Cain's Segments June 2014: Compact Cars

After a troubling first third of 2014, passenger car sales in May were resurgent in large part because of big numbers achieved by small cars. Overall car sales were down 2% through the end of April, but with a 9% year-over-year May increase (in a longer month with an extra weekend), there have now been a few more cars sold in the first five months of 2014 than during the same period one year earlier.

Compact car sales punched above their weight class, however, rising 15% in May 2014 and 3% year-to-date. If we adopt a narrower definition of the compact category by excluding the surging Kia Soul, new Fiat 500L, Scion xB, and defunct Dodge Caliber and Chevrolet HHR, compact sales were still up 13% in May.

At this point last year, the Toyota Corolla (sales of which include the dying Matrix as per Toyota USA’s release) was 3534 sales ahead of the second-ranked Honda Civic. By the end of calendar year 2013, the Civic had generated 34,000 more sales than the Toyota. Corolla sales are up 8% this year, however, a much faster growth rate than Honda is achieving with the Civic, and the gap is 8613 units in the Toyota’s favour.

The Chevrolet Cruze is the only other compact close to the top-selling duo. Not since February has the Cruze outsold the Civic. The Corolla has been the best-selling compact car in America in every month since December.

U.S. sales of the Hyundai Elantra have increased in each of the last six calendar years, but Elantra volume is down by 8752 units year-to-date. After a sluggish 2013, the Elantra’s partner car at Kia, the Forte, is on pace to get back to 2011 levels, when Forte volume was at its best. The Forte plays second fiddle to the Soul in Kia showrooms. Although not by any means shaped like a typical compact sedan, the Soul is an appealing car for a wide swathe of the car-buying public. It’s outselling all but the seven most popular compacts in America in 2014.

The Focus tells a typically Ford car sales story for 2014: sales of the C-Max, Fiesta, Taurus, and Focus are all down, and the slight gains by the Mustang and the Fusion’s slim 1% increase haven’t overcome those deficits. Ford brand car sales are down 7% this year.

Nissan sold nearly three times as many Sentras in May 2014 as in May 2012; more than in May 2012 and May 2013 combined. Included in the Volkswagen Jetta’s somewhat disappointing total are 1866 May SportWagen sales, a 2% increase. Jetta sedan sales are down 3% to 55,646 through five months. Mazda 3 sales are down this year, but after stabilizing in March, 3 volume jumped 21% in April and 20% in May.

Not included in the Subaru Impreza’s sales tally are the 5778 May sales of the raised Impreza, the XV Crosstrek, sales of which have risen 39% in 2014. Subaru reported an 8% increase to 5659 Impreza sales in May (up 6% to 25,822 YTD) in addition to a record-high 2957 WRX/STi sales; 11,170 so far this year.

Dodge Dart sales have not lived up to what FCA had anticipated. That May’s 8644 Dart sales represents a record high for the nameplate only highlights that fact. (Fiat 500L sales also reached a record high in May, although at 1434 units, the 500L was well back of even the Mini Countryman.)

We’ve included the semi-premium Buick Verano and Acura ILX in this list of mainstream compacts. The Verano is clearly not a high-volume car, but it’s a pleasant profit-driving addition on top of the Cruze’s total for GM. The ILX is proving to be even rarer this year than it was last year.

Look for Volkswagen Golf sales figures to rise quite quickly soon, although there’s sadly little potential for anything more than mid-pack results. Volkswagen derives a large chunk of the Golf’s sales – a majority these days, in fact – from the enthusiast-oriented GTI. At TTAC, we’re all too aware of the mass market appeal of a car that succeeds to a greater degree on the enthusiast front.