Chart Of The Day: Midsized Sedans In September And Year-To-Date
October 6th, 2011 6:06 PM
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We had midsized madness last month, as the Altima came within 500 units of unseating the mighty Camry and Sonata came within 500 units of sending the Accord tumbling further down the chart. Of the top ten best-sellers in the D-segment, only half beat their year-ago numbers, including Altima, Fusion, Impala, 200 and Optima. And though the YTD chart, which you can find in the gallery below, reflects the monthly sales order quite faithfully, it’s getting tighter… especially among the major players. Between the Malibu (171,266) and the Camry (229,521) there are six models in a 58,255-unit pack, and in September the Sonata pulled ahead of Malibu to snag fifth place. As we enter the fourth quarter, the competition is heating up…
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With the domestic models handily topping sales in other segments, ten bucks says there will not be similar "chart of the day" threads for Sub compacts, Compacts, Crossovers and Pickups.
Folks stop using the Impala rental mule argument. I was at Newark international airport a few months ago and I saw just as many Malibu’s as Impalas in the rental car lot. The simple fact is the American public for some reason likes the Impala better than the Malibu. The Impala leads the Malibu in both retail and rental sales. In a little display of sanity the Fusion has finally surpassed the Impala as the best selling "American" car. For five years I pondered in disbelief on why the Impala was the best selling American car. With the Fusion being number one I am not scratching my head anymore. I drove a 2009 Impala once and found it was a very good highway cruiser. It drove smoothly for 300 uneventful miles. Actually, I found it more comfortable than the Malibu. In comparison the Malibu is cramped and visibility is compromised by a low roof line. If you get an Impala with the 3.9 you actually have a pretty powerful car. I think this is the engine in some Impalas used in a few police departments. I am pretty sure the Impala I drove would go under 7 seconds to 60mph. The performance was pretty similar to the 2000 Intrigue I used to own, which is not surprising since Impala rides on the same platform. It is hard to believe , but the Impala’s chassis goes all the way back to the 1988 GM-10 cars that were supposed to take on the once great Taurus.