Chevy Spark regains leadership of the rapidly-shrinking segment
Sales in the US minicar segment fell by 26.0% to 18,779 in the first quarter of 2018, making it the second fastest-shrining segment in early 2018, ahead of only the small sports segment. This performance is a continuation of the segments recent downward trend (it shrank by 20.0% in 2017), and suggests a grim future for the entire segment. Given [Read more…]
Segments shrinks by a fifth and ends 2017 at the bottom of the mainstream heap
Sales in the US minicar segment fell by 9.6% to 22,199 in the fourth quarter of 2017. This makes it the third quarter in a row that sales in the segment have declined, although the rate of decline was considerably slower than in either Q2 or Q3, when the segment shrunk by 43% and 27%, respectively. Overall, the segment shrunk by 20.0% in 2017, the [Read more…]
The collapse of the Minicar segment continues
After briefly returning to growth in the first quarter of 2017, the minicar segment in the United States fell back into the red in the second quarter of this year, and firmly remained there in the third quarter, even if the 36% fall in sales in Q3 was slightly less bad than the 47% drop recorded in Q2. All in all, sales in the minicar segment were only 63,023 over the first three quarters of 2017, down from 90,095 in 2016, which is roughly how many Toyota RAV4s are sold in a month and a half!
Minicar segment collapsed in the second quarter of 2017, with only Mitsubishi Mirage recording YTD sales gains
After briefly returning to growth in the first quarter of 2017, the Minicar segment in the United States fell back into the red in the second quarter of this year. And what a fall it was – sales fell by almost a half compared to Q2’16, to only 19,019 units, the largest fall from among all segments by a wide margin.
The Minicar segment in the United States has returned to growth in 2017 after an abysmal 2016 when sales dipped with double digits. In the first quarter of 2017, sales of North America’s smallest vehicles grew by 8.5% to 27,388 units. Fueling this increased demand were the new generation Chevrolet Spark and the facelift of the Mitsubishi Mirage, which have now taken over the first two spots of the segment podium, knocking the former leader Mini Cooper down to third. The Fiat 500 appears to have hit rock bottom and slightly recovers this year
The Minicar segment in the United States has been hurt badly by the low gasoline prices in 2016, with sales down 11.0%, the worst fall from all the segments. However, the situation improved markedly for the segment in Q4, when it was the only segment to substantial growth (5.6 percent), driven mainly by substantial sales growth for models: Chevrolet Spark and Mitsubishi Mirage.
After looking at the Success stories of 2016 in the US, Success stories of 2016 in Europe and Disappointments of 2016 in Europe, it’s time to look at who put in disappointing performances in the US in 2016. Coming soon – our predictions for 2017.
As some readers have pointed out, 2016 was definitely the year of the SUV/crossover. However, there is more to that story, as customers flocking to buy such cars abandoned the more traditional segments in droves, both for mainstream and premium brands. Overall, sales in the mainstream non-SUV sectors fell by 6 percent in the first three quarters of the year compared to 2015, while those in the premium non-SUV sectors fell by over 13 percent. Brands caught in this whirlwind include Mazda (sales down 7.2 percent through November), BMW (down 10.4 percent) and Acura (down 10.6 percent). Looking a bit closer, we see that some models which feature at the head of the segments were hit particularly hard: Toyota Camry (down 9.4 percent), Ford Fusion (down 10.2 percent), Mercedes-Benz C class (down 11.7 percent) or the ubiquitous BMW 3/4 series (down 28.2 percent). With SUVs/crossovers going from strength to strength, it’s unclear whether this trend will reverse anytime soon.
The minicar segment in the United States is hurt badly by the low gasoline prices, with sales down 21.6% in the first three quarters of 2016, with not a single model improving on last year. Now that we have more detailed data for the Mini brand, we can better compare the models in this segment, as for example the Mini Clubman station wagon really can’t be called a minicar anymore, let alone that it would be cross-shopped with the Chevrolet Spark. The Mini data in this table consist of the Hardtop 2-door and 4-door and the Convertible. Sales of those three models combined showed a drop of 34% compared to the first three quarters of 2015, which means that there’s a new segment leader: the Chevrolet Spark.
2016 continues being a bad year for he Minicar segment, with a further drop in sales in the second quarter of 10 percent relative to Q2 2015, bringing the total fall for the year to 18 percent; only the Premium Mid-sized segment shrank more in 2016 so far. What’s more, this was despite the new Chevy Spark and facelifted Mitsubishi Mirage hitting the market this quarter. It seems that this segment is destined to shrink until gas prices rise meaningfully, as American customers buy cars from this sector only because of the value proposition they represent, rather than because they inherently value the advantage of their small size.
What a difference a year makes! 2015 started off very well for the Minicar segment, with a 19% growth recorded in Q1, but 2016 could not be more different: sales were 28% lower in Q1 2016 than a year prior, the biggest fall from among all segments! The reason for this is very clear: continuing low gas prices encourages people to buy larger, less fuel-efficient cars. With only one new car (Chevy Spark) and one facelifted car (Mitsubishi Mirage) hitting the market this year, it’s hard to see how things could get better anytime soon for the struggling segment.
