The midsized car segment continues to lose share in the US car market in the first three quarters of 2021. Sales were down 1% in an overall market up 13%, to just over 1.08 million deliveries. The share of midsized cars down to 9.2% from 10.6% of the same period of 2020. In Q3, sales of midsized sedans were down 21%in an overall market down 13%.
The Toyota Camry and Honda Accord maintain firmly in control of the segment, combining for 38.3% of its sales, up from 31.9% in the first nine months of 2020. The Camry has already outsold the Accord by nearly 100,000 units so far this year thanks to sales up 25%. If the Nissan Altima was on the podium after the first half of the year, it’s knocked down in Q3 by both the Tesla Model 3 and the Hyundai Sonata. The Altima was also outsold in Q3 by the Kia K5 and even by the BMW 3-Series by just a handful of cars. The Chevrolet Malibu and Ford Fusion have reached the end of their life cycles and each sold less than 270 copies in Q3, dropping to #9 and #19 overall year-to-date. With their demise, there are no more domestic mainstream midsized cars. The Subaru Legacy is down 7% so far this year while the Volkswagen Passat is back up to 14th place overall and the Mazda6 is up 19% on last year to #18. Further below, the Volkswagen Arteon is up 84% but remains a niche player. The new generation Toyota Mirai is up over sixfold and closing in on the Honda Clarity.
Luxury midsized models outperform their mainstream rivals at +5% as they now make up 30% of the midsize segment, up from 28.1% in the same period last year. In Q3, the luxury models made up nearly 35% of midsized models. The Tesla Model 3 is one of the worst performing models with sales down 24%, most likely due to the launch of the Model Y crossover. Keep in mind we have to estimate Tesla sales by model and region as the brand itself does not specify them. Still, the Model 3 has moved on to the overall podium, outselling its nearest rival BMW 3-Series by over 50,000 deliveries. The Lexus ES holds on to third place among luxury models, although the Mercedes-Benz C-Class outsold it in Q3 by a handful of deliveries. The C-Class distances the Acura TLX and Lexus IS in Q3 although the latter two still outperform for the year so far. The BMW 4-Series almost triples its sales and opens a gap to the Audi A4 and A5 which are just about stable on last year. The Infiniti Q50 and Volvo 60 Series are down on last year, and the Genesis G70 and Alfa Romeo Giulia move ahead of the Cadillac CT4.
US midsized car sales 2021 – Q1-Q3
| Midsized segment | 2021 – Q1-Q3 | 2020 – Q1-Q3 | Change | 2021 Share | 2020 Share | |
| 1 | Toyota Camry | 256.769 | 204.945 | 25% | 23,7% | 18,7% |
| 2 | Honda Accord | 157.988 | 145.291 | 9% | 14,6% | 13,2% |
| 3 | Tesla Model 3 (est.) |
87.910 | 115.000 | -24% | 8,1% | 10,5% |
| 4 | Hyundai Sonata | 80.460 | 53.126 | 51% | 7,4% | 4,8% |
| 5 | Nissan Altima | 75.508 | 97.082 | -22% | 7,0% | 8,8% |
| 6 | Kia K5 | 73.456 | 10.662 | 589% | 6,8% | 1,0% |
| 7 | BMW 3-series | 37.367 | 28.720 | 30% | 3,5% | 2,6% |
| 8 | Lexus ES | 34.053 | 29.784 | 14% | 3,1% | 2,7% |
| 9 | Chevrolet Malibu | 32.155 | 73.399 | -56% | 3,0% | 6,7% |
| 10 | Mercedes-Benz C-Class | 29.084 | 20.597 | 41% | 2,7% | 1,9% |
| 11 | Acura TLX | 22.932 | 15.121 | 52% | 2,1% | 1,4% |
| 12 | Lexus IS | 20.160 | 8.721 | 131% | 1,9% | 0,8% |
| 13 | Subaru Legacy | 18.695 | 20.036 | -7% | 1,7% | 1,8% |
| 14 | Volkswagen Passat | 16.504 | 16.190 | 2% | 1,5% | 1,5% |
| 15 | BMW 4-series | 16.305 | 5.633 | 189% | 1,5% | 0,5% |
| 16 | Audi A4 / S4 | 14.525 | 14.322 | 1% | 1,3% | 1,3% |
| 17 | Audi A5 / S5 | 14.477 | 14.029 | 3% | 1,3% | 1,3% |
| 18 | Mazda6 | 14.271 | 11.965 | 19% | 1,3% | 1,1% |
| 19 | Ford Fusion | 11.678 | 90.664 | -87% | 1,1% | 8,3% |
| 20 | Infiniti Q50 | 11.384 | 13.086 | -13% | 1,1% | 1,2% |
| 21 | Volvo 60 series | 10.413 | 12.415 | -16% | 1,0% | 1,1% |
| 22 | Kia Stinger | 10.377 | 9.792 | 6% | 1,0% | 0,9% |
| 23 | Genesis G70 | 7.719 | 7.124 | 8% | 0,7% | 0,6% |
| 24 | Alfa Romeo Giulia | 6.114 | 5.643 | 8% | 0,6% | 0,5% |
| 25 | Cadillac CT4 | 5.857 | 2.168 | 170% | 0,5% | 0,2% |
| 26 | Volkswagen Arteon | 4.865 | 2.641 | 84% | 0,4% | 0,2% |
| 27 | Lexus RC | 2.720 | 2.639 | 3% | 0,3% | 0,2% |
| 28 | Honda Clarity | 2.428 | 2.598 | -7% | 0,2% | 0,2% |
| 29 | Toyota Mirai | 2.268 | 341 | 565% | 0,2% | 0,0% |
| 30 | Infiniti Q60 | 2.202 | 2.286 | -4% | 0,2% | 0,2% |
| 31 | Lincoln MKZ | 1.665 | 10.133 | -84% | 0,2% | 0,9% |
| 32 | Jaguar XE | 111 | 1.286 | -91% | 0,0% | 0,1% |
| 33 | Buick Regal | 38 | 2.425 | -98% | 0,0% | 0,2% |
| 34 | Kia Optima | 16 | 48.101 | -100% | 0,0% | 4,4% |
| 35 | Chrysler 200 | 5 | 7 | -29% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 36 | Volkswagen CC | 3 | 90 | -97% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 37 | Cadillac ATS | 0 | 110 | -100% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| Segment total | 1.082.482 | 1.098.172 | -1% |
Source: Manufacturers.