US sales analysis 2020 first half – Midsized cars

Bart Demandt
Car Sales USUS by SegmentUS Mid-sized car segmentUS Premium mid-sized car segment
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In the first half of 2020, the midsized car segment in the US outperforms the subcompact and compact car segments, but the share of the overall car market is still shrinking due to sales down 31%. The segment loses 1.3 percentage points of share and now makes up 11.5% of the US car market.

Not a single existing nameplate manages to sell more in the first six months of this year compared to the same period in 2019, and only one nameplate suffers a single digit decline. All others are down by double digits. The traditional leader Toyota Camry outperforms the segment with a 28% decline, which makes it the best performing model in the top-5. After a promising start of the year, as the Nissan Altima outsold the Honda Accord in the first quarter, sales plunge 62% in Q2 and the Altima falls back to third place. In the second quarter, the Tesla Model 3 took the segment podium ahead of the Outback, Fusion and Altima (in that order). Best performers in the top-10 are the BMW 3-Series (-13%) and the Kia Optima (-23%), while the Hyundai Sonata and Ford Fusion are the biggest losers after the Altima. Among mainstream models, the Volkswagen Passat outperforms the segment at -12%, passing the Mazda6. Its sibling model Volkswagen Arteon is the only model in the class to sell more than last year, but that’s because it was just launched in 2019. That makes the Kia Stinger the best performing existing model with sales down just 8%. The Buick Regal and Honda Clarity are falling into insignificance with sales down by more than two thirds and just totaling just 2,000 or less each in the past six months.

The leader of the luxury midsized segment is obviously the Model 3, but behind it there’s a change of the guard. The Mercedes-Benz C-Class is one of the worst performing models in the class at -51% and falls behind the Lexus ES and the 3-Series. Even the Audi A5 is closing in on the C-Class, having already overtaken the Infiniti Q50, Acura TLX and its sibling Audi A4. The Volvo 60-Series outperforms the segment and so does the Lincoln MKZ. The Lexus IS is due for a redesign this year and loses share, while the Genesis G70 just can’t seem able to break through from a niche positioning, just ahead of the soon-to-be-redesigned BMW 4-Series and Alfa Romeo Giulia. The Jaguar XE is all but dead in the US and we welcome the Cadillac CT4 to the ranking with its first handful of sales.

US midsized car sales 2020 – first half

Midsized segment 2020 2019 Change Share
1 Toyota Camry 125.899 176.008 -28% 17,0%
2 Honda Accord 88.754 129.435 -31% 12,0%
3 Nissan Altima 69.049 108.777 -37% 9,3%
4 Subaru Outback 62.305 93.711 -34% 8,4%
5 Ford Fusion 61.421 96.351 -36% 8,3%
6 Tesla Model 3 51.750 67.650 -24% 7,0%
7 Chevrolet Malibu 47.944 65.171 -26% 6,5%
8 Kia Optima 38.825 50.469 -23% 5,3%
9 Hyundai Sonata 30.289 47.132 -36% 4,1%
10 BMW 3-series 18.326 21.158 -13% 2,5%
11 Lexus ES 17.009 23.980 -29% 2,3%
12 Mercedes-Benz C-Class 13.382 27.337 -51% 1,8%
13 Subaru Legacy 11.901 17.426 -32% 1,6%
14 Audi A5 / S5 10.311 11.574 -11% 1,4%
15 Volkswagen Passat 10.101 11.456 -12% 1,4%
16 Acura TLX 9.414 13.172 -29% 1,3%
17 Infiniti Q50 9.218 14.337 -36% 1,2%
18 Audi A4 / S4 8.364 12.154 -31% 1,1%
19 Mazda Mazda6 8.085 13.075 -38% 1,1%
20 Volvo 60 series 6.738 8.974 -25% 0,9%
21 Lincoln MKZ 6.467 8.961 -28% 0,9%
22 Kia Stinger 6.351 6.921 -8% 0,9%
23 Lexus IS 5.092 8.362 -39% 0,7%
24 Genesis G70 4.392 5.716 -23% 0,6%
25 BMW 4-series 3.957 11.694 -66% 0,5%
26 Alfa Romeo Giulia 3.451 4.346 -21% 0,5%
27 Buick Regal 2.024 6.393 -68% 0,3%
28 Honda Clarity 1.780 7.045 -75% 0,2%
29 Infiniti Q60 1.697 2.402 -29% 0,2%
30 Volkswagen Arteon 1.585 598 165% 0,2%
31 Lexus RC 1.537 2.109 -27% 0,2%
32 Jaguar XE 886 2.408 -63% 0,1%
33 Cadillac CT4 632 0 New 0,1%
34 Cadillac ATS 93 893 -90% 0,0%
35 Volkswagen CC 20 38 -47% 0,0%
36 Chrysler 200 3 35 -91% 0,0%
Segment total 738.936 1.076.302 -31%

Source: Manufacturers.