The midsized car segment continues to lose share in the US car market in the first quarter of 2021. Sales were down 15% in an overall market up 12%. As a result the share of midsized cars drops by almost 3 percentage points to below the 10% mark for the first time ever, at 8.9%, compared to 11.7% in Q1 of 2020 and 10.2% in the full year 2020. In absolute numbers, the midsized car class is down to less than 350,000 sales for the quarter.
The top-2 players both see virtually stable sales and improve their combined share of the class to 35.8%, with the Toyota Camry still firmly in control, selling almost as much as the #2 Honda Accord and #3 Nissan Altima combined. The Altima is down 32% but holds on to its podium position as the Chevrolet Malibu (-24%) and Tesla Model 3 (-45%) are also down by double digits. On the other hand, the Hyundai Sonata is up 32% thanks to the new generation, while the Kia K5 lands just behind its sister model at #7, at a similar sales volume as its predecessor last year, the Kia Optima. The Ford Fusion is in its final year, and its sales drop 79%, while the Subaru Legacy gains share at -4%. The Volkswagen Passat is down 24% and is being chased by the Mazda6, down 5%, a similar performance as the Kia Stinger. Among smaller players, the Honda Clarity is down 9%, while the Volkswagen Arteon is up 39% and the Toyota Mirai is up almost sixfold thanks to the new generation.
Luxury midsized cars increase their share of the class from 26.1% to 27.3%. The leader of the luxury midsized segment is obviously the Model 3 at an overall #5 spot, although these figures remain estimates since Tesla doesn’t break down regional sales figures. Behind it, the Lexus ES outsells the BMW 3-Series to hold on to its #2 spot thanks to sales up 10%. The Mercedes-Benz C-Class is back up 12% after a horrible 2020 for the nameplate, and stays ahead of the Acura TLX, up 12%. The new generation Lexus IS boosts the nameplate up 122% to outsell the Audi A4 (+28%) and Volvo 60-Series (+32%), although they too gain significantly. The Volvo is even outsold now by the recently renewed BMW 4-Series which more than doubles its sales of last year. The Cadillac CT4 is up to #22 overall, between the Infiniti Q50 (-23%) and the Alfa Romeo Giulia (+17%), while the Genesis G70 is down 10%but passes the Lincoln MKZ, down 64%.
US midsized car sales 2021-Q1
| Midsized segment | 2021-Q1 | 2020-Q1 | Change | Share | |
| 1 | Toyota Camry | 78.151 | 77.188 | 1% | 22,4% |
| 2 | Honda Accord | 46.591 | 47.125 | -1% | 13,4% |
| 3 | Nissan Altima | 32.017 | 47.347 | -32% | 9,2% |
| 4 | Chevrolet Malibu | 26.987 | 35.283 | -24% | 7,7% |
| 5 | Tesla Model 3 | 23.110 | 42.000 | -45% | 6,6% |
| 6 | Hyundai Sonata | 20.557 | 15.602 | 32% | 5,9% |
| 7 | Kia K5 | 20.378 | 0 | New | 5,8% |
| 8 | Lexus ES | 10.192 | 9.247 | 10% | 2,9% |
| 9 | BMW 3-series | 9.426 | 10.613 | -11% | 2,7% |
| 10 | Ford Fusion | 7.889 | 36.937 | -79% | 2,3% |
| 11 | Mercedes-Benz C-Class | 7.696 | 6.856 | 12% | 2,2% |
| 12 | Subaru Legacy | 6.305 | 6.535 | -4% | 1,8% |
| 13 | Acura TLX | 6.141 | 5.484 | 12% | 1,8% |
| 14 | Lexus IS | 6.028 | 2.712 | 122% | 1,7% |
| 15 | Audi A4 / S4 | 5.071 | 3.949 | 28% | 1,5% |
| 16 | BMW 4-series | 4.785 | 2.197 | 118% | 1,4% |
| 17 | Volvo 60 series | 4.617 | 3.505 | 32% | 1,3% |
| 18 | Volkswagen Passat | 4.535 | 5.981 | -24% | 1,3% |
| 19 | Audi A5 / S5 | 4.527 | 5.320 | -15% | 1,3% |
| 20 | Infiniti Q50 | 4.302 | 5.575 | -23% | 1,2% |
| 21 | Mazda6 | 4.285 | 4.506 | -5% | 1,2% |
| 22 | Cadillac CT4 | 2.627 | 41 | 6307% | 0,8% |
| 23 | Kia Stinger | 2.444 | 2.560 | -5% | 0,7% |
| 24 | Alfa Romeo Giulia | 2.065 | 1.759 | 17% | 0,6% |
| 25 | Genesis G70 | 1.864 | 2.074 | -10% | 0,5% |
| 26 | Lincoln MKZ | 1.238 | 3.482 | -64% | 0,4% |
| 27 | Honda Clarity | 1.147 | 1.255 | -9% | 0,3% |
| 28 | Volkswagen Arteon | 1.099 | 788 | 39% | 0,3% |
| 29 | Toyota Mirai | 869 | 147 | 491% | 0,2% |
| 30 | Lexus RC | 777 | 757 | 3% | 0,2% |
| 31 | Infiniti Q60 | 686 | 927 | -26% | 0,2% |
| 32 | Jaguar XE | 155 | 526 | -71% | 0,0% |
| 33 | Buick Regal | 18 | 1.202 | -99% | 0,0% |
| 34 | Kia Optima | 16 | 20.345 | -100% | 0,0% |
| 35 | Volkswagen CC | 1 | 17 | -94% | 0,0% |
| 36 | Chrysler 200 | 1 | 3 | -67% | 0,0% |
| 37 | Cadillac ATS | 0 | 47 | -100% | 0,0% |
| Segment total | 348.597 | 409.892 | -15% |
Source: Manufacturers.