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Competition in the compact car segment hasn’t hit the fever pitch of the midsized brawl, but make no mistake, there’s a battle brewing. Toyota’s dominance last month has been reversed, with Honda taking the top spot in March, but Corolla still enjoys a five-digit advantage in Year-To-Date sales. Cruze is the leading candidate to challenge the long-reigning Honda-Toyota dominance in this segment, but it’s got a grip of upstarts breathing down its neck. Within a few months it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Honda-Toyota duopoly toppled in the coming months, just as we’ve seen in the D-Segment. Exciting times..
Wow, the Elantra is doing well enough here, but it is doing much better in Canada. Interesting.
A grip of upstarts? Not quite as cool as a murder of crows, but one of the better collective nouns I’ve seen.
What the heck is going on with Nissan? Is there a Fire sale I don’t know about? Should I run to a Nissan dealer to buy a Maxima or a 370Z?
Nissan cars are quite fast for the class. That’s our experience, anyway.
The Sentra is beyond mediocre. The Versa does everything better and its cheaper.
Its clear there was some kind of firesale going on. With the Altima through the roof and solid numbers from the “meh” Sentra, I can see why they were within spitting distance of Chrysler Co.
Roundel:
If I see another fuckin 2.5ltr altima, in shiny primer or grey, with the black interior.. I think im going to scream.
All Nissan ever does for that damn car.. is sell it as a cheap / lease $199 rate as possible. Ya don’t even get much for it. Ya don’t get paint, ya don’t get a decent motor ya sure as shit don’t get a decent interior.
All for 199mo.
What a fuckin deal. *Sarcasm*
GET AN ALTIMA FOR $7,999!!!!
GET A MURANO FOR $12,999!!!!
(they had these deals throughout the line, one time lease payment, ended a couple weeks ago)
I was wrong. The Sentra is $7,995, the Altima is $9,995 and the Murano AWD is $14,995**. The HALF-OFF SALES EVENT CONTINUES!!!!!
**All specials are NMNA one pay leases for 36 mo., 10k m.p.y. t/t/l, acq, admin, dnh, and aux items additional. Subject to NMAC approval. See dealer for complete lease details. Sale ends 04/15/11.
Gas is headed for $4.50/gal and it will be a while before the Japanese OEMs will be back in full swing. Should get very interesting.
Combine the Jetta and Golf and you get 20,000+. Wow! that’s good for 3rd place. In my part of Canada, VWs are much more “exclusive”.
Exactly what I was thinking. Golf and Jetta sales should be added together since other manufacturers (like Ford and Mazda) have sedan and hatchback versions counted together.
I am personally not a fan of the new Jetta and agree it has been cheapened but… VW has the correct strategy for increasing sales. For those of us who are more car enthusiast than the average driver there are still plenty of Euro VW’s around – Golf, GTi, Jetta wagon. If you were an enthusiast you would have bought the hatchback anyway so I don`t care what the Jetta is like.
The enthusiast gets it wrong again.
The new Jetta is panned widely for its lack of Jettaness and it in turn gets the best sales of any VWOA model ever.
While there certainly is some fleet love going on, the value proposition in terms of equipment, size and price are sitting well with consumers.
Even though everybody has ragged on the car, I think sales will continue to increase.
Rpundel:
That doesn’t at all surprise me.
When ya de-content the vehicle and push the 15,990 price., over all else, ya find out how badly people want it.
I hate the damn Jetta based on the concept alone. However as a design prospective, it HAD a certain.. jene’se’qua.
Now..
Its cheap and that’s it.
I hope the new Jetta sells very well. If it does maybe the decontenting will expand to other brands and cars. Maybe they go overboard in some areas but decontenting is a good thing for price and economy reasons, at least to me. I would much prefer manual windows and seats, no nav system and the like in a simpler cheaper car.
MikeAR:
Think about what you just said.
Do ya know what de-contenting means?!?
They downgraded from 4wheel disc to disc and drums.
They are using a motor they haven’t had in 5+yrs as a stripper and that’s the standard motor now. Its got no power. It doesn’t even LOOK like a Jetta. The biggest thing the company has to tout.. is its got a bigger back seat!! AN Idiot could figure out how to stretch the frame to extend for the backseat that option shouldn’t be traded for a shit car from a german automaker!!
They had lined panels in the doors… GONE.
They had hydraulics in the hood to keep it up.. now its a stick.
They could have even put money into a scissor lift for the trunk so the monkey hinges don’t impact your cargo.
In the long run..
They went STRICTLY for PRICE ALONE. Not quality. Not engineering. They are trying beat the Koreans to the bottom of the shit heap. Go look at pictures of what the interior looks like. Do you actually want to spent 15g on a car that looks like this, from VW, SERIOUSLY?!?!
Id bet they shoved a nav unit in there or some extra entertainment b.s.
The VALUE is in the wrong place.
Again, on the Nissan’s, they might be fast, great or whatever you make of them, but come on, the Sentra and Altima are old within their class, how can you explain a 117% increase in sales, reaching Cruze like levels? Fleet sales are the only answer…
Most buyers of econo appliances wouldn’t care (or know) they’re old. Few people read car enthusiast sites or mags like we do.
Doesn’t Nissan have some kind of blow it out the door financing or lease deal going now? Or for last month anyway to account for their increase?
I am not surprised at all by the 4th place (monthly) or third place (YTD) showing by the Chevrolet Cruze. A friend/customer of mine bought a Cruze last month, and after some seat time in it, I can say that it’s a better copy of the Corolla. Once word of mouth starts spreading, I won’t be at all surprised to see the Cruze outselling the Corolla and Civic. It is the antithesis of the enthusiast’s car – it is the best copy of the Corolla in the segment, and all the people who foreswore GM and went to Toyota now have an excuse to return to GM.
Colour me very impressed. I am not a GM fanboi, but the Cruze is a very competent appliance.
Reliability perception is the biggest factor in moving these sales, not reviews by auto journos. Chevy and the king of recalls Ford may have to wait a few more years to catch up. And I do not expect the Japanese to sit on their laurels.
I expect Civic sales will increase once the new model hits so it will be interesting to see these numbers this summer.
I disagree, especially because the car isn’t much different then the current offering. Sure its better then the warmed over 11 Corolla, but the wow factor isn’t there like it is in the Focus and the Elantra.
I don’t know, so far people only know the looks of the car, there has been no info regarding powerplant, transmission, MPG, etc so even though it may not be revolutionary in styling, with the sales listed in the main article all Honda has to do is make it a decent evolutionary step and they will maintain a sales leader…IMHO.
I’m one of those guys who has been screwed over too many times by the domenstics to even think about giving them a second chance and I know I’m not alone in that thinking. I need more than one generation of goods cars coming out of Detroit before I take a second look.
No offense at all, but your the reason why Honda and Toyota continue to stagnate in terms of advancement of their vehicles.
You, like others, will again buy a civic or a Corolla that is barely competitive because the 1990 Cavalier you had was a royal POS.
Ignore the fact that the Cruze is a better Corolla then Toyota can produce and the new Focus is class leading in terms of quality and features.
It will take time to get rid of this pre-globalized mindset, but it will happen.
The Corolla hasn’t been a list of features with a pricetag since 1977. The Cruze still looks like a poor prospect for returning the low cost, zero irritation ownership experience that has been selling Corollas for over 30 years. Corollas has pushrods when other had overhead cams. The 5th gear was part of an overall trim package upgrade called SR5. Automatics were crude. Corollas stayed RWD while competitors had two generations of FWD cars. Corollas were mostly 3-box sedans while 5 door hatchbacks came and went. About the only ‘innovative’ Corolla compared to its competitors was the FX16. Remember those? It was hardly an important piece of the best selling nameplate in history’s sales total.
The Cruze is no threat. Is anyone going to notice that the slower acceleration is the result of a bleeding edge turbo DI engine with a 6-speed automatic from behind the wheel? Probably not. Would Corolla owners notice that they are buying gas for a car that gets 25 instead of 31 mpg around town? Quite likely. Will they notice that new tires are $650 a set instead of $400 a set and don’t last 80,000 miles anymore? Oh yeah. Maybe some will make the mistake, but they’ll regret it.
It is truly amazing, given current pricing, that Golf is barely a drop in the bucket.
I was SHOCKED to see the Corolla still has a 4-speed auto. 4?!? And, now the Focus comes with a 6-speed DSG. The world has turned upside down.
Toyota and Honda really seem to be resting on their laurels.
Also, Jetta sales doubled? I think that ends the discussion about the decontenting of the new Jetta.
It might be only a 4 speed, but it gets great milage. Most people shopping this segment don’t care how many cogs or what type of automatic the car has, only that it’s an automatic and it gets good milage.
Now if I were shopping this segment it would be a new Focus hatch with a stick for me.
It might be only a 4 speed, but it gets great milage.
Huh?
Compared to what? 148 hp and 6-speed in the Elantra gets you 29/40 vs. 138 bhp and 4-speed gets you 26/35 in the Corolla.
Read about the experiences of people who’ve driven the Focus DSG. You’ll be less shocked. It is still as crude and fragile feeling as the automatic in the first Tempo. I’ve driven a beaten up 2009 rental Corolla, and the automatic was completely seemless. I’d take one over the Ford DSG in an instant, if automatics were my thing.
Why should sales doubling stop discussion about Jetta decontenting? It really was decontented, both mechanically and materially. All the sales bump really proves is what has been obvious for years. VW buyers are just underfunded status seekers who aspire to German car ownership. Make VWs cheaper and more qualify for leases. VW knows it and made their design decisions accordingly.
It really was decontented, both mechanically and materially.
So? VW’s goal is to make money selling cars buy giving the public what it wants. The goal is not to appeal to internet commenters who have no intention of buying a new VW anyway.
Read about the experiences of people who’ve driven the Focus DSG.
I’m actually going to test drive one myself as not everything you read on the internet is true.
Read about the experiences of people who’ve driven the Focus DSG. You’ll be less shocked. It is still as crude and fragile feeling as the automatic in the first Tempo.
Unless the person has a physical impairment, I don’t see anyone who posts here buying a Focus with an “automatic.” Like I said before I’m tempted to buy a Focus manual or a base Sonata with a 6-speed manual just so I can enjoy them before they disappear. I’m 33 and I’m convinced that manuals will disappear in my lifetime.
@jmo: Obviously the Elantra does get better milage, but the Corolla is also more than respectable. Don’t get me wrong I would never buy a Corolla they are just dull, but for a lot of people the extra milage the Elantra offers doesn’t offset the fact that some folks don’t trust Hyundai’s reliability. I know way too many people who won’t give Hyundai (or Ford) a look, and that’s too bad.
jmo,
I see that you still haven’t learned about what happens when CAFE ratchets up and engineers are tasked with gaming the dyno EPA cycle. The only meaningful numbers are real world, and using the odometer and a gas pump I got 30.8 mpg in that Corolla without ever getting on a freeway. I hammered it like a rented car and it achieved mileage in downtown San Diego on our crummy diluted gasohol that most cars would struggle to return with an even mix of highway and city traffic. Looking at the numbers that magazines are experiencing in the new breed of highway mileage specials, they are nowhere near as efficient as the 4 speed automatic Corolla. Car and Driver got 31 mpg with the Corolla in a comparison test, a number only matched by the Civic LX. The other cars were between 23 and 28 mpg.
Honda is killing the 5-speed manual Civics(with the exception of the Si) in favor of an all automatic offering. They’re doing it because the automatic produces better numbers in the EPA lab. It doesn’t matter that years of experience show that 5-speed manual owners are averaging 31 mpg overall while automatic owners are closer to 28 mpg, because the real world has nothing to do with CAFE. The DSG you think is going to keep your self respect while shifting for you isn’t going to outperform any manuals because it is programmed for its day in the EPA lab. It will never be in the gear you need, because it will be in the gear that makes most sense on the dyno drum. You can flail ineffectually at the toggle switch, but it will be slow to respond and anxious to upshift out of the engine’s torque curve at all times. Have a ball. Maybe you’ll learn something.
The only thing worse than manufacturers ‘gaming’ the CAFE is individuals claiming astounding mileage from their personal car and expecting us all to believe it as the gospel.
I’m not convinced that the majority of posters even know how to calculate their fuel economy, so for now I’m quite happy to accept the EPA numbers as a comparative guide.
The only meaningful numbers are real world, and using the odometer and a gas pump I got 30.8 mpg in that Corolla without ever getting on a freeway.
And what did the Focus or Elantra you compared it to get?
Oh, you didn’t do a comparison? Um… then what’s your point?
A good measure of real-world mileage is CR’s tests, and in that sense they do agree with CJinSD’s observations about gaming the EPA cycle.
It doesn’t matter that years of experience show that 5-speed manual owners are averaging 31 mpg overall while automatic owners are closer to 28 mpg, because the real world has nothing to do with CAFE.
Can I safely assume you pulled that entirely out of your ass?
Second – what does 10 or 15 year old Honda automatic transmission and engine technology have to do with what is about to be introduced? Some technical advances have been made in the past 10 years.
The official fueleconomy.gov website has a section that allows owners to publish the mileage they are getting. Looking at 2010 models (to allow for enough responses) the Corolla averages 32mpg, the Focus averages 31.4, the Civic averages 30.3, and the Elantra averages 29.8. Those figures all look pretty similar to me.
Read about the experiences of people who’ve driven the Focus DSG. You’ll be less shocked. It is still as crude and fragile feeling as the automatic in the first Tempo.
I’ve driven the Fiesta twice, and both times I thought the PowerShift was completely unobtrusive apart from one jerky shift at low speeds. Even then it didn’t bug me, but then again my Mazda3’s auto isn’t exactly the smoothest shifter out there so maybe I have low standards.
Nullo,
I’m talking about the current models. The new Focus just hit dealer lots and the Elantra was redesigned for 2011.
jmo, They were numbers from fuel.economy.gov, from back when I was shopping for a compact 4 years ago. As the cars are older and more broken in, they’ve actually trended up:
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/mpg/MPG.do?action=mpgData&vehicleID=21736&browser=true&details=on
With 115 participants, the automatic Civic average has increased to 31.6 mpg on an EPA rating of 30 combined mpg
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/mpg/MPG.do?action=mpgData&vehicleID=21737&browser=true&details=on
With 24 participants, the manual Civic average has increased to 34.3 mpg on an EPA rating of 29 combined mpg. The delta between the two transmissions has remained constant while the cars have been broken in. Meanwhile, Honda has killed off the manual transmission to raise their CAFE number.
Unless the person has a physical impairment, I don’t see anyone who posts here buying a Focus with an “automatic.”
Some here do spend a lot of time in bumper to bumper traffic. Also, DSG just offers better performance than a manual. It’s certainly not possible for a human to shift anywhere near as fast as a DSG.
+1. I drive an auto because, honestly, there just aren’t a ton of situations in my day-to-day driving where a manual would be particularly enjoyable.
No offense at all, but your the reason why Honda and Toyota continue to stagnate in terms of advancement of their vehicles.
You, like others, will again buy a civic or a Corolla that is barely competitive because the 1990 Cavalier you had was a royal POS.
Ignore the fact that the Cruze is a better Corolla then Toyota can produce and the new Focus is class leading in terms of quality and features.
+1!!
Oh, the hilarity. When I bought my first Japanese car way back in 1990 or so, folks told me I was just remembering the POS’s the big 3 made back in the 1970s, and I should have bought one of those fancy new Cavaliers instead of that durn Toy-oh-toe.
I should have bought one of those fancy new Cavaliers instead of that durn Toy-oh-toe.
That very well may be true. That doesn’t mean that Hyundia isn’t now kicking Toyota’s ass. Also, there’s no law that says what once was true must always and forever be true.
There you go again. Since Detroit does not have the engineering prowness to catch Toyota and Honda, you are hoping Hyundai does. Hardly.
Since Detroit does not have the engineering prowness to catch Toyota and Honda, you are hoping Hyundai does.
How do you know that? It was never a question of engineering, it was the need to pay pre-bankruptcy UAW wages and benefits that required the decontenting that made the cars suck.
LectroByte,
Exactly. If these people think the excitement over the Cruze and Focus is breathless, they should read everything printed about the Citation, Phoenix, Skylark, and Omega during their first year. They weren’t just better than Accords, Rabbits, and Corollas, they were better than BMW 320i’s and Volvos. Until they weren’t. Detroit has been coming back for over 30 years. They’ve been billing their small cars as import fighters for over 50 years. It has been a long, long time since anyone wound up being right for betting on a Detroit compact.
I am pretty skeptical of the first year production of a new model from anybody domestic or foreign… I remember all the hype when the Focus first appeared, the Cobalt replaced the Cavalier, and so on. I’ll have to see how they are thought of after being in production for a year or two, and how their reliability is holding up.
Here’s the thing, though. If you haven’t driven a Cruze, and especially if you hyaven’t driven a Cruze within a week or so of a Corolla and an Elantra (Touring – I haven’t had a chance with the ’11 Elantra sedan) you will be shocked at how good the Cruze is at being a Corolla. If GM has finally got their sh*t together vis a vis long term reliability, the Cruze may well be the best choice in the segment, if you’re looking for an appliance.
By no means is the Cruze a “driver’s” car, it’s a pilot’s car, but I believe that was the intent, to out Corolla the Corolla.
For me, so far, the Cruze is the best small car GM has ever made. Period.
The big question mark? GM’s committment to long term reliability and durability.
I expect several months down the road the Focus will post substantially higher numbers. Most of the sales this month had to be the outgoing model.
Focus? Car and Driver only scored a big 21 Miles Per Gallon. Plus, the Transmission had problems.
http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/car/11q1/
2012_ford_focus_sel-short_take_road_test
You must be living in the past. Long ago Detroit was a threat to the Japanese. Now, the only threat Detroit poses is on the rental lot. You might get stuck with one. Notice how junky they are when more than 40,000 miles is on the speedo. Ouch.
Car and Driver also placed the Focus first in a comparison against the Mazda3, Hyundai Elantra, VW Jetta and Chevy Cruze.
The Focus also got the best gas mileage in that test, 21mpg versus 18 for the Mazda and Chevy and 20 for the Hyundai and VW.
Honestly you’re insane if you expect C&D’s fuel economy figures to be in any way connected to the real world; they’re always insanely low regardless of manufacturer.
SV, here is another gem from Ford. The 2012 Ford Exploder. Placed last. I bet the boys in the glass house are on the phone with Motor Trend now.
http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/suvs/
1105_three_row_crossover_suv_comparison/index.html
jj99, Cherry pick the facts much?
I see your boy’s at Consumer Reports put 2 Toyota and 1 Honda vehicle on the “Stuck in reverse” list. Didn’t see a GM or Ford model. Who’s living in the past again?
Don’t worry. The gold standard will be here shortly. The 2012 Honda Civic SI. I want one. You should too. You avoid that Ford and GM dealer. Do you really want to pay top dollar and get a reworked Mazda or a Daewoo with a Detroit name plate? Trust me. 2012 Honda Civic SI.
Domestics are always in JJ99s bad side, yet they seem to hold up just fine when being used as rentals.
Working for a rental company, I can tell you that a 38,000 mile Cobalt feels exactly the same as a 38,000 mile Corolla or a 38,000 Caliber.
If domestics were the unmitigated crap that jj99 paints them to be, then rental outfits wouldn’t buy them. But reality isn’t jj99’s world.
Roundel,
How do you explain the fact that rental companies have always had mostly Detroit cars in their fleets? They had exclusively Detroit brands in their fleets for many decades. I recall receiving one rental Sentra during 1984, and we were shocked to get it. Are you suggesting that Detroit was building good cars in the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, and 2000s? Otherwise, your statement is illogical. As it is, it is facially invalid, because the rental companies bought plenty of cars from Detroit brands when you could see how badly they were designed and built from accross the street.
Through most of the 80’s and 90’s, the Detroit BIG Three OWNED (at least a sizable percentage, if not 100%) the rental Big Thee. Chrysler owned National, Ford owned Hertz, and GM owned Avis. So OF COURSE most of the rental cars were from the Detroit three.
All three companies divested of the rental companies in the past descade, so these days the rental car companies buy cars pretty much just like you and me. They get a little better pricing, but nothing at all like back in the day. I can tell you, other than VERY premium stuff like Cadillacs and a Buick Enclave, I never, ever get anything domestic from Hertz. I don’t even see much in the way of cheap domestic cars on thier lots anymore, mostly Toyotas and Hyundais in that class. In fact, I would say THE current Hertz fleet queen is the Camry. They have ZILLIONS of them.
Why are we stuck in the 80s and 90s here.
The B&B seems to be a stubborn bunch.
I’m talking about 2009 here, not 1984
Your statement seems to be more illogical then mine if you take it out of this century’s context.
SV, here is another gem from Ford. The 2012 Ford Exploder. Placed last. I bet the boys in the glass house are on the phone with Motor Trend now.
http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/suvs/
1105_three_row_crossover_suv_comparison/index.html
Motor Trend also made the Fusion its car of the year a few years back and placed the Fiesta ahead of the Toyota Yaris in a comparo. Honestly we could throw cherry-picked data at each other all day.
Roundel,
Why do you think the world changed when Obama said so? Some of us have the intelligence required to learn from experience. Good luck.
Unlike GM and Ford, Toyota and Honda know how to make a good car. Toyota and Honda don’t need to rely on rental car Fleet dumping. Take out the Fleet dumping, and Detroit falls off the chart.
Except nowadays, Toyota relies a lot more on “rental fleet dumping.”
In 2010, over 17% of all Camrys sold went into fleet; the Accord was at 4%.
Also, it’s the norm for domestic manufacturers to dominate fleet sales (which includes coporate and govt. fleet); VW, Mercedes, etc, dominate fleet sales in Germany, Toyota dominates fleet sales in Japan.
Nonetheless, the Focus sales last month had to mostly the outgoing model, the new one is just becoming available. I don’t think there is much of an inventory of them on dealer lots yet. I think Focus sales numbers will be challenging the segment leaders as soon as the cars are readily available. We’ll see.
@jj99……Go back under the bridge.
mtymsi –
Those numbers are probably 99.9% 2011 models. March’s Focus sales could have been a lot higher if we’d had inventory to sell, but we ran out of 2011s with a full week left in the month. I think the lack of Focus inventory is what is helping the Fiesta sales numbers. Now that the Fiesta won’t have to compete with the 2011 Focus on price, more people will go for it.
I expect Focus numbers for April to be dismal – so far we’ve only sold 1, because we’ve only had one to sell. We’re expecting another 15 – 20 2012 models this month, but we won’t have a ton of variety in invetory for another few months. Ford is also launching the Focus with virtually no incentives, and a very conservative lease program (which is par for the course with new Ford vehicles and leasing).
I don’t remember the Cruze being on sale in March 2010. I assume those are Cobalt numbers, because Wikipedia says that Lordstown didn’t start making Cruzes until that July.
By the way, I sat in a Cruze today, and was quite impressed. The seats were quite supportive, and the doors felt solid and “German”. I’m seeing them everywhere around Boston.
Supposedly, the new Focus feels similarly “German” (well, it is, I guess), and the reviews have been impressive, but there aren’t any at dealers around here yet. Once they become available, I’m sure they will become a smash hit.
Speaking of “German” cars, I’m seeing new Jettas everywhere, too, but it seems like VW is trying to sell them primarily on price. Sad…
I’ve seen several new Jettas and Elantras around, but it occurs to me that I haven’t seen a single Cruze on the road yet, and only a handful of Fiestas. Maybe the old domestic:trucks, import:cars dichotomy is still at work.
Depends where you are. Here in West Michigan, for most of February I saw (and am still seeing) Buick Regals everywhere. Very few Cruzes. Now, I’m starting to see plenty of Cruzes, many of them the upmarket LTZs, no less. Up until this week, I hadn’t seen ANY new Foci, now I’ve seen four or five.
Come to think of it, I do pass by a few Chevy dealers fairly regularly, so maybe those localized Cruze sightings (i.e. test drives, cars being moved around, loaner cars) have been skewing my perceptions.
And yes, the new Elantra is selling quite well around here, and the Fiesta’s popularity is so-so.
Surprises/views:
1) Who are these people buying Corollas? What the heck? It is hopelessly outclassed in this segment by almost every car on the list.
2) Go Cruze go! And they said it wouldn’t sell because its expensive, and porky, and gets bad mileage…
3) I am Elantra – hear me roar! Hyundai isn’t the under dog anymore.
4) 3,750 people with a pulse actually bought a Dodge Caliber???
What do you think is your point? People buy Cruzes in spite of their terrible stats, so they they shouldn’t buy efficient, light, affordable Corollas?
There is always one and CJinSD seems to be that one. Someone has to defend the Corolla!
It is an objective fact that it is outclassed on any measure – price, versatility, performance, fuel economy, interior space, design, quality of materials etc by any number of cars in that list. It does sell well in the real world and it seems the real world is intruding on TTAC with CJ. There I was thinking everyone who read TTAC liked cars and wanted only the best to sell well.
If someone is buying a new $18,000 sedan, the Corolla is one of the best choices. Chances are their money is important to them and they are looking for a car that will have low, predictable operating costs. It won’t depreciate so fast that they’ll find themselves upside down if some other commuter t-bones them a year into ownership. When the time comes to sell, it will still be worth something. This is what matters for a cheap new car. If someone isn’t risk averse, they can get whatever level of power, handling, character, looks, or badge snobbery they are after with a used car for $18,000. Why stop at a gas guzzling, unreliable, depreciating like a stone new Chevy or VW when you can get a gas guzzling, unreliable, depreciating like a stone used BMW 5 series for the same money? If you want good mileage, cheap maintenance, strong resale value, and to show up at work every day, buy a Corolla or Civic.
CJ I am sorry but I disagree with the characterization that the “corolla is one of the best choices”. I agree with your criteria but the Honda Civic and Mazda 3 are superior or equal to the Corolla in every respect. Also if you keep your car say 8-10 years (as some of my Corolla owning work colleagues do) then depreciation is much less important – reliability is key then.
Also why did you call VW or Chevy gas guzzling when they are no worse and in the Cruze’s case better than the Corolla. Lets back up assertions with facts please.
I don’t know of anyone with a calculator and a clue getting better than a 25 mpg average with a Cruze. I have done my very best to hammer a rented Corolla and wound up with almost 31 mpg. You’re simply wrong about the fuel consumption of VWs and Chevys. Just look at comparison tests where the cars are driven in the same conditions and manner.
http://www.caranddriver.com/var/ezflow_site/storage/original/application/201aa30d5cedebdd74e62c1d516c5ccf.pdf
24 mpg for the VW Rabbit, 33 mpg for the Civic and Corolla. That is a real difference in the real world. Take a look at the acceleration times while you’re at it. There was no performance penalty involved in going 9 more miles on each gallon of gas. That is the delta of engineering capability between VW and the Japanese quantified. Throwing a features list at an engine is no substitute for knowing what you’re doing. The Cruze is a heavy car that burns gas like other heavy cars in the real world. If you do all your driving on a chassis dyno with a bad physics model, be my guest.
I still can’t believe 30,000 Corollas are sold every month….poor SOBs!