Sales of subcompact cars rebounded slightly in Q3 of 2016 with an increase of 2%, to cut the year-to-date loss in half to 3%. That’s even despite the fact that a number of models in this segment is due for a redesign within the next 12 months, most notably the Ford Fiesta, Hyundai Accent and Kia Rio. Surprisingly, the latter two South-Korean models are actually the among the three fastest growing models of the segment in Q3, together with the Honda Fit.
Highlights for January – September 2016:
- The Kia Soul reclaimed the year-to-date lead of the segment from the Nissan Versa in the third quarter, as both the two distant leaders both showed double digit losses in Q3 to drop from growth in the first half to a loss in the nine month period.
As mentioned above, the Hyundai Accent and Kia Rio have shown remarkable growth in the third quarter, like they did in the second, despite being in their seventh and sixth year respectively and due to be renewed. Sales of the Accent grew 81% in Q3 and the Rio by 62%.- The Honda Fit has finally caught up with its supply shortages and is the fastest growing model in the segment in Q3 with sales up 86% to help the model leapfrog the Chevrolet Sonic in the year-to-date ranking to claim fourth place.
- The Sonic actually slowed its downfall to just 5% in Q3 vs -19% year-to-date, but the Ford Fiesta and Toyota Yaris, continued to lose with double digits.
- The Scion iA, renamed Toyota Yaris iA as the Scion brand was officially terminated in September, outsold the Rio and Sonic in Q3 and came within 200 units of the Fiesta, and that’s despite a big slowdown for the model in September due to the namechange and showroom switch. It’ll be interesting to see if the model can continue its growth under the larger Toyota brand compared to when it carried the now-defunct dedicated youth-brand.
Note: clicking on the model name opens the sales data page for that model; clicking year in the legend turns the display for that year on/off