Sales of subcompact cars in the US are down 8% 2021, in an overall passenger car market up 3%. In Q4, subcompact car sales were down 32% in a market down 21%. Subcompact cars now make up just 1.3% of the US car market, down from 1.5% in 2020. Only four models from three brands will remain in this class after this year, with all other brands withdrawing. At just under 198,000 deliveries, this is the lowest annual volume since 2006 when just five models were sold.
Low fuel prices and the ever-increasing popularity of crossovers are of course the main factors for this decline in both market share and availability of models. Only four nameplates from three brands will remain in 2022, and those four all improved their sales in 2021 as customers had fewer options to choose from. The Kia Soul holds on to its top spot and grows its share of the class to 38% thanks to sales up 5%. The Nissan Versa improves 26% on last year and grows its share to 30.8%. However, in Q4 the Versa was down by 42%. Big winner of the class is the Kia Rio, up 31% to 15.9% share. Its platform sibling Hyundai Accent is up 23% but remains in fourth place with just under 10% market share.
All other nameplates have been discontinued, and in the last quarter we only saw 18 deliveries of the Chevrolet Sonic and 13 of the Fiat 500L. The Honda Fit and Toyota Yaris racked up zero deliveries in Q4.
US subcompact car sales 2021
| Subcompact segment | 2021 | 2020 | Change | 2021 Share | 2020 Share | 2021-Q4 | 2020-Q4 | Change | |
| 1 | Kia Soul | 75.126 | 71.862 | 5% | 38,0% | 33,3% | 14.781 | 16.531 | -11% |
| 2 | Nissan Versa | 60.913 | 48.273 | 26% | 30,8% | 22,4% | 10.344 | 17.965 | -42% |
| 3 | Kia Rio | 31.362 | 23.927 | 31% | 15,9% | 11,1% | 7.467 | 5.884 | 27% |
| 4 | Hyundai Accent | 19.614 | 15.975 | 23% | 9,9% | 7,4% | 4.778 | 3.660 | 31% |
| 5 | Honda Fit | 8.695 | 32.488 | -73% | 4,4% | 15,1% | 0 | 8.100 | -100% |
| 6 | Chevrolet Sonic | 1.581 | 13.007 | -88% | 0,8% | 6,0% | 18 | 2.208 | -99% |
| 7 | Toyota Yaris | 205 | 6.422 | -97% | 0,1% | 3,0% | 0 | 782 | -100% |
| 8 | Fiat 500L | 190 | 475 | -60% | 0,1% | 0,2% | 13 | 83 | -84% |
| 9 | Ford Fiesta | 0 | 3.354 | -100% | 0,0% | 1,6% | 0 | 62 | -100% |
| Segment total | 197.686 | 215.783 | -8% | 37.401 | 55.275 | -32% |
Source: Manufacturers.