Cain's Segments: Compacts Lifted By Cruze And Dart

Compact cars, many of which are now as roomy as older midsize cars, collectively sold at a significantly better rate in the first half of 2013 than in the first half of 2012.

It may have proven to be a bit of a disappointment thus far, but 35,764 of the extra 87,149 compact sales have come from the Dodge Dart. Exclude small Dodges from the equation and compact sales in America are up 4.8% this year. America’s auto industry has produced a 7.5% improvement.

But that’s not a fair comparison. The Dart, America’s 27th-best-selling car, has had an impact on the compact market, however small that impact may have been. In truth, compact car sales are up 8% in 2013 and rose 15.1% in June, specifically.

That June improvement had much more to do with the Chevrolet Cruze’s 73.2% improvement than it did with the Dart’s 6235-unit boost. The Cruze was America’s second-best-selling car in June, trailing only the all-conquering Toyota Camry. Honda also reported its second year-over-year increase in 2013. Subaru Impreza volume grew for the first time since December of last year. After falling 6.3% in the first quarter of 2013, Ford Focus sales rose 11.5% in 2013’s second quarter. June marked the Hyundai Elantra’s twelfth consecutive year-over-year increase. With a 25.5% boost, Hyundai added 4508 sales with the Elantra. A good thing, too, as without it, the rest of the Hyundai brand fell 7.2%.

And while sales of the Toyota Corolla (and its Matrix sibling which Toyota USA affixes to it) fell slightly in June, Corolla volume is up 4.8% in 2013. Its lead over the Honda Civic as America’s top-selling small car stands at a narrow 268-unit margin. Regardless of how Toyota has gone about generating such volume, that’s a lead deserving of praise.

The Corolla is ancient, not as efficient as its rival; not as refined or as powerful or as comfortable, either. Yet its reputation for invincibility garners for Toyota an average of 26,500 buyers per month, an astounding sum for a car that hasn’t been remotely new since before W. Bush’s first midterm election success.

Notes: Not quite premium but awfully costly for conventional compact buyers, the Acura ILX and Buick Verano own a little less than 3% of the compact category, as the category is defined here. June marked the first time Chevrolet managed to sell more than 26,000 Cruze sedans in a single month. Since rising consistently from December through April, Dart sales have tumbled from 8099 to 7448 to 6437 in June. Ford Focus sales were higher last year than they’d been since 2002 – the Focus is on pace for more than 250,000 U.S. sales this year. Kia hasn’t sold more than 8000 Fortes in a single month since June 2011, but it’s safe to assume the much-improved new car will top that with ease once inventory rises. Cars.com says Kia dealers currently have more than 8000 MY2013 Souls in stock but not much more than 6000 MY2014 Fortes. Mazda 3 sales were higher last year than they’d ever been, but the pace has proven hard to match as the current 3 reaches the end of its tenure. Only once this year has Mazda recorded a year-over-year increase in 3 sales. Nissan should sell more than 115,000 Sentras this year for the first time since 2006. 24% of of the Subaru Impreza’s total comes from the WRX. Subaru has also sold 25,090 XV Crosstreks this year. If considered a compact car rather than a crossover, the extra XV sales would mean the compact is up 10.3% this year. Volkswagen’s Golf total includes 9062 Golfs powered by five-cylinders and diesels plus 6551 GTIs and 1171 copies of the Golf R. Jetta volume is made up from 70,511 sedans and 10,785 SportWagens, which are actually Golfs.

Independent analyst Timothy Cain is the founder and editor of GoodCarBadCar.net. His look at the important segments are a permanent fixture at TTAC, along with a look at the market up North.