The midsized car segment continues to lose share in the US car market in the first half of 2021. Sales were up 10% in an overall market up 29%, to just over 765,000 deliveries. The share of midsized cars is slightly up on Q1, to 9.2% from 8.9%, but still down on the 10.8% of the first half of 2020.
The Toyota Camry and Honda Accord maintain firmly in control of the segment, combining for 38.2% of its sales, up from 30.8% in the first half of 2020. The Camry sold nearly 100,000 units in Q2 alone, which helps it to outperform the overall market with sales up 41% in the half. The Accord moves even with the market at +29%, but the Nissan Altima in third place is down 10%. In Q2, the Altima was outsold by both the Hyundai Sonata and the Kia K5, but it holds on to its podium place for now. The Chevrolet Malibu and Ford Fusion are nearing the end of their life cycles as the Detroit-3 are pulling out of the mainstream midsized sedan segment. The Malibu sold less than 5,000 units in Q2 and is now down 33% for the year, while the Fusion sold just over 3,500 units in Q2 and is down 81% to #16. Ohter mainstream sedans are struggling to keep up with the market as well: he Subaru Legacy is up just 9% and the Volkswagen Passat is up 13% and will also be discontinued in the United States.
The Mazda6 manages to gain share at +24%, but the Kia Stinger is up just 2% and it too won’t be replaced after the current generation. The Volkswagen Arteon on the other hand is up 75% but remains a niche player, outselling only a couple of specialty models, the Honda Clarity which will end production soon and the Toyota Mirai fuel cell vehicle. The latter has just been renewed and is up significantly despite only being sold in areas where there is an infrastructure to refuel it.
Luxury midsized models outperform their mainstream rivals at +12% as they now make up 28.1% of the midsize segment. The Tesla Model 3 is one of the worst performing models with sales down 28%, 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. The BMW 3-Series, Lexus ES and Mercedes-Benz C-Class all gain just over 30% on last year, while the Acuar TLX and Lexus IS are closing in quickly with sales up 64% and 163% respectively. Like the IS, the BMW 4-Series is boosted by a new generation which triples its sales of last year and allows it to surpass the Audi A4 despite the latter also gaining 46%. The Audi A5 on the other hand is up just 10% and falls behind the 4-Series and A4. The Infiniti Q50 is down 8% and the Volvo 60-series is up just 9%. The Swedish brand will stop selling the V60 wagon in the United States as Americans are just very hard to convince about the virtues of wagons. The Cadillac CT4 is under threat from the Genesis G70 and Alfa Romeo Giulia but all still hold less than one percent share of class.
US midsized car sales 2021 – first half
| Midsized segment | 2021-H1 | 2020-H1 | Change | 2021 Share | 2020 Share | |
| 1 | Toyota Camry | 177.671 | 125.899 | 41% | 23,2% | 18,1% |
| 2 | Honda Accord | 114.707 | 88.754 | 29% | 15,0% | 12,7% |
| 3 | Nissan Altima | 61.930 | 69.049 | -10% | 8,1% | 9,9% |
| 4 | Hyundai Sonata | 54.198 | 30.289 | 79% | 7,1% | 4,3% |
| 5 | Tesla Model 3 | 51.510 | 72.000 | -28% | 6,7% | 10,3% |
| 6 | Kia K5 | 51.104 | 0 | New | 6,7% | 0,0% |
| 7 | Chevrolet Malibu | 31.886 | 47.944 | -33% | 4,2% | 6,9% |
| 8 | BMW 3-series | 23.776 | 18.326 | 30% | 3,1% | 2,6% |
| 9 | Lexus ES | 22.792 | 17.009 | 34% | 3,0% | 2,4% |
| 10 | Mercedes-Benz C-Class | 17.795 | 13.382 | 33% | 2,3% | 1,9% |
| 11 | Acura TLX | 15.412 | 9.414 | 64% | 2,0% | 1,4% |
| 12 | Lexus IS | 13.393 | 5.092 | 163% | 1,7% | 0,7% |
| 13 | Subaru Legacy | 12.921 | 11.901 | 9% | 1,7% | 1,7% |
| 14 | BMW 4-series | 12.533 | 3.957 | 217% | 1,6% | 0,6% |
| 15 | Audi A4 / S4 | 12.201 | 8.364 | 46% | 1,6% | 1,2% |
| 16 | Ford Fusion | 11.453 | 61.421 | -81% | 1,5% | 8,8% |
| 17 | Volkswagen Passat | 11.367 | 10.101 | 13% | 1,5% | 1,4% |
| 18 | Audi A5 / S5 | 11.295 | 10.311 | 10% | 1,5% | 1,5% |
| 19 | Mazda6 | 10.026 | 8.085 | 24% | 1,3% | 1,2% |
| 20 | Infiniti Q50 | 8.482 | 9.218 | -8% | 1,1% | 1,3% |
| 21 | Volvo 60 series | 7.371 | 6.738 | 9% | 1,0% | 1,0% |
| 22 | Kia Stinger | 6.498 | 6.351 | 2% | 0,8% | 0,9% |
| 23 | Cadillac CT4 | 4.930 | 632 | 680% | 0,6% | 0,1% |
| 24 | Genesis G70 | 4.789 | 4.392 | 9% | 0,6% | 0,6% |
| 25 | Alfa Romeo Giulia | 4.284 | 3.451 | 24% | 0,6% | 0,5% |
| 26 | Volkswagen Arteon | 2.781 | 1.585 | 75% | 0,4% | 0,2% |
| 27 | Honda Clarity | 2.103 | 1.780 | 18% | 0,3% | 0,3% |
| 28 | Lexus RC | 1.702 | 1.537 | 11% | 0,2% | 0,2% |
| 29 | Lincoln MKZ | 1.633 | 6.467 | -75% | 0,2% | 0,9% |
| 30 | Toyota Mirai | 1.597 | 209 | 664% | 0,2% | 0,0% |
| 31 | Infiniti Q60 | 1.526 | 1.697 | -10% | 0,2% | 0,2% |
| 32 | Jaguar XE | 101 | 886 | -89% | 0,0% | 0,1% |
| 33 | Buick Regal | 36 | 2.024 | -98% | 0,0% | 0,3% |
| 34 | Kia Optima | 16 | 38.825 | -100% | 0,0% | 5,6% |
| 35 | Chrysler 200 | 3 | 3 | 0% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 36 | Volkswagen CC | 3 | 20 | -85% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 37 | Cadillac ATS | 0 | 93 | -100% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| Segment total | 765.825 | 697.206 | 10% |
Source: Manufacturers.