The minicars segment continues to quickly lose market share in the US, with sales down 52% in the first half of 2022, in an overall market down 18%. As manufacturers are struggling with getting cars out of their factories due to worldwide microship supply issues, they’re prioritizing production of high-margin models over their smallest models. As a result, the share of minicars has halved to just 0.3% of the total passenger car market in the United States, with just over 20,500 deliveries in 2022 so far. In Q2, the minicar class was down 42% in an overall market down 21%
Sales of last year’s top seller, the Chevrolet Spark, were off to an extremely slow start of 2022 but somewhat recovered in Q2 with a second place, even though it’s still down by half. As a result, the Spark is down 79% in the first half and into third place. The Mitsubishi Mirage has taken control of the class with sales down 31% so far this year. It was down 32% in Q2. The Mini Cooper is actually slowing down in the second quarter, when it was in third and last place with sales off 42% compared to last year. For the first half of the year, Mini Cooper sales figures are down 30% and it’s still well ahead of the Chevrolet Spark. The Fiat 500 is no longer sold in North America.
With the minicar segment in decline even in its “home market” Europe, and just irrelevant sales in the United States, the future is bleak for this type of vehicle, as manufacturers are starting to put more focus on profitability than on sheer volume.
US minicar sales 2022-H1
| Minicar segment | 2022-H1 | 2021-H1 | Change | 2022 Share | 2021 Share | 2022-Q2 | Change | |
| 1 | Mitsubishi Mirage | 9.535 | 13.722 | -31% | 46,4% | 32,1% | 4.618 | -32% |
| 2 | Mini Cooper | 6.862 | 9.765 | -30% | 33,4% | 22,8% | 3.560 | -42% |
| 3 | Chevrolet Spark | 4.138 | 19.259 | -79% | 20,1% | 45,0% | 3.860 | -50% |
| 4 | Fiat 500 | 1 | 12 | -92% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 0 | -100% |
| Segment total | 20.536 | 42.758 | -52% | 12.038 | -42% |
Source: Manufacturers.