Sales of compact cars in the US fall at more than double the overall market decline at -37%. Nearly 473,000 deliveries in the first half of 2022 make up just 7% of the US passenger car market, down from 9% last year. No nameplate in the top-15 sells more than it did in the first half of last year.
Like last year, the Toyota Corolla starts the year on top of the charts and it’s consolidating its class leadership by selling more than double the number of cars its nearest rival did in the second quarter of the year. The Corolla wins share of the class with sales down 25% while the Honda Civic loses more than half of its sales so far this year. The Civic was down by two thirds in Q2 and barely outsold the Kia Forte. The Forte is down just 17% so far this year, half the decline of its platform sibling Hyundai Elantra. Both South-Korean sedans knock the Nissan Sentra off its segment podium position as the Japanese compact sedan sees its sales drop 58% in Q2 and 43% in the first half. The Volkswagen Jetta and Toyota Prius also lose more than 40% of their sales, while the Mazda3 beats the class but still feels the Subaru Impreza closing in on its 8th place.
The Nissan Leaf EV is the best performing nameplate in the top-15, losing just 1% so far this year and outselling the Chevrolet Bolt to reclaim the title of best selling compact EV. The Bolt is down 64% so far this year, hampered by recalls and a production stop due to battery issues. The Subaru WRX and Honda Insight lose share of the class, while the Volkswagen Golf outperforms the segment average even though it’s now only available in high-end trims GTI and R.
Luxury compact cars outperform their mainstream rivals so far in 2022. With sales down 2%, their share of the class improved from 4.3% to 6.7%. The BMW 2-Series is down 19% but holds on to the top spot among luxury models and even climbs to 11th place overall. The Acura ILX is close behind in an overall 13th place with sales down 24% as it’s being replaced by the all-new Integra which lands at #22 overall. The Polestar 2 EV jumps to #3 among luxury compact cars and #17 overall, ahead of the Mercedes-Benz A-Class and Audi A3, the latter of which almost triples its sales on a low base of last year. The A-Class, together with its sibling Mercedes-Benz CLA are the two worst performing luxury nameplates in the compact segment, even though they still beat the overall class. The Mini Clubman is down just 10% but remains a niche player.
US compact car sales 2022-H1
| Compact segment | 2022-H1 | 2021-H1 | Change | 2022 Share | 2021 Share | 2022-Q2 | Change | |
| 1 | Toyota Corolla | 116.832 | 155.531 | -25% | 24,7% | 20,8% | 69.331 | -16% |
| 2 | Honda Civic | 70.335 | 152.956 | -54% | 14,9% | 20,5% | 31.820 | -67% |
| 3 | Kia Forte | 51.806 | 62.159 | -17% | 11,0% | 8,3% | 28.308 | -24% |
| 4 | Hyundai Elantra | 48.844 | 74.057 | -34% | 10,3% | 9,9% | 26.772 | -44% |
| 5 | Nissan Sentra | 44.375 | 77.859 | -43% | 9,4% | 10,4% | 17.244 | -58% |
| 6 | Volkswagen Jetta | 23.791 | 43.009 | -45% | 5,0% | 5,8% | 12.913 | -36% |
| 7 | Toyota Prius | 20.214 | 38.763 | -48% | 4,3% | 5,2% | 9.936 | -60% |
| 8 | Mazda3 | 14.855 | 21.634 | -31% | 3,1% | 2,9% | 5.363 | -54% |
| 9 | Subaru Impreza | 14.326 | 17.165 | -17% | 3,0% | 2,3% | 5.538 | -31% |
| 10 | Nissan Leaf | 7.622 | 7.729 | -1% | 1,6% | 1,0% | 3.251 | -32% |
| 11 | BMW 2-series | 7.605 | 9.340 | -19% | 1,6% | 1,3% | 3.581 | -11% |
| 12 | Chevrolet Bolt EV | 7.303 | 20.288 | -64% | 1,5% | 2,7% | 6.945 | -38% |
| 13 | Acura ILX | 6.267 | 8.233 | -24% | 1,3% | 1,1% | 2.506 | -52% |
| 14 | Subaru WRX | 6.212 | 14.272 | -56% | 1,3% | 1,9% | 5.636 | -35% |
| 15 | Honda Insight | 5.722 | 9.867 | -42% | 1,2% | 1,3% | 3.857 | -36% |
| 16 | Volkswagen Golf | 5.393 | 7.978 | -32% | 1,1% | 1,1% | 3.068 | -18% |
| 17 | Polestar 2 | 4.285 | 440 | 874% | 374,2% | 46,6% | 2.285 | 939% |
| 18 | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 4.031 | 5.913 | -32% | 0,9% | 0,8% | 2.905 | 11% |
| 19 | Audi A3 | 3.740 | 1.330 | 181% | 0,8% | 0,2% | 2.372 | +++ |
| 20 | Hyundai Ioniq | 3.662 | 11.107 | -67% | 0,8% | 1,5% | 118 | -98% |
| 21 | Mercedes-Benz CLA | 3.005 | 4.696 | -36% | 0,6% | 0,6% | 1.941 | -16% |
| 22 | Acura Integra | 1.496 | 0 | New | 0,3% | 0,0% | 1.496 | New |
| 23 | Mini Clubman | 1.135 | 1.258 | -10% | 0,2% | 0,2% | 558 | -26% |
| 24 | BMW i3 | 9 | 851 | -99% | 0,0% | 0,1% | 0 | -100% |
| 25 | Volkswagen Beetle | 1 | 9 | -89% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 0 | -100% |
| 26 | Dodge Dart | 1 | 2 | -50% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 0 | -100% |
| 27 | Chevrolet Cruze | 0 | 71 | -100% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 0 | -100% |
| 28 | Chevrolet Volt | 0 | 2 | -100% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 0 | -100% |
| Segment total | 472.867 | 746.519 | -37% | 247.744 | -42% |
Source: Manufacturers.