Bart: so-so
The XT4 is Cadillac’s first entry in the compact SUV segment to rival the BMW X1, Mercedes-Benz GLA and Audi Q3. Its larger sibling XT5 is the leader of its class, and of course the brand aims to beat the Germans in this segment too. However, I think Cadillac could have done a better job at giving the XT4 a more distinctive look, as it now [Read more…]
As the 2018 New York Auto Show develops two recent trends have come to the fore: the D-pillar “side-line” and the move towards free-standing infotainment screens. Here, we’ll look at the former, evident in new cars such as Acura RDX, Nissan Altima and Toyota RAV4. Clearly, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and everyone will have their own [Read more…]
Segment shrinks by 15% as customers abandon it for crossovers
Sales in the US mid-sized segment fell by 17.9% to 453,359 in the fourth quarter of 2017, and by 15.1% to 1,963,757 for 2017 as a whole – the first time the segment has dipped below the 2 million mark since 2010. What’s more, the malaise is pretty much evenly spread amongst all models, with only one model seeing its sales rise in the final [Read more…]
Every mid-sized model bar the Subaru Outback has lost sales in 2017 so far
Sales of Mid-sized cars in the US fell by 10% in the third quarter of 2017: still in the double-digits, but less severe than the declines in the first and second quarters. This relative upturn is mostly due to the entry of the new Toyota Camry and Honda Accord into the market – it helps because customers are excited about the new model, but primarily because dealers want to empty their forecourts from the old model, and are offering bigger-than-before discounts. Still, with recent new models underperforming relative to their previous generations (Chevy Malibu, Hyundai Sonata, and Kia Optima), it remains to be seen if the new, bolder Toyota and Honda have what it takes to lure customers back into a segment that has become very unsexy over the past few years.
Only Outback and Passat see their sales rise, five models lose more than 20% since 2016
Sales of Mid-sized cars in the US fell by 13.7% in the second quarter of 2017, following the same path of double-digit sales decline as all the other mainstream segments bar the compact segment. With one-time top non-pickup models like Toyota Camry, Honda Accord and Nissan Altima now regularly giving way to crossovers in the monthly top rankings, it is far from clear whether the latest versions of the first two cars, which made their debut earlier this year, will be enough to even halt, let alone reverse this trend. One thing is for sure: they will need to do better than recent new models in the segment – Hyundai Sonata, Kia Optima and Chevrolet Malibu – all of which have really underperformed relative to their previous generations.
Sales of Mid-sized cars in the US are in a similar tough spot as in Europe: down by 19.2% in Q1 of 2017 and dipping below half a million units at 472,692 sales. This is the worst drop among all mainstream segments and second to only the premium large car segment. As a result, the compact car segment has now become larger in volume than the midsized car segment, and if it keeps this position until the end of this year it would be the very first time ever that the midsized segment is not the largest mainstream car segment in the US. And with the large pickup truck segment also outselling the midsized cars in Q1, this segment has gone from perennial #1 until 2015 to out of the top-3 so far in 2017. The main culprit for this demise is obviously a shift towards compact crossovers, the largest segment since last year. This trend is clearly visible in the March and Q1 model rankings: if the Camry and Accord used to fight for the title of best selling non-pickup in America, now the Accord is out of the overall top-10 and the Camry is outsold by the Nissan Rogue, with the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4 right on its heels.
Sales in the Mid-sized segment fell by 10.1 percent in 2016, a performance so bad it almost matched the 11.0 percent fall in sales registered by the Minicar segment (the worst among all mainstream segments). Midsized cars used to be the segment where the money was made, even when SUVs and crossovers started to gain a foothold in the US car market during the 1990s and early 2000s. But that boom has started to pick up speed this year, fueled by hot new models and affordable gas. In contrast there haven’t been many major model updates in the midsized segment lately. As a result, the largest-selling segment in 2016 by far was Compact SUVs (sales up 3.9 percent), with Mid-sized cars coming in second, followed closely by the Large Pickups and Compact segments (sales up 3.6 and down 4.5 percent, respectively). With new models like Hyundai Sonata and Kia Optima failing to connect with buyers, only the new Toyota Camry and Honda Accord stand between the segment and losing third spot in the standings to the Large Pickups segment.
Sales of Mid-sized cars in the United States fell by 16 percent in the third quarter of 2016, as the freefall of sales in the segment accelerates. Midsized cars used to be the segment where the money was made, even when SUVs and crossovers started to gain a foothold in the US car market during the 1990s and early 2000s. But that boom has started to pick up speed this year, fueled by hot new models and affordable gas. In contrast there haven’t been many major model updates in the midsized segment lately. As a result, compact crossover are expected to become the biggest segment this year, with even the full-sized pickup truck and the compact car segments closing in on midsized cars in recent months and even threatening to push the segment to fourth place. Until the segment gets an injection of fresh product, for example from the next generation Toyota Camry next year, there will be little that can turn this fate around. Out of the 14 midsized models, only 3 improved their sales in Q3, with 9 models showing double digit losses.
Sales in the Mid-sized segment fell by 11 percent in the second quarter, the largest fall amongst the mainstream segments. This comes as a disappointment after the segment showed signs of recovery in the first quarter of 2016, when it did better than the Minicar, Subcompact and Compact segments. It is doubly disappointing given the amount of new metal in the segment: cars that have gone on sale in the past half year include the new-for-2016 Chevy Malibu and Kia Optima, as well as the facelifted Nissan Altima, while the Hyundai Sonata and facelifted VW Passat are also less than one year old.
Sales in the mid-sized segment fell by 3% compared to Q1 2015, pushing this once-largest segment further behind compact SUV cars as families’ wheels of choice. That said, it did better than the smaller mainstream segments, again showing how cheap gas is pushing consumers to buy larger cars. The good times are likely to continue rolling for the segment, too, as sales of the new-for-2016 Chevy Malibu and Kia Optima come fully on-stream, while brings the facelifted Ford Fusion to market. [Read more…]