The midsized car segment narrowly beats the overall US passenger car market in the first three quarters of 2022. At just over 944,000 deliveries, midsized car sales are down 12% on last year while the overall market is down 13%. As a result, the midsized class keeps its share of the market stable at 9.2%. In Q3, the midsized car segment was down 1% in a stable overall market.
Like its compact sibling, the Toyota Camry is unbeatable in 2022, despite losing some share with sales down 16%. It’s already over 75,000 deliveries ahead of its nearest competitor and delivered over 100,000 more units than its traditional rival Honda Accord. The Camry was almost stable in Q3, while the Tesla Model 3 was up 59% but still far off the #1 spot. Meanwhile, the Accord lost 31% in the third quarter and is still down by 30% year-to-date. At least the Accord distances the Nissan Altima, despite the latter’s big improvement on a forgettable 2021. The Chevrolet Malibu also makes a great rebound in 5th place after struggling last year. In contrast, the two South-Korean midsized models are struggling this year, losing share of the class. The Subaru Legacy drops to #12 as it fell behind the rest of the class in Q3. The Kia Stinger is losing ground quickly, while deliveries of the Volkwagen Passat have come to a full stop in Q3 and the same goes for the Mazda6 and Honda Clarity. The Passat’s sibling Arteon has come back to life after a very slow first half of the year, but it’s still way down on last year and still trails the niche Toyota Mirai which sold just 79 units in Q3.
Luxury midsized models outperform their mainstream rivals at -1% as they now make up 33.4% of the midsize segment, up from 29.6% in the first three quarters of 2021. The Tesla Model 3 is obviously the luxury leader in overall 2nd place, followed by the Lexus ES in overall 8th place with sales down just 5%. The BMW 4-Series and 3-Series complete the top-10 just ahead of the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, as the latter has just been redesigned. The C-Class looks set to leapfrog the 3-Series by the end of the year if supplies of the new generation pick up. The Lexus IS stays ahead of the Audi A5 and A4, which both improved by more than 50% in the third quarter as they were struggling just a year ago. The Genesis G70 keeps improving, moving ahead of the Acura TLX which was even outsold by the Cadillac CT4 in Q3. Sales of the Volvo 60-Series were down by half in the third quarter, but the Infiniti Q50 did even worse at -82%. That allows the Alfa Romeo Giulia to close in year-to-date. The Lexus RC leapfrogged the Infiniti Q60 for 24th plac.
US midsized car sales 2022 Q1-Q3
| Midsized segment | 2022 Q1-Q3 | 2021 Q1-Q3 | Change | 2022 Share | 2022-Q3 | Change | |
| 1 | Toyota Camry | 214.403 | 256.769 | -16% | 22,7% | 78.478 | -1% |
| 2 | Tesla Model 3 (est.) | 138.100 | 81.610 | 69% | 14,6% | 48.000 | 59% |
| 3 | Honda Accord | 110.463 | 157.988 | -30% | 11,7% | 30.041 | -31% |
| 4 | Nissan Altima | 106.122 | 75.508 | 41% | 11,2% | 27.512 | 103% |
| 5 | Chevrolet Malibu | 79.799 | 32.155 | 148% | 8,5% | 21.630 | 7941% |
| 6 | Kia K5 | 53.563 | 73.456 | -27% | 5,7% | 18.251 | -18% |
| 7 | Hyundai Sonata | 35.238 | 80.460 | -56% | 3,7% | 15.643 | -40% |
| 8 | Lexus ES | 32.372 | 34.053 | -5% | 3,4% | 10.494 | -7% |
| 9 | BMW 4-series | 23.402 | 16.305 | 44% | 2,5% | 9.377 | 149% |
| 10 | BMW 3-series | 19.667 | 37.367 | -47% | 2,1% | 5.337 | -61% |
| 11 | Mercedes-Benz C-Class | 18.124 | 29.084 | -38% | 1,9% | 8.980 | -20% |
| 12 | Subaru Legacy | 17.159 | 18.695 | -8% | 1,8% | 4.824 | -16% |
| 13 | Lexus IS | 16.331 | 20.160 | -19% | 1,7% | 5.420 | -20% |
| 14 | Audi A5 / S5 | 13.577 | 14.477 | -6% | 1,4% | 4.953 | 56% |
| 15 | Audi A4 / S4 | 10.825 | 14.525 | -25% | 1,1% | 3.542 | 52% |
| 16 | Genesis G70 | 9.952 | 7.719 | 29% | 1,1% | 3.190 | 9% |
| 17 | Acura TLX | 9.154 | 22.932 | -60% | 1,0% | 2.032 | -73% |
| 18 | Cadillac CT4 | 7.091 | 5.857 | 21% | 0,8% | 2.581 | 178% |
| 19 | Kia Stinger | 6.643 | 10.377 | -36% | 0,7% | 1.480 | -62% |
| 20 | Volvo 60 series | 5.521 | 10.413 | -47% | 0,6% | 1.517 | -50% |
| 21 | Infiniti Q50 | 4.230 | 11.384 | -63% | 0,4% | 513 | -82% |
| 22 | Alfa Romeo Giulia | 3.662 | 6.114 | -40% | 0,4% | 1.338 | -27% |
| 23 | Volkswagen Passat | 2.408 | 16.504 | -85% | 0,3% | 0 | -100% |
| 24 | Lexus RC | 1.950 | 2.720 | -28% | 0,2% | 800 | -21% |
| 25 | Infiniti Q60 | 1.641 | 2.202 | -25% | 0,2% | 238 | -65% |
| 26 | Toyota Mirai | 1.437 | 2.268 | -37% | 0,2% | 79 | -88% |
| 27 | Volkswagen Arteon | 941 | 4.865 | -81% | 0,1% | 771 | -63% |
| 28 | Mazda6 | 335 | 14.271 | -98% | 0,0% | 1 | -100% |
| 29 | Honda Clarity | 208 | 2.428 | -91% | 0,0% | 1 | -100% |
| 30 | Buick Regal | 15 | 38 | -61% | 0,0% | 0 | -100% |
| 31 | Jaguar XE | 10 | 111 | -91% | 0,0% | 0 | -100% |
| 32 | Chrysler 200 | 2 | 5 | -60% | 0,0% | 0 | -100% |
| 33 | Volkswagen CC | 1 | 3 | -67% | 0,0% | 0 | – |
| 34 | Ford Fusion | 0 | 11.678 | -100% | 0,0% | 0 | -100% |
| 35 | Lincoln MKZ | 0 | 1.665 | -100% | 0,0% | 0 | -100% |
| Segment total | 944.346 | 1.076.166 | -12% | 307.023 | -1% |
Source: Manufacturers.