Sales of midsized cars in Europe have declined by double digits in 2018 for the second consecutive year, after a sharp rebound in 2015 and stable sales in 2016. The segment which sold nearly 1 million units as recently as 10 years ago is now down to its lowest volume ever at less than half that volume. At just 450.000 sales, mainstream midsized cars now account for less than 3% of the European market, down from 3,5% in 2017 and from 6,9% in 2007. Only one nameplate in the segment has been able to add volume last year and only two saw single digit declines with the remaining players in double digit decline. Segment leader Volkswagen Passat did only slightly better than the rest of the segment at -16% to increase its share to 34,2% of the segment. Its platform sibling Skoda Superb holds on to 2nd place which means that a VW-Skoda duo finishes on top of the annual ranking in both the compact and midsized segments for the second consecutive year, and that VW Group now sells more than one of every two midsized cars sold in Europe, with these two models. The Opel/Vauxhall Insignia is the only model to even come close to the dominant players, and it was just 3.000 sales behind the Superb at the end of August, with sales up 25%. But then came the new WLTP fuel efficiency testing standards, and sales of the Insignia collapsed as in Q4 the model sold just half of what it sold in the same period of 2017, and it ended 2018 with a 7% loss. At least that means it improved its share of the segment to 15%. [Read more…]
US sales analysis 2018 – Mid-sized segment
Segment experiences second year of double-digit sales decline as Camry and Accord fail to reignite sales
Sales in the US Mid-sized segment fell by 13.7% to 1,697,498 in 2018, making it the second year in a row that sales in the segment have declined by more than 10%. With sales down by a third since their peak in 2015, the Mid-sized segment is another piece of evidence just how quick the shift toward crossovers has been over the past few years. [Read more…]
US sales analysis 2018 Q2 – Mid-sized segment
New Camry and Accord sales fall, while revised Mazda6 and Honda Clarity perform well at the bottom of the standings
Sales in the US Mid-sized segment fell by 12.4% to 872,876 in the first half of 2018, with the rate of decline being very close to 12% in both quarters in 2018 so far. Such a performance will be disappointing to those who thought that new, more assertive models such as Toyota Camry and Honda Accord could breathe life into the declining segment. [Read more…]
US sales analysis Q1 2018 – Mid-sized segment
Toyota Camry and Subaru Outback gain sales as Ford abandons declining segment
Sales in the Mid-sized segment fell by 12.7% to 412,667 in the first quarter of 2018, a slightly slower pace of decline than in the fourth quarter of 2017 or the previous year as a whole, but a substantial decline nonetheless. With Ford announcing that it will discontinue the Fusion is now clear that the segment which was the go-to place for family [Read more…]
European sales 2017 Midsized car segment
Sales of midsized cars in Europe have returned to decline in 2017 after a sharp rebound in 2015 and stable sales in 2016. The segment which sold over 1 million units as recently as 10 years ago is now down to its second lowest volume ever, after 2014. At nearly 543.000 sales, mainstream midsized cars now account for just 3,5% of the European market, down from 4,2% in 2016 and from 6,9% in 2007. Only one nameplate in the segment has been able to add volume last year and only three saw single digit declines with the remaining players in double digit decline. Segment leader Volkswagen Passat did slightly better than the rest of the segment at -11% to increase its share to over one third of the segment. Its platform sibling Skoda Superb holds on to 2nd place which means that for the first time ever, a VW-Skoda duo finishes on top of the annual ranking in both the compact and midsized segments. VW Group increases its share of the segment to 48,8% with these two models. The Opel/Vauxhall Insignia is the only model to even come close to the dominant players, with stable sales for the year but a 62% gain in Q4 thanks to the new generation. In fact, the Insignia outsold the Superb in both the third and fourth quarter and should be able to claim second place in 2018. [Read more…]
US sales analysis Q4 2017 – Mid-sized segment
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…]
European sales 2017 Q1-Q3: Midsized car segment
The midsized car segment in Europe is in continuous decline as it is in the US. An 11% drop in sales in Q3 leads to a 14% loss in the first three quarters of the year. So far this year, only 2 nameplates manage to improve year-over-year and all but one of the other models show double digit declines. In the third quarter, 2 of the top-3 manage to improve their volume, but the distant segment leader VW Passat is still down by 8% this quarter. It still holds a one third share of the segment and like its smaller sibling Golf outsells its closest rival by more than a 2-to-1 margin and like in the compact car segment that #2 is a Skoda. That means the Volkswagen Group controls almost half of the sales in this segment. However, the Skoda Superb was outsold in Q3 by the all-new Opel/Vauxhall Insignia, which moves back onto the segment year-to-date podium by passing the Ford Mondeo, down 17% for the quarter and down 22% for the year.
US sales Q3 2017: Mid-sized segment
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.
European sales 2017 first half: Midsized car segment
The midsized car segment in Europe is in continuous decline as it is in the US. A 19% drop in sales in Q2 leads to a 16% loss in the first half of the year. With 286.049 sales, the segment now accounts for just 3,4% of total European volume. Only 2 nameplates manage to improve year-over-year and all but one of the other models show double digit declines. In Q2, the entire top-4 lost 13% or more, of which the segment leader Volkswagen Passat did the least bad and therefore improves its already high share of the segment to 33,2%, which means one in three midsized cars sold are a Passat. Count in the Skoda Superb and Volkswagen Group holds a whopping 48,8% share of the segment. The Superb has fallen into the red as well in Q2 after growing in the first quarter. But its second place of the segment is not under threat as its nearest two rivals drop even harder. The Ford Mondeo holds on to its 3rd place despite a 28% loss in Q2, as the Opel/Vauxhall Insignia loses 29% as customer deliveries of the new generation are only just starting. Expect the Insignia to finish 2017 ahead of the Mondeo again, as it has done ever since its launch.
US sales 2017 first half: Mid-sized segment
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.