Cain's Segments: Subcompact Cars In September 2014

In a U.S. auto industry that’s seen total new vehicle sales rise 5.5% over the first nine months of 2014, car sales are up just 1% year-over-year.

Subcompacts are performing slightly better, rising 2.8% through the end of September. During the month of September, specifically, the subcompact category grew 4.9% as overall car sales rose just 2.2%.

Yet the majority of cars in the subcompact segment are selling less often in 2014 than in 2013, not just in September but over the course of 2014’s first three-quarters.

Yaris volume has tumbled 46.3% this year as Toyota approached the launch of a refreshed 2015 model. In the meantime, sales of the Prius C have fallen 4.7%. The Mazda 2’s 40% burst means little given the low-volume nature of the car, but we expect greater things from Mazda when the next 2 arrives.

Despite increases from its Hyundai platform-sharing partner, the Kia Rio is down 11.6% to 29,387. The Rio and Hyundai Accent have combined for market share of 18.5% this year, down from 19.6% at this stage a year ago. (Their September share dropped from 19.0% to 13.9%.)

The Chevrolet Sonic, on the other hand, is up 12% to 77,947, the segment’s second-best nine-month result. The Sonic is a distant second to the Nissan Versa, of course, but this is nevertheless a welcome result for General Motors. Chevrolet averaged 6771 Sonic sales per month in 2012, 7137/month last year, and 8661/month in 2014.

Nissan’s Versa plays both value and space cards, and it does so to great effect. Over one-quarter of all subcompact sales in America go Nissan’s way. The Versa is also the only car in the class which sells anywhere near as often as its compact sibling. (Examples: the Focus outsells the Fiesta by more than 3-to-1. The Cruze outsells the Sonic by 2.7-to-1. Civic to Fit equals 6.4-to-1. Sentra sales are up 43% to 141,216 this year.)

The Fit is the most interesting nameplate in the subcompact class this year as Honda launched the car in third-gen form in the late summer/early fall. Fit sales jumped by 2647 units in September as the car’s market share in the category grew from 9.8% in September 2013 to 15.6% last month. U.S. Fit volume peaked at 79,794 units in 2008 but Honda has averaged fewer than 57,000 annual Fit sales since then.

Timothy Cain is the founder of GoodCarBadCar.net, which obsesses over the free and frequent publication of U.S. and Canadian auto sales figures.