Honda and Toyota have been valiantly holding off an all-out assault on the compact segment thus far, and Civic and Corolla still lead the C-segment’s year-to-date sales race. FOr the month of May, however, the barbarians made it inside the gate, and turned the compact market on its head. Chevrolet’s Cruze, which was one of the first of new breed of compacts to launch, took advantage of its head-start in the marketplace to tear into first place, beating the new Focus by a mere 408 units. Elantra was about 2k units behind the Focus/Cruze leaders, but finished nearly 2k units ahead of Civic, which itself beat Corolla by nearly 1,500 units. Now that the Compact Wars are well and truly joined, we can expect more of this back-and-forth each month. In any given month this can be anyone’s segment… the question now is whether Honda and Toyota can possibly hang onto their YTD lead and finish 2011 with the volume win. It’s by no means a sure thing… hit the jump for a month-by-month breakdown of “big six” compact sales.
Wow, the Mazda3 had a big jump. Where did that come from?
I think the Focus numbers will continue to grow (at least until they release the new C-Max)
I’d also be surprised if the Civic doesn’t rebound once it gets its production back in order.
There’s a typo in the chart. Mazda3 sales are actually down, not up. That should be 11,537 for May, 2010.
After 5 years with 2006 Mazda3 hatch, I tested all new cars on the market, I had the Cruze for 10 days as rental, hate it, the Civic dash is ridiculous, tested the new 2012 Focus, great car but the A/T is a turn off, takes the fun out of driving.
At the end, I took a lease on a black 2011 Mazda3 hatch, this car is so much fun it’s amazing how cheap it is, really love it!
Of all the cars I have rented during 2010 and 2011 (so far), I have to say that I like the 2011 Elantra the best for value for the money and the Mazda3 for its responsiveness, handling and overall zoom-zoom factor. The rental Cruze and Focus were not the best efforts of their respective manufacturers. The interiors were tacky and the handling was like a sumo wrestler trying to do ballet. Acceleration was sluggish compared to the others. Maybe it was just the rental version of these cars, but I didn’t care for either. The Corolla and Civic I rented last year were bland but competent. Uneventful cars but smooth and quiet. The Elantra actually turned some heads when I drove it in Denver. I continue to be amazed at how far the Elantra has come. Who saw that one coming? Not me.
Bought new 2012 Focus Friday.
Hatch. SEL. MyFord Sync.
$21 G and change.
Had it out of the garage Saturday learning the dash. Neighbor across street decided he wanted one and trading in his Mazda for it, and neighbor next door trading in his Chevy Malibu for new Focus.
Neighbor on corner with 2011 Civic drove by, parked and decided the Focus was hands down the better car.
Value?
The Focus feels like a little BMW. It completely spanks my neighbor’s new Civic.
I think for the rest of the year, especially after Toyota and Honda get supply closer to normal, it will be he who provides the deepest incentives that will rule the C-Segment chart. Sure Toyota is in the lead, but even with depleted inventory they are offering $139 a month lease deals and cash back on the woefully outclassed Corolla to anyone with can leave a damp spot on a mirror by breathing out. If you’re giving away the farm (and before you jump on and say, YA, Detroit is worse, visit their websites to see the lack of incentives of this type on Focus and Cruze)
My statement isn’t meant to imply it’s a race to the bottom, but anyone that wants to goose volume to have marketing rights of the “best selling for 2011” only needs to slap a lot of cash on the hood. Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Toyota, General Motors are all contenders in this segment. Hyundai probably has the best overall package but as I understand it is production constrained.
It does seem to state strongly that the Focus and Cruze are not over priced – both are selling very well despite the price points they command when you equip them out.
I remain stunned at the volume of the Jetta. I guess decontenting, plastic cooler grade interiors, outdated engine technology, and a less than stellar reputation for long term quality sells very well when wrapped in a large for the class sedan with Euro street cred.
There are $139 lease deals on the Camry, so I wouldn’t be surprised if there are better lease deals for the Corolla.
“anyone that wants to goose volume to have marketing rights of the “best selling for 2011″ only needs to slap a lot of cash on the hood.”
Agreed that this is typically the way to go, but currently I’m seeing only $1,000 discounts from MSRP on the Focus and $800 on the Jetta. Seems like discounts are limited today. These are TrueCar’s no-haggle prices, too, so they’re likely through the dealer’s low-cost internet sales manager.
I am equally stunned by the Jetta volume. Say what you want about the boring styling, but at first glance the exterior screams that it’s much more than a high-teens $$ car. I suppose people just don’t care about those gawd-awful interior materials.
I’d love a GLI if they didn’t have the street racer tiller and red stitching.
I’m more bothered by the Jetta’s chees-o-matic interior. Despite the question mark about repair costs, a Volkswagen always bought a really nice interior. Now, it is but a notch better than the old Chrysler plastics. Yet, the reduced price brought in the buyers. What message is that saying? Is the Jetta now just a car that is one step better than old Chryler, but with good driving dynamics? Mazda has good dynamics, better materials, arguably better reliability and marginal sales. Go figure…
Most people believe German cars, including VW, are the best cars in the world and the world is less than 10,000 years old.
And those who believe otherwise went to buy Corolla/Civic.
I’m really surprised at how well the Sentra is still doing. It used to be right up there with Civics & Corollas as far as its awareness was concerned (subjective measurement). Hyundai, Kia, and Mazda ate its lunch. And yet it still sells in moderate figures. I have to think it’s still quite profitable for Nissan. Now if they could only bring back a decent SE-R. I know the SR20DE engine is dead for the US, but they really need to realize that engine played a big part in that car’s greatness over 2.5 generations (B13-B15). It can’t be a hard formula to crack & recreate!
The Sentra’s a pretty good car—better than most people suspect. I’d hazard it’s a bit better at playing the unsporting compact role than the Corolla, not the lease of which is because it has better seats, space and sightlines, along with the Corolla’s ride and ease of use.
The engine is only okay, though (whereas the Corolla, with a 1.8L and a four speed, seems quicker and gets consistently excellent real-world mileage). And the SE-R is pretty poor.
I’d like to see Nissan or Toyota do something totally gonzo and cram a V6 in either car. There is precedence: I know there is a Corolla equipped with the 3.5L six in other parts of the world insane; I’d love such a beast here.
IDK about using the 2GR-FE, but I’ve been wishing Toyota would build a 4GR-FSE powered Matrix, Corolla, or Tc for awhile now.
And the Sentra doesn’t need a V6, just the Juke’s MR16DDT.
/Japanese engine names are lame.
I’ve driven the Sentra extensively a couple of years ago while working at a rental car company (when the domestics were cutting back on fleet sales), and it’s my least favorite car for driving, at least in an urban environment.
The steering really wants to return to the center position as if it’s connected to a rubber band or springs. It’s unlike any other vehicle I’ve driven (and I’ve driven lots of models), and I really don’t like the feeling. Combine that with touchy, grabby brakes and touchy, too-eager to rev on initial pedal tip-in throttle, and I have to say it is not what I’m looking for in a vehicle.
You can chalk that up to Nissan’s massive discounting.
You hit the nail on the head Advo! Not to mention when we had a big batch of Sentra’s in 2008 we had TONS of them blowing the CVT’s up and even some needing new engines…and they were in the 20-40k mile range! We swore them off for our rental franchise.
Would be good to have Jetta and Golf sales data combined – if that was the case then the Jetta/Golf beat out the Focus and Elantra YTD.
Other cars have multiple bodystyles under one name – Focus (sedan and hatchback), Civic and Mazda 3 are just three examples. I know the similarities between the two cars is less now that the Jetta has been redesigned but…
No. Civic (counterpart of Jetta) and Fit (counter part of Golf) sales are not combined.
I wouldn’t say the Fit is the counterpart of the Golf. I mean, it’s a hatchback and it has crazy space, but it’s definitely a class below. Honda, when they did sell a Civic hatch, grouped it under the Civic banner.
I think it really depends on how the manufacturers group sales. Toyota gloms Matrix and Corolla sales together even though the nameplate and interior are quite different; VW simply chooses not to.
By the numbers, the Corolla has a 20k lead over the Cruze YtD. The Cruze is selling 6k more cars a month. With 4 more months of summer sales, the Cruze has a very good chance of overtaking the Corolla.
While the Focus has the same 6k/month advantage, they are over 40k units down from the Corolla. Ford will have a harder time taking the #1 spot here.
Honda and Hyundai are in similar position to Ford.
Should be an interesting race to watch.
Haven’t driven it, but the Cruze looked pretty sharp at the auto show. I was really impressed by the interior materials/quality – probably best in class in that regard. Now they need a real motor for it.
I keep hoping they’ll take the ECOTEC DI 2.0L 4 in detuned turbo form (say 225 HP) as part of a “real” RS package. If they are going to call it SS, then they have to go to 260 HP.
The Cruze numbers amaze me either they are selling everywhere but in my stomping grounds or they blend in way too well cause I just haven’t seen them on the road. I’ve seen (or at least noticed) more of the new Focus, which hasn’t been around as long, in my area.
The Focus is more distinctive than the Cruze, but one of the women at the office just traded her HHR for a Cruze LT1. It’s a very handsome car.
The Cruze’s styling is so conservative that it blends in pretty easily. One was in our parking lot recently and I thought it was a Malibu until I walked behind it and saw the Cruze badge.
That’s not to say it doesn’t look good, the Malibu is also a good looking sedan, and the Cruze is sharp. Plus, when you look at the sales results of a design that took some risks, like the Mazda3, next to one so generic that it could be the illustration for ‘car’ in the dictionary, like the Corolla, you see that no one ever went bankrupt from selling conservatively styled, if a bit bland looking, cars.
I noticed the first couple of Cruzes that I saw, but then they blended into the background pretty quickly. There certainly are a bunch of them around. In San Diego, I would say they’re outselling the new Focus. Our traffic has a high mix of rental cars though, since we’re a tourist and convention city.
NulloModo nails it. The first Cruze I saw in the wild was parked and I thought to myself, “wow, that’s an odd looking Malibu,” because it seemed so short. Then I notice the badging. If I look for them in the wild I see a lot of them, but I have to actively look. They blend in with the Chevrolet DNA and look close to it’s larger siblings.
As noted, given how well the vanilla Corolla sales, blending in with corporate lines apparently isn’t a bad thing. The last fleet sales numbers I saw on the Cruze were on parity for the Corolla and vastly below historical levels for the God awful (except in SS ECOTEC 2.0 DI turbo four 300 HP configuration) Cobalt.
@Holden: I’ve had the same experience with the Cruze, they’ve styled it so conservatively AND much like the Malibu, you have to look twice to make sure.
Of course, it’s not often that GM styles it’s small cars anything slightly above conservative, except maybe the X body hatchbacks from the 1970’s.
In my neck of the woods, I still see more Regals than I do Cruzes, but that proportion is starting to change.
The thing is I have been actively looking for them since they shot up the sales charts.
I can’t buy that…our neighbors bought one of the first Cruzes in the area last fall. I knew right away what it was.
I really haven’t seen that many Cruzes on the road around here – and I’ve already seen at least three 2012 Focuses (and not rentals) and two 2012 Civics.
The new Focus is a HUGE hit. My local Royal Oak, MI Ford dealer can’t keep them in stock. Chevy is absolutely stupid not to offer the Cruze hatch here. I would say about half of the Focus models I’ve seen on the road are the hatch version. This reeks of “old GM” short-sighted thinking, and we know where that got them. I think the Cruze/Focus/Elantra triple threat will make a serious and perhaps permanent dent in the Civic/Corolla stranglehold on this segment. Frankly, the new Civic and the long-in-the-tooth Corolla are no longer segment leaders, buyers now have BETTER choices than what these two have to offer. The new Jetta is doing surprisingly well given how it’s been panned by the automotive press. Mazda3 will be a player once the SkiACTIVE engines hit (and they wipe the smile off it’s face). Sentra is a real no-show. Really curious what impact the new “coming soon” Fiat-based small Dodge sedan will have. Chrysler used to be a pretty big player in this segment in the past.
The new Focus does seem to be doing strongly right out of the gate, unlike the Fiesta which took a while to gain traction in the marketplace (of course it was also a new nameplate).
I’ve seen eight or so 2012 Foci so far here in Houston, more Cruzes and Elantras (but they’ve been out longer) and five or six new Civics, a bit surprising considering how supply-constrained they are.
The Fiesta had a big problem overcoming the value proposition of the old Focus. With the incentives available on the 2010 and 2011 Focus you could buy a larger car with more stuff for less money than a Fiesta, and the mileage was similar enough that many people just went with the Focus.
Now the new Focus wanders into Fusion territory a bit, but Fusion incentives aren’t at the same level that the old Focus had, and the gap between the Focus and Fusion is larger than that between the Fiesta and the old Focus.
Supply constraints only recently hit the Civic. There were plenty on the boats. It would be interesting to see how many are in inventory right now.
Steve 02,
2012 Civics are turning over so fast right now that dealers aren’t bothering to list them on their website inventories. $3050 over list in San Diego.
For the “can’t keep car X in stock” discussion, some actual data, namely number of days of inventory on dealer lots as of 01-Jun. 60 days is pretty typical, currently industry average is only 38 days for cars and 62 days for trucks.
Mazda3 – 62 days
Cruze – 38 days
Civic – 27 days
Focus – 20 days
(Kyundai, Kia, Toyota and VW per-model inventories not available)
And for the pony-cars, just for fun, to show the difference in demand:
Challenger – 54 days
Camaro – 51 days
Mustang – 48 days
Finally some low-lights — look for bargains on these:
Mazda Tribute – 209 days
Dodge Viper – 161 days
Chevrolet Avalanche – 144 days
Mazda6 – 135 days
Chevrolet Silverado – 122 days
GMC Sierra – 116 days
Lincoln MKS – 119 days
Cadillac CTS – 111 days
Cadillac Escalade – 110 days
Mitsubishi Outlander – 107 days
Mazda Miata – 104 days
Lincoln Navigator – 98 days
As I have been saying Mazda is in big trouble in the US retail market. If they have overstocks of Mazda3 and Mazda6 models on hand in the middle of a supply constraint problem out of Japan, Mazda is in deep trouble.
I’m surprised there are still new Vipers in stock. I thought they finished production a while ago with a series of limited run models that all sold out. I guess the ones still around are base models that don’t appeal to the track day crowd and don’t appeal to the look at me in the latest six figure sports car crowd.
The idea that there are four months of Sierras and Silverados in inventory must be pretty terrifying! That’s hundred of thousands of expensive vehicles tying up credit.
196,400 Silverados and Sierras. About twice as many as one would hope for.
Where did you get this data? I would love to have access to a resource like this.
Mazda3-62 Days
Mazda Miata-104 Days
Mazda6-135 Days
Mazda Tribute-209 Days
Mazda existing in the North American market-??? Days
@Holden, Automotive News (autonews.com) published this and a whole lot of other interesting data. TTAC uses there data fairly frequently, including the monthly sales numbers.
I don’t think Ford will be pursuing volume at any price with this Focus. They have built value into this vehicle and transaction prices are quite high. I don’t see them messing with that just to win a sales title. The Fusion will be the only real bargain in the Ford line up until the model changes.
Exactly what is the value? Hard to see any. Looks like an overpriced offering to me. Am I supposed to dish out thousands for a computer screen in the dash that works poorly? Should I pay for a tiny back seat? Should I pay thousands for a transmission where reviewers note problems?
I have to say I have also failed to notice many of the Cruzes around these parts, they blend in too well with the Malibus et. al. I am noticing the new Focus quite a bit and it is a very handsome car, especially in hatch form. The Mazda3 numbers don’t surprise me, I am seeing that stupid grin EVERYWHERE around here.
The US government parking lot in South Boston has dozens of brand new Focus vehicles sporting US government license plates. More fleet dumping, and the vehicle is brand new.
ban pls.
Eh, domestic manufacturers tend to supply their govt. or corporate fleets (which aren’t the same thing as rental fleet sales).
Here in Denver, the city and state bought a whole fleet of Priuses.
jj99-
Better no sale than wholesale? Remind Coca-Cola of that. South Boston should buy imports? What domestics would you prefer they buy?
There is something questionable about filling fleet orders first with your hottest new products. When the Camaro came out and forums were full of stories of dealer gouging and supply shortages, the rental lots at San Diego airport had rows of new Camaros. Wouldn’t it be better to sell cars at retail when there are retail customers excited about getting their hands on the car? Fleet sales may be fine when you’re chasing needed volume, but giving your retail customers second priority during successful new model roll-outs is worthy of criticism.
Renting a Camaro was the only sure way to get a test drive. I don’t have a problem with having to wait behind the rental agencies for the latest and greatest. Probably my low self esteem but you can consider renters the guinea pigs. When the all new ’99 Superduty F-Series came out, fleet buyers got the first batch, problems were caught and fixed but the general public never became aware.
If the tax payer is paying over sticker, I don’t know that that’s a bad thing right now and is propably how everything is bought, toilets especially. It’s not corruption, it’s politics and we should vote the bums out!
That is because Detroit tries to put a bunch of new vehicles in rental fleets ( coastal markets ). This is to create the illusion on the freeways that coasters are buying Detroit products. But, coasters know a rental when we see one. The bar code gives it away.
Titanium and SEL models with Navigation were initially delayed or very limited production due to supply shortages for navigation system components.
Instead of just idling the line due to supply issues it could make sense to do a run of plain SE models (just the basics, cruise, A/C, power equipment) for government or corporate fleets that wouldn’t have been effected by the parts shortage.
Inventory has been a bit tight for us, but not as bad as it was for first few months with the new Explorer. We’re getting cars, just not many at a time.
The government puts in orders for cars year-to-year and usually gets a slightly lower than MSRP deal on each car. The “$80 hammer” and “$100 toilet seat” are about keeping Americans employed in manufacturing in our increasingly globalized race-to-the-bottom mentality of labor. Honestly, the kind of crazy ideas spouted here should be paired with a copy of Ricardo’s “Iron Law of Wages” so it can be put into perspective.
In general rental companies want new models immediately to refresh their line ups, if that means Camaros are hard to get for a few months, SOL. GM and most companies would prefer to sell a car outright and have somebody test it at a rental company than worry about testing it at the dealership.
To side-address the coastal buyers: New York City is different from Boston is different from Philadelpia is different from Raleigh. To compare the Northern Easterner with the Southerner is a bit off-putting, I’m in the mid-atlantic region and tending towards the inner-region and I generally see tons of the new Foci running around with Cruzes as the Corolla is practically impossible to find. I see old Corollas, 5-10 years old, but nothing newer than maybe 2007 or 08. The farther out into the boondocks I go the newer Corollas and Civics I see. It’s kind of strange.
@CJ:
I think rental fleets are actually a good way for manufacturers to get their cars into the hands of prospective buyers – business travelers tend to be pretty affluent. Putting cool cars in the hands of people who can afford them isn’t a bad sales strategy at all.
I had to travel to Florida this past February, and while got stuck with a Caliber (an abysmal little turd if there ever were one), one of my co-workers scored a Hemi-powered Challenger, and proceeded to do smoky burnouts all the way to the office every damn day. Life ain’t fair.
For halo cars like the Camaro – rentals are a way of selling. I have a friend who specifically rented one for a weekend before buying. I had a rental G8 for a week before I bought one. For some cars the fleet roll out makes sense. Further, those orders may have been placed very early in production, and help assure instant sales out of the gate. The rental agency gets cars people want and will pay a premium for (win) and the early production models, kinks and all go to commercial buyers (win again).
When Prii were in short supply you could rent them all day long too.
So, if a rental company buys some cars, show they be forced to wait for retail customers? Doesn’t make a lot of sense really when you think about it from the other perspective. Orders should be filled as the come in.
Had Chevy emphasized retail availability when the Camaro was hottest, test drives might have been had at Chevy dealers. Perception of the product would have been better served by proud owners rather than rental fleets, but that of course assumes that early delivery models would have been fault free, which some defenders of Chevy’s choice accept is the domain of imports.
DenverMike,
Delivering first model year cars to customers that still need the bugs worked out isn’t acceptable, and hasn’t been for a few decades. We’ve got a first model year Acura TSX that went almost 7 years before anything needed attention, and that was just a power lock solenoid. Automakers shouldn’t need guinea pigs.
My concern is how much of Ford profit is being generated from US government sales. It is possible the government overpays the Detroit firms for cars. This would be highly unfair to the US taxpayer. This would be a backdoor handout to Detroit and the UAW.
You like to set up no-win scenarios. If Ford is selling Focuses at a steep discount it means that they can’t move the cars, but if Ford is selling Focuses at a decent profit it means that it can only be from government collusion?
How about this: The government always needs cars, and with the recent executive order is moving to more fuel efficient models. All governments that have a domestic auto industry typically buy from their domestic producers. The Japanese government buys Japanese cars, the Korean government buys Korean cars, and China is pushing for its government agencies to buy Chinese cars as the Chinese auto industry develops.
Typically government fleet vehicles are sold at a very low markup from the selling dealer, but for mainstream sedans like the Focus or Fusion, the incentives from the manufacturer are typically minor. These are profitable sales for Ford, they have very little impact on residual value as government fleet vehicles tend to stay in the field until the mileage is pretty high, and they will help the government save money on fuel costs through increased fuel efficiency.
Selling to fleets is not equivalent to kicking puppies. There is nothing wrong with fleet sales provided the manufacturer is making a profit doing so. Also, putting desirable, well equipped cars in rental lots is a damn good way for getting your product in the hands of people who normally wouldn’t give the brand the time of day. As better products become more and more common, more people will open their minds – and wallets. I rented a Subaru on a ski trip and was pleasantly surprised by it. I was impressed by the versatility and once emptied of all of our equipment it was pretty sprightly especially considering the altitude. Being that where I live there is no need for AWD, I’d likely look elsewhere since Subaru does not give you an option. But if I lived in a part of the country where real winters are a regular occurrence – such as when we retire – I’d give this vehicle real consideration.
Taking a step back, the Crocus (Fuze?) is turning into a very cool Detroit success story. Even the Elantra is being produced in the South right? The C-class engineers at Honda and Toyota should be sweating, especially at the former given a quite ho-hum redesign for the Civic…..and ho-hum may be putting it kindly.
America – F Yeah!
On the east coast, Cruze is rare, and Focus is a once in a while sighting. The market is now two markets. On the trendy east and west coast, imports rule. And, in the union heavy midwest, domestics rule. The south is split, but leaning more and more to imports. Note, the south is leaning imports because foreign companies place their factories in southern right to work state.
I would agree with the upper east coast and west coast statements, but do you have anything that backs up the rest of your comments?
Trendy east coast=South Boston, yes?
Most of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont are the antithesis of trendy. We like it that way.
You’ve spouted this BS long enough I think you actually believe it.
Month after month you insist that only rental companies are buying new domestic cars.
Even when people show that It would be nearly IMPOSSIBLE for the Cruze to be fleet only with retail vs fleet sales breakdown, you still insist that both coasts only buy imports.
In all seriousness, this troll never adds anything to the discussion. He’s either a shill for some automaker, or just a blind fanboy.
Either way, I agree with above. Ban and be done.
I don’t think it’s quite that simple. If so, it means East coasters have markedly slowed their buys of compact cars compared to last year while mid-westerners are buying many more. quite unlikely
Corolla and Civic down 36% year on year
Cruze and Focus up 34% year on year
I don’t want to be a total Detroit fanboy since this also coincides with supply shortages and new model intro’s, but this is a quite interesting share shift and I’m glad Ed highlighted it.
I’m seeing lots of Cruzes around Los Angeles. Not rentals either; they have dealer plate frames and no barcode label.
Why use logic, when you could just say everybody on the coasts are enjoying their civics and Corollas so much, they don’t need replacing yet!
So, can we expect to hear Powershift horror stories from the Focus . . . or is this limited to the Fiesta for some reason?
The lingering Fiesta transmission issue was a ground wire connection, so, different car, different ground point, different factory, shouldn’t be a problem.
A few early Fiestas also had some jiggy transmission control firmware that led to rough shifts or some transmission failures, and that was seen on at least one of the pre-production Focus review cars, but since then the firmware has been updated to correct for the problems, so it shouldn’t be an issue on the Focus. Ford delayed the ‘OK to Ship’ on the 2012 Focus by a few weeks to do additional testing and quality checks, and I have a feeling the powershift was one of the issues they were paying close attention to.
I became worried when I saw the Focus place fifth in the MT review:
The downside is that this cheater rubber raised substantial doubts about the driveability of regular Foci. Absent the extra stick, what would distract from a dual-clutch transmission dubbed “horrible” and “half-baked?”
“It’s clunky at low speeds and rough when starting from a stop. To top it off, the shifts don’t feel much faster than in any other auto in the group,” noted Evans.
Read more: http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/sedans/1107_best_selling_compact_sedan_comparison/ford_focus_titanium.html#ixzz1PI4wpXhB
@geo
I read the same review – I wouldn’t put huge weight into it. They took a loaded Jetta to the party for example and put it in 4th place. The complained about the Cruze having no backseat room, something I haven’t observed personally at 6’1″ tall and not something I’ve read in any other review. The much higher rated Mazda3 in that same round up never got a peep about its useless backseat (well useless if you want to sit behind my 6’1″ frame).
The other thing that made me gag and throw up in my mouth a bit is how they praised the Civic for being so much better in all ways than the out going model. Again, I haven’t read a single review that echoes that view point.
I’d also like to know what sporty, uber competent Elantra they drove at high speed. I had a 2011 rental and found it awesome on backroads and as an urban runner, horrible on the rough pavement of I-95 outside of Newark where I was almost beaten to death by bridge dividers.
I think the only thing they got truly right was the placement of the Corolla dead last; it is out classed by everything else in this segment.
Car magazine test reports are irrelevant in this segment.
Geo –
The Focus took first place in the Automobile Mag review featuring pretty much the same set of players. Reviews are opinions. Even on TTaC which is theoretically more objective you’ll occasionally see a wildly different opinion of a vehicle in a ‘take two’ review.
Every review of the new Civic – where the reviewer actually took the time to drive the car – that I’ve read praises the car for making several key improvements over the old model. The complaints center on the quality of some interior materials and the mild change with the styling. And it has placed quite well in every comparison test, so Honda is still a major contender in this segment.
I looked at several new Civics on the dealer lots, and sat in two while my car was getting serviced. The build quality is improved both inside and out…but some of the interior materials are a little cheap, particularly the carpeting.
Screw the Powershift in the Focus – the way to go is a SE with the sport package and a manual. Better to drive…cheaper…less prone to bugs.
Wow, Ford and Chevrolet models at the top of the monthly compact car sales charts. I honestly cannot remember the last time that happened.
It may have been back when the Cavalier and Escort were relatively new. I think they were both best-selling cars circa 1982.
The Cruze is a tough car to beat. The Focus, not surprisingly, is another one of those ‘over-hyped’ and ‘under-delivering’ stories Ford is famous for telling (Fiesta being another big one).
In a recent, very thorough and well-done comparo, cars.com concluded that the Cruze is #2 in the segment and the Focus is dead last. It was let down by it’s form over function styling (interior is cramped) and the terrible infotainment system. On top of that, it was the most expensive.
It’s very refreshing to see the media starting to take an objective look at Ford again. They are starting to see Fords for what they really are.
Link to the comparo, please.
@SVX pearlie:
Here you go.
I agree with the comment in the review about the steelies/hubcaps – I thought we had moved to a point where alloys should be standard equipment on all but the most basic of cars. Luckily, there’s the SE Sport Package that’s pretty cheap and gives you better seats plus alloy wheels.
The Sync comments baffle me a bit, the SE they tested has the standard version of Sync, not MyFord Touch, which everyone else seems to find pretty easy to use. Pairing a phone is as simple as hitting the button marked ‘phone’ and following the voice and radio screen prompts on what to do next, which is basically hitting the ‘OK’ after you set your phone to search for a new device and then hitting the ‘OK’ button a few more times to confirm if you want it to dial 911 automatically if the airbags go off and if you want it to download your phonebook into the Sync memory. As far the MP3 players go, it’s a simple matter of plugging it in, and hitting the voice button and saying ‘USB’ then telling it what album, song, playlist, etc, you want it to play. Trying to use the screens and buttons to navigate a MP3 player takes an extra couple button pushes, but with the voice controls there are few reasons to do it that way. There seems to be a problem with reviews for in car electronics as the reviewers just get the keys thrown at them and jump right in, while a customer buying the car is going to have a thorough delivery process where operation of all of these features is explained and demonstrated. In the absence of being given the same education about the vehicle that a new customer will receive, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect reviewers to crack open the manual to familiarize themselves with the functions of the vehicle before knocking it for being complex.
Some select comments revealed they didn’t like the Focus’s Euro style stereo controls, say another car is ‘free of sci-fi, thank goodness’, and commend the Hyundai for having the ‘blessed simplicity of an older car’. They say the Focus had handling and steering that ‘put the others to shame’ and award the win to a car whose suspension seemed ‘squirrely on some surfaces and corners, not dangerous, just unsettled and unrefined against the best of the group’. Reading between the lines then, it’s pretty clear that simplicity was rewarded, technology treated with suspicion, and driving fun mostly ignored.
Ford isn’t taking a middle of the road approach with the Focus. It isn’t a car that shrinks back from technology, or that hides its European roots, in either the driving dynamics or the interior style/function. If that means that it isn’t the best car for those that want a basic driving appliance that doesn’t involve or engage them, that’s fine. There seem to be plenty of people who appreciate its values.
The fact is that comparison tests of current compact are going every which way depending on priorities and biases, and that reflects that all the contenders have selling features. It is up to Ford, Chevrolet, Hyundai, and Volkswagen to prove to buyers that they aren’t currently building practical jokes, and that represents an opportunity for the volume automakers to prove their mettle. I suspect that the result will be ever more people who will never question the two quality makes again, but make your choice and spend your money.
Very interesting comparison test. Part of the reason the Focus scored so poorly is that the family they used in the testing doesn’t like American branded cars. It is strange that the professional reviewers gave the Focus decent handling scores (8s and a 9) and the family gave it a 1.5 out of 10. The Cruze should have come in third; cars.com counted the family’s score of 50 twice, giving it the edge over the Civic. This would bring the cars in line with what the family gave them for ratings.
One more thing about this test that bothers me: how does a 19 year-old afford a 2010 Maxima?
Complaining about the sound the turn signal makes really seems they were really grasping for straws.
Non car people love to nitpick on the most inconsequential things.
@Nullo: I would be one of those people who on a daily driver car prefers steelies with a plastic wheel cover to alloys. I’m in SW Michigan, the winters can be pretty harsh to roads and wheels/tires. Most steelies have been engineered to be very lightweight these days, too. With some of the cars having standard tire sizes at 17″ (or more), you slide into a curbing and bend a rim, a replacement alloy is $300-$400! Steelies and a wheel cover from the boneyard are a lot cheaper.
Regardless, I like to have the option.
@roundel
Non-car people subscribe to Consumer Reports and non-car people complain about these things when they complete their surveys with bias and perception, not a clinical view.
Silvy, thorough because Chevy was rated in a comparo ahead of a Ford?
I take EVERY review online and in print with a healthy grain of salt (yes, even the ones here on TTAC!). For everybody here who is quoting all of these reviews, how about…oh, I don’t know…actually driving the cars and gathering your own thoughts and opinions? I, for one, enjoyed my test drive of the new Focus. The Cruze I drove certainly was very nicely done inside, but I liked the driving dynamics of the Focus better. Now then, having said that, I am sure there are plenty other folks out here who tested both and liked the Cruze better. You’ll also find an equal number of “professional” reviews that rate the Cruze ahead of the Focus, or vice versa. Great! Rock on! Thank God for America and choices…
While I have not driven the Cruze, nor the new Focus, I have driven the new Fiesta last summer and liked it fairly well and I would suspect the Focus to be as good or better and provide a similar kind of sporty dynamics that the Fiesta demonstrated. The Honda Fit, not so much and both had automatics in them with the Ford’s simply willing to downshift almost instantly while the Honda delayed before deciding to do so when I mashed the peddle, robbing me of any sporting pretenses and the Fiesta was quieter too.
This is a significant upset. The Corolla and Civic are the cars that built the reputations of Toyota and Honda, and they have dominated this segment for the past 30 years. It’s almost as though a redesigned Tundra and Ridgeline knocked a refreshed F-150 and Silverado off the top of the sales charts in their segments.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out once the supply constraints on Japanese cars are cleared. If some of the new domestic buyers have a good ownership experience, they might just stick around. The competitive devaluation of the US dollar makes it easier for Chev and Ford to offer more car for the money as well.
It’s also interesting that we have seen articles suggesting that the Japanese don’t take the American makers seriously, but are worried about the Koreans and Germans – yet Chev and Ford outsell Hyundai and Volkswagon in this class.
That is the same problem the american automakers made in the 70’s, they worried about each other and not where the real compitition was coming from and we know how that turned out (the exception being Ford, I know about the Nasser debacle, but I’ll be damned if one of my co-workers drives a 1st generation Taurus and pretty much every other 4 door sedan looks just like it 30 years later)
Perhaps it has something to do with that fact that the new Civic isn’t very impressive or that the Corolla is outdated and behind the class best with a 4 speed transmission, the same basic 1.8 from years past, lower mileage numbers, a dull driving experience and lack of common items such as bluetooth and USB ports and prices that are higher than most Elantra models which come more fully equipped and offer more interior room and trunk space. It’s about time people opened there eyes and made decisions for themselves instead of listening to CR or biased sites that always favor imports.
I’m sure Focus sales will fall off once all of the transmissions problems are widely known.
Browse any larger Focus forum and you’ll hear from people that have had trans issues. Ford’s Powershift is quickly becoming the transmission to avoid. Maybe Ford is trying to be like Chrysler from the late ’90s-early ’00s
The Jetta numbers are mystifying, but I know a lot of people who have given it a second look. No surprise, it’s the same group of people shopping for the Civic or Corolla. It speaks to the right crowd… there are plenty of people out there who are looking for a competent practical means of transportation at a decent price. It’s the crowd that drove Civic Si’s and Integra in the 90’s but which are have kids and families now… really, when you look at it, product offerings are generational, every manufacturer speaks to the same cohort of people and grows with them. The challenge is in making room for the next cohort following behind.
Honda’s Civic drivers don’t have to graduate to an Accord, the Civic grows with them. Meanwhile, the Fit fills in the space below until something more exciting comes along, else the other manufacturers eat Honda’s lunch and grab hold of the next generation, the way Hyundai is ostensibly attempting it.
Then you have VW… a whole generation of missed opportunities. The Golf is product that really ought to inspire this kind of generational loyalty, but it doesn’t because the quality reputation is so bad. Those of use who had Gen2 Rabbits and Jettas are very likely not driving VW’s today. It’s hard to think that the Jetta today is drawing back previous VW drivers… I think it’s more of a case that it’s at a price point that is hard to ignore.
Speaking of generational advertising, check out this podcast:
http://www.cbc.ca/ageofpersuasion/episode/season-5/2011/05/28/season-five-ageism-in-advertising-1/
Terry O’Reilly makes the point that advertising gets it wrong by targeting the 18-35 demographic… it’s still the older crowd that spends more money and brings in the dough. He argues that the perception of younger consumers being more free spending and market savvy is a myth… because most people who work in advertising and marketing are under the age of 30.
Side note: I heard that podcast, and while I really like Terry O’Reilly, I think he got that one somewhat wrong.
People don’t sell to older folks because the current crop of older folks don’t see themselves as old, and absolutely won’t buy something targed as such. This is interesting, because the next group up (Gen-X) by and large self-identifies as “old” more than the Boomers do. The reason advertising targets the young was classically because the young were are more lucrative market (which is less and less the case as time marches on), but now it’s because of self-denialism on the part of an ageing population.
Or, to put it in car terms, you could probably sell a Buick to a Gen-Xer with greater ease than you could a Boomer, whereas the reverse would be true of, say, the Camaro.
Now, whether or not Advertising is the cause or effect of this, that’s a different topic. And +1 for mentioning Age of Persuasion—it’s a great show.
Yeah, O’Reilly’s show is great. I think the only people with any real spending money are those far enough along that their kids have moved out of the house.
Also, psarhjinian, you may well be right about the Boomers, but however young we might be (or feign to be) in mind or spirit, anyone who is not marketing to all those aging bodies has made a major error, because they are the ones who tend to be far enough along that their kids have moved out of the house.
p.s., I’m at the tail end of the Boomers myself, but I still have very young kids (I was a late starter in the family department), so I don’t fall clearly into either of the categories mentioned above.
…however young we might be (or feign to be) in mind or spirit, anyone who is not marketing to all those aging bodies has made a major error…
I don’t think that it’s a matter of not marketing products to an older clientèle, it’s marketing products to an older clientèle in such a way as to not make them feel old. That’s what the point I think Mr. O’Reilly missed.
Take the Kia Soul or Viagra as examples: sure, they solve problems that older people have, but they’re selling a young lifestyle. Neither work for me because a) I don’t need what the Soul offers, and b) thirtysomething professionals with young children are usually falling asleep on the couch at the end of the day. I need a Au Pair and my mortgage paid off, not Viagra.
…so I don’t fall clearly into either of the categories mentioned above.
You’re talking to someone who sits right on the line between G-X and Millenial, and by that I mean I’m a nihilist with no attention span.
Agreed how strange the Jetta proposition is. They might as well have dropped the Jetta nameplate. Tough to blame the thought process, though. The enthusiast in the US who wants a baby benz [granted this was a more apt comparison in MK3 and MK4] is limited in numbers, so let’s give America the crapboxes they seem to love, ala the Corolla. The enthusiasts can still grab the GLI if gearheads or the Sportwagen TDI if greenies. The baby-benzers will now seek the Focus, but they’re willing to lose these. Or as your good points on generations suggest, those who sought out MK3 and MK4 Jettas from 1995-2004 are in 3-series territory today, anyway.
They still have the Golf for people who want the old-school VW mojo (and are willing to accept buying a hatchback and rolling the VW reliability dice.)
Every time I see one, I look longingly at the Mk6 Golf, and then remember the servicing I had to do on my Mk1 GTi. I think the key problem is that the Golf’s proposition is interior quality and practicality, but in the age of the internet, people are attuned to things like specs and reliability.
The Mk6 GTi makes a fairly solid unique selling proposition (USP) for itself, and the diesel models if you live in an appropriate area, but not so much for the cars underneath it. Take your typical gas powered Golf… roughly the same size as Civic but weighs as much as an Accord, and gets similar milage to boot. Shame, really. What i would really want is a car like the Fit, quality and magic seats and all, but with the size and interior quality of the Golf.
VW has a chance to improve on their reliability perception with these new cars. I don’t know if they can increase their market share if it is the same old Volkswagen reliability and perhaps dealer satisfaction issues.
They would otherwise risk driving buyers looking for competitively-priced mainstream cars with a European flavour to Fiat.
OK, joking there, but the strange way things are going in this industry, it could happen!
The ‘crapbox’ Corolla is a car that actually works. It isn’t the bland that sells it, it is Toyota’s 40 years of not building Volkswagens.
Agreed. It “actually works” like a 650 square foot bungalow does, and there’s correspondingly a big market for Corollas. Sufficient shelter, and it works, but most people want more.
USAToday’s Healey also gave thumbs down on the Focus, couldn’t recommend it. In a nutshell, it’s cramped, noisy and seriously overpriced.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/reviews/healey/2011-05-12-ford-focus_n.htm
Ford has a history of producing inferior small cars that sell well initially and then fade fast. See Falcon, Maverick, Pinto, Focus et al.
re: USA Today says the Focus is noisy. It’s a good point showing the subjectivity of cars and the limitation of reviews. Jack Baruth said the Focus is as quiet as it should be, while Michael Karesh said both “the quantity and quality of the noise that enters the cabin suggest a premium car.” Obviously everybody needs to test drive themselves, but I have the perception that TTAC reviews are much more thoughtful than the competition.
I’ve driven the Focus and really liked it. I thought it was fairly refined as compacts go, and actually reminded me a little of the Golf/Jetta family, at least on the positive side of the slate (which, interestingly enough, were also always thought to be refined, but slightly overpriced).
The intermediate Fairlane, and then the Mustang, killed Falcon sales. People forget that most of the early Mustangs were sold with sixes or mild-mannered, base V-8s.
Sales of compacts as a whole were weak from about 1964 until the early 1970s, as the intermediates and ponycars stole sales from the segment. As intermediates became more bloated, and the ponycars emphasized performance with big V-8s and bigger size, compact sales rebounded in the 1970s – led by the Maverick, Duster/Demon/Dart Sport and Nova.
The Maverick sold well in the 1970s, until it the Granada debuted. What killed it was an in-house competitor.
The Pinto also sold well throughout the 1970s. Sales were even good in 1979, when it was seriously long in the tooth, and stories about the fuel-tank fires were in the news.
The Focus sold well at first, dipped in the wake of the recall fiasco, and then rebounded with the 2008 redo.
It doesn’t look to me as though sales of Ford’s small cars fade immediately after a good year or two. If anything, with most of these cars, sales remained strong until Ford introduced an in-house competitor that stole customers from the older sibling. The exception is the Focus, which sputtered because of the early recalls and quality problems, but it did eventually recover after a redesign and several years of quality improvements.
Good points, and hence my comment above about the C-Max.
I’m amused that the general consensus of the comments section below the article is that Healey is an old coot whose complaints are either baseless (engine noise, it sounds good to me in the video as well) or miss the point of the car altogether.
I’ll give the man the right to his opinion, but the bit in the video of him using the MyFord Touch system shows yet another reviewer who misses the point of the system entirely. There is a lot on the screen, and a lot of small buttons, yes, but that’s why the system has so many built in shortcuts and excellent voice recognition – you aren’t supposed to be fiddling with the screen while you are driving. Use the screen to set up your shortcuts and delve into the deeper functions while stopped, but while driving anything you would ever need to do can be accomplished with a simple voice command without taking your eyes off of the road or your hands off of the wheel.
Specifically calling out the Focus for not having a back up alarm at the 20 grand price point stuck out as being ridiculous on all levels. Does he mean a parking sensor, or should all cars beep like dump trucks when reversing? On the other hand, one of his biggest detractors(Zoom-Zoom Diva) similarly destroyed his/her/its credibility by saying that there was plenty of room in the front and back seats of the Focus for a 6’2″ passenger to get comfortable.