Sales in the compact segment fell by 6 percent in the second quarter, exactly the same rate at which they fell in the first quarter of the year. This is a disappointing performance, given that the second quarter saw two high-selling models hit the market (Chevy Cruze and Hyundai Elantra), joining the Scion iM that was released in the fall of 2015. From among 17 models in this segment only 4 saw their sales rise in the first half of the year relative to 2015, leaving a few models to hold sales up the segment.
Highlights for first half of 2016:
- The top 3 models in the segment did well for themselves, with the new Honda Civic and the recently refreshed Nissan Sentra in particular seeing their sales rise by another 10 percent or so in the second quarter of the year, while Toyota Corolla sold pretty much as well as it did in Q2 2015
- Sales of the new Chevy Cruze and Hyundai Elantra are struggling to take off the ground, suggesting either consumers haven’t taken to the new models, or the carmakers are having supply issues
- The aging Subaru Impreza and Kia Forte continued doing surprisingly well in 2016, with sales of the latter in particular growing by 25 percent in the second quarter, the best from among all cars in the segment
- Sales of the VW Jetta continue being only some 15 percent lower than they were in 2015, no doubt thanks to generous incentives; however, these could be hurting the other VW products – after a great 2015, sales of VW Golf fell by 21 percent in Q2 2016, while those of VW Beetle collapse by half
- Speaking of cars whose sales have collapsed, Mitsubishi Lancer sold 35 percent fewer units in the second quarter than it did last year, Dodge Dart sold 49 percent fewer, while the Fiat 500L sold only a third of units it did in Q2 2015
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