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The big surprise in this segment? The fact that Nissan’s Versa has quietly become America’s top choice in the B-segment. All of a sudden we’re anxious to find out what percentage of those sales are of the sub-$10k stripper version. But even if that percentage is high, it wouldn’t mean that this segment sells on price alone. After all, Kia’s Soul is steadily gaining fans despite costing more compared to the competition than Kias usually do. In short, upscale does work… even for budget brands in a budget segment.
31 Comments on “May Sales Analysis: Subcompact (A/B) And Small Hatchbacks...”
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The Versa has become the go-to-vehicle for rental agencies in the subcompact segment.
Honestly… thats because its gosh darn spacious. Its got the front seat space of the smart with the a back seat thats equally as spacious. I’m 6’1 and I can comfortably sit behind myself in the Versa. A weekend rental really impressed me. Its as vanilla as vanilla can get (even without the little bean specks) but it does its job without a fuss.
To be honest, this kind of chart doesn’t make any sense. You put Aveo right beside a Mini Cooper.
For a valid comparison, you have to ensure they not only have similar sizes, but also similar prices. Like Yaris/Accent/Rio. Even Versa and Fit don’t belong here; they should be in the Corolla chart.
Yeah, and PT Cruiser starts at nearly twice the base price of Versa… I’m not going to pretend that any of these graphs are perfect, because segments are pretty nebulous in general. Sales can be broken down by price, wheelbase, EPA volume, and any number of other metrics. You’ll notice that all of our charts use the same volume grading so they can be compared directly… that was done for precisely this reason.
I think after several months on the market the Fiesta will top this segment by a considerable margin. I don’t have any idea what Ford’s planning volume is but my guess is 10k+/mo. As with the upcoming Focus the styling and Ford’s quality reputation will be the impetus. I think the styling alone will attract many younger buyers and the available level of equipment over the competition will attract many of this segment’s buyers.
Not quite sure how the HHR falls into this segment unless it’s EPA size ratings, seems more a compact vehicle to me.
In addition to the HHR, I would have thought that the Versa would be up a volume class.
I’d say that the big surprise is that Chevrolet sells so many HHRs.
@michael: I don’t see the surprise, really. I’m in the market for a small van-like vehicle, probably by fall, and what are my choices? PT Cruiser, HHR, Kia Rondo, maybe? There’s not much else. No one makes a SWB minivan any longer it seems.
I don’t want a SUV, CUV, MUV or a POS. I need something big enough to haul around my occasional runs to Home Depot, the greenhouse and my weekly gigs, but not so huge as to burn more fuel than my Sunfire. This will be a daily driver, not a driveway queen.
@geozinger, you should look at the Ford Transit.
To me the surprise is how poorly the Fit sells. It is easily best in class (at least until the Fiesta is out in volume). Maybe Honda needs to production to a lower cost location to lower the price below $15K.
Pity that Americans still don’t want to pay good money for a great small car.
My fit is go!
With 103k miles on mine, best car I’ve owned hands down.
I’d pay $16,000 for mine again in a heartbeat.
My May Fit purchase is on this chart. One reason sales are low is supply, not necessarily demand. Since it is imported from Japan, Honda may have exchange rate issues such that they would rather sell Civics, even with incentives. My dealer had only one Fit in stock and that is typical, while they may have 100 new Accords on the lot.
I cross shopped the Mini, Versa, Aveo, Fiesta, Yaris, xD and considered a Golf TDI. True Delta reliability stats was one of the deciding factors.
@AmendmentX: I had thought about that, but I really like the garage-able size of the other three I mentioned. Certainly this will have more interior room, but I don’t know for sure if it will fit in my garage. Also, the other two have been around for a while, I bet I could do some wheeling and dealing on price.
We love our Fit Sport too. It’s just such a fun, practical, efficient little bugger. I’m shocked by the passionate responses it elicits from folks who don’t know what it is.
As far as the HHR, I too am shocked they are selling so many, given the reliability issues they’ve had. I drove one in LA as a rental and grew to really appreciate it. So when my dad was looking for a second vehicle, I pointed him in the direction of an HHR. We found a bunch of low mileage HHR’s for around $9K.
Which, of course, is a red flag.
So I began my research and learned of many, many, many issues that plague these cars. The steering system, not just one component, but everything in between the tires and the steering wheel are prone to be troublesome.
Dad bought a Hyundai Santa Fe instead, and couldn’t be happier.
I am surprised too. HHR is almost exactly the same car as PT Cruiser or xB, and their sales are nowhere near HHR: several times off actually (Edward added xB to the chart just to make it more striking). I wish I knew how many of those HHRs were the panel van variety.
YYYYguy: We have an 07 Fit Sport and have been very happy with it. 50K on it and no issues (other than a battery that died an early death).
As for current sales, the problem is 3 things: low inventories, it is relatively expenive, and the 09 redesign has lost some of the magic.
As much as I like our 07, I would not automatically go out and buy a new one without checking out the competition, particularly the new Ford on the horizon.
We looked at a Versa when they came out, but preferred the Fit. I think that Versa sells on price-it seems to be one of the best values out there.
The main thing this chart says is that the volume peak in America is in bigger cars than subcompacts. Therefore, a car wins that stays in “subcompact” bracket, but grows into “compcat” area. Both Versa and Soul are quite big. Not Accord big, but nonetheless big.
Another, less important but interesting thing is the collapse of Yaris. Bet the Internet twitterati are choking with glee. I really want to buy one of those, but I cannot find an excuse. And the chart says I better hurry before they are discontinued. What a man to do!
Apart from being otherwise unnoteworthy, the Yaris is the lightest manual-equipped vehicle sold in these United States (and the 5-dr is pretty roomy for its size). I probably would have bought one if the smart had never made it over here.
The Yaris is set for a 2012 MY re-design, and it really needs it. Fix that damn interior. I knew the Yaris wasn’t for me when I went to pull the e-brake, and I lightly scraped my thumb on a rough edge where the button meets the handle of the e-brake. So cheap it hurts.
Unfortunate to see the Fit not selling more. In a sea of weak options in the sub-compact segment, the Fit is actually really good. They ought to bring over the sedan version of the Fit, the City. I agree with the people who think that the Fiesta will dominate this market, if only because there isn’t much that is particularly good. Even Mazda is throwing a half-hearted effort into the fray with the Mazda2 and its ancient drivetrain.
HHR was about 1/3 fleet sales back in the good old days of 2008.
The Versa base is the bargain of all cars. I would trust it far more than an Aveo or Rio, for about the same dollar.
I live in Vegas, I’m seeing TONS of HHR in the rental fleets. It’s a good compromise. I might even buy one, if it wasn’t a Cobalt underneath.
For what it’s worth, my HHR has been very good to me. It’s an early-build ’06 with almost 62000 miles, and it’s still solid and squeak-free. I just got back from an 1100 mile three-state road trip, no problems and around 31 mpg overall. The only issue I’ve had with it was one of those bad steering columns and my dealer was wonderful about taking care of it. To me the HHR is a vastly underrated little car.
Had a rental HHR for few days, visibility was poor, interior space was limited and i whacked my forehead on the strangely oversized front door frame while reaching in for my keys. Fairly under-rated.
How about Scion – the XD sells worse than the HHR, the decrepit PT Cruiser, the I’ve-never-seen-one Suzuki SX4 and the even the Smart? Really? These must be near end days for the Scion brand- too bad.
Went ahead and added Japan’s PT Cruiser: the Scion xB. And yes, Scion is in trouble.
Dwelling in a small city without much incoming traffic needing rental cars.
Lots of HHRs seen locally and they appear to be mostly privately owned.
Noticed for many moons that local dealer has a large selection advertised marked way down in asking price.
More-so than other brands, especially imports.
This is an area with an obvious bias among local consumers for “USA” cars… the traditional “BIG 3” of old.
Demographics in this MSA are outside the norm for much of the USA.
Kind of a throwback to the 1950s in some ways with all the good/bad that entails.
Definitely culturally isolated but thanks to TV folks are aware of the existence of other areas within the USA.
Well, as much as the all-too-common feeble intellects of the local huddled masses needing washed. And a shave.
Appears the major local industry is tattoo parlors.
Do we have fleet sales numbers for the HHR and Sentra? For that matter, how about the rest of the class? I am guessing the top models have superb fleet sales.
@ Geozinger- My ’08 Scion xB holds as much as an Explorer, gets
29mpg, is fun to drive and has never had a single problem. They’ll
probably deal, too, judging from these numbers.
I think the Versa’s big advantage has always been availability. The Mexican plant can churn them out and deliver them to North America almost immediately where as the Asian production of the rest limits choice and available inventory.
So, who said Americans would never buy a French car? If I’m not totally crazy and forgotten-minded I believe the Versa and the European Clio (new version) sit on the same platform as the Dacia/Renault Logan, albeit in a so called B-variation of said platform. Glad Americans are taking a liking to the French style of cars…
The HHR is built in Mexico isn’t it?