gets no respect, but it's in a class of its own as far as volume goes!

 

C-Segment

Toyota Corolla - 16,996

Honda Civic - 16,471

Chevy Cobalt - 14,101

Ford Focus - 13,708

VW Golf/ Jetta - 9,915 (includes Rabbit, GTi, SportWagen, R32)

Mazda3 - 8,215

Hyundai Elantra - 7,966

Nissan Sentra - 7,769

Kia Forte - 4,333

Subaru Impreza - 2,804

Dodge Caliber - 2,263

Suzuki SX4 - 759

Kia Spectra - 55 (out-of-production, replaced by Forte)

 

Another Corolla triumph. The Civic is close, but still behind. For all the good press the Forte has gotten I expected better sales. The Mazda3 is running pretty low in volume - maybe the bizarro face is turning people away? The Focus is still doing decently considering the new Fiesta & Focus are around the corner. Same for the Cobalt considering the Cruze is waiting to launch later this year. What happened to the Caliber? Besides getting hit with the ugly stick in & out, getting poor mileage from awful engines, and having a terrible chassis, I mean. And the Golf/Jetta is surprisingly strong - it'd be interesting to see a gas/TDI breakdown.

[jpd80]

Aging Focus is doing a stellar job against the competition,

next year the new Focus will be taking no prisoners.

[NickF1011]

The PT Cruiser was saved from the grave (again) - but why? Not for 600 units a month.

 

Well, to be fair to the decision-makers on that one, the main culprit behind the PT's poor sales now is that it is just flat out old. If an entirely redesigned model is in the works, it could very well prop those sales back up to respectable levels. They have a pretty decent following amongst owners.

[bzcat]

Interesting to see that Cobalt + HHR beats all in the C-segment (even if you combine Corolla and xB). Granted Cobalt is fleet heavy but still, impressive results for GM.

 

I think Suzuki SX4 is in the wrong category... but not like it is going to make a difference.

[Noah Harbinger]

Well, to be fair to the decision-makers on that one, the main culprit behind the PT's poor sales now is that it is just flat out old. If an entirely redesigned model is in the works, it could very well prop those sales back up to respectable levels. They have a pretty decent following amongst owners.

 

It's hard to believe they've gone 11 years without any sort of refresh!

[NickF1011]

It's hard to believe they've gone 11 years without any sort of refresh!

 

Hey! They changed the tail lights once! :lol:

[atvman]

It's hard to believe they've gone 11 years without any sort of refresh!

I know, at least the Ranger and Crown Vic have had some changes. I can't think of a single difference between a 2001 and a 2010 PT Cruiser. Chrysler even keeps the old 2.4L I4 engine line running solely for the PT, every other 4-banger Chrysler gets the GEMA engines!

[elkarlo]

I hope people will see that the Fiesta will prolly not outsell the Focus in the US. The market doesn't exist yet. I think we'll see 4-6k a month sales wise, more than that is good luck.

[rmc523]

I know, at least the Ranger and Crown Vic have had some changes. I can't think of a single difference between a 2001 and a 2010 PT Cruiser. Chrysler even keeps the old 2.4L I4 engine line running solely for the PT, every other 4-banger Chrysler gets the GEMA engines!

 

 

They did change the headlights slightly once.

[Anthony]

They did change the headlights slightly once.

 

...and the interior and the front fascia. Which is about as much as the Ranger. However, all 3 (CV included) are extremely long in the tooth. I think the PT is just an "already existing" stop-gap that was hoped to sell better after being reprieved of its death knell. Ain't working out to well. There's too many better cars out there in the same price range. It was a good car a decade ago, now its fleet fodder.