June Sales: Subcompacts And Small Hatches

by Edward Niedermeyer

July 8th, 2010 11:50 AM

june sales subcompacts and small hatches

Kia’s Soul didn’t have the most electrifying launch sales-wise, but with the release of its second buzz-worthy ad, the funky little box is becoming a major player in our A/B/Small Hatch segment. The Nissan Versa is clearly the dominant player here, selling nearly twice as well as the Soul. Meanwhile, there’s a tight pack of offerings that have moved at least 20k units this year, that ranges from the aged HHR to the MINI Cooper. Look for a big shake-up in this segment once Ford’s Fiesta production hits high gear.

#Hatchbacks #NewCars #Sales #SmallCars #Subcompact

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12 of 46 comments

Tosh on Jul 08, 2010

It's confusing to have the Golf on this list when the Mazda 3, Civic, and Corolla/Matrix are not.

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- Syke on Jul 08, 2010
  
  And that's the problem: To keep the figures even you'd have to split the Matrix sales from Corolla (which I believe Toyota doesn't), and somehow split the Mazda3 five-door sales from the four-door (which Mazda definitely doesn't), and I don't think the Civic comes in a hatchback. Either that, or, combine Golf/Jetta to even it up, and destroy the whole basis for the graph in the first place.
  
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Mtymsi on Jul 08, 2010

My guess is that Ford will dominate this segment by a wide margin very shortly.

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- Psarhjinian on Jul 08, 2010
  
  Not necessarily. The Versa is, by a large margin, the vehicle to beat in this segment and the virtues it brings to the table are not ones that the Fiesta can beat: it's a smaller, more cramped, harder-riding car. The little Ford will take chunks out of the Fit for the most part, and possibly the Yaris, but those people weren't Versa buyers to start with.
  
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- NulloModo on Jul 08, 2010
  
  The people I see driving Versas are, by and large, retirees or people who have rented them (rented Versas that is, not rented retirees). The Fiesta is an important part of the puzzle for Ford because it will allow Ford to start building up a younger customer base again. When Detroit was king back in the 60s and 70s the children of that era grew up looking to Detroit first for their new cars. Detroit dropped the ball, and those that grew up in the 80s and 90s are now looking at Toyota, Honda, and other imports first, the cars their parents had, when they go shopping. Ford obviously wants to reverse this trend, and getting younger buyers back into the fold will lead to a lot more sales in the future. The Fiesta is low margin vehicle both for Ford and for dealers. A base Fiesta has a total markup, invoice to MSRP, of about $150. Dealers aren't going to make tons of money selling Fiestas right now, but if you get a 20 something customer who buys a Fiesta today, you have a good chance of getting them back to buy a Fusion or Edge a few years down the road when they get married and start a family, and then a high profit Explorer, Expedition or F150 another few steps down the road when their kids get older and they need more space, or need a truck to cart stuff around for the house or tow the boat.
  
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- Mtymsi on Jul 08, 2010
  
  I don't think the Fiesta sales will effect Versa sales to any great extent but I do think Ford is going to sell at least twice as many Fiesta's annually as Nissan sells Versa's. I think a lot of the sales are going to come from younger demographics but I also think they're going to do well across the demographic spectrum. In essence, the Fiesta sales will increase the total segment sales. I don't see the majority of Fiesta buyers cross shopping the Versa. IMO a lot of Fiesta sales will be because of the styling especially the 5 door model.
  
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- PrincipalDan on Jul 08, 2010
  
  Maybe the Fiesta will be a 21st Century Mustang? Hitting the youth market just right but capturing a wide swath of buyers and selling better than management could of predicted. MHO.
  
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- SV on Jul 08, 2010
  
  I don't think the Fiesta will necessarily outsell the Versa, which is appealing for the reasons psarhjinian mentioned, but I do think it has a good chance of outselling the Fit and Yaris (whose sales are much softer than I thought they were). Certainly selling 1,000 units with less than a week of availability is a very good sign. The Versa is in many ways the Impala of its segment: cheap, reliable, simple, comfortable. Not as outdated certainly, but still it has low enthusiast and high mainstream appeal. And for that reason, it sells in huge numbers relative to its peers (though I suspect alot of those numbers are fleet). The Fiesta meanwhile is counting on being "premium" and "trendy" and while that seems to be working out for Ford, I think that marketing approach and its small, sporty design narrow its appeal compared with the Nissan.
  
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MLS on Jul 08, 2010

Only 5,000 PT Cruisers sold so far this year? Ouch. I know the thing is old, but didn't Chrysler manage to move 100K+ per year back in the day?

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David C. Holzman on Jul 08, 2010

The Caliber in fifth place? ahead of the Fit, the MINI, the Golf??? Sick, I tell you.

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- NulloModo on Jul 08, 2010
  
  We usually have a couple Calibers on our used lot. We pick up one or two year old models at auction, under 30K miles (probably ex rentals) and sell them for $9,000 or $10,000 with automatic and A/C. If they sell for that low lightly used, I can imagine that the discounts on new ones must be pretty steep, and price sells.
  
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- TrailerTrash on Jul 09, 2010
  
  Not even sure Why the Caliber is even on this list. It is not that small a hatch, is it? I think it's even larger than the Mazda3.
  
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