US sales 2017 first half: Large segment

Krzysztof Wozniak
US Large car segment
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Collapse of the Large segment continues, as fewer cars were sold in the first half of ’17 than in the first two months of ’06US large segmentSales in the Large car segment fell by 17.8% in the second quarter of the year, meaning YTD sales are still below 200,000 units – this is a huge tumbledown for a segment that used to sell more than that in two months a decade ago. With only two new model entering the market in 2017 (Buick LaCrosse and Kia Cadenza), no other new cars on the immediate horizon, and suggestions that Ford may abandon the market altogether and not replace the Taurus, the signs are that the segment will continue its tumble down the rankings.

Highlights for the first half of 2017:

2017 Buick LaCrosse
  • The best performance by far in Q2’17 came courtesy of the new Buick LaCrosse, when it saw its sales rise by 46.8%, suggesting that the model may be on course for a net gain by the end of the year, and may even overtake the Avalon for 6th in the standings
  • Dodge Charger easily retained the segment lead it took away from the once-dominant Chevrolet Impala in 2016; in fact, because of a 44% drop in sales the once great-selling Chevy lost yet another spot to the stylish Nissan Maxima, underlying just how important the now-discontinued fleet sales of the previous-generation model were to the Chevy’s total
  • The Charger’s sister model, Chrysler 300, lost only 8% of sales compared to this time in 2016, a reasonable performance for a car that is still based on the car that came out 12 years ago
  • Similarly, Ford Taurus lost only 3% of sales compared to 2016, a vastly better performance than the 28% drop in sales encountered by the Toyota Avalon behind it in the ranking
  • Similarly to the Buick LaCrosse, the new Kia Cadenza saw its sales rise by 27.1% in Q2’17, but with a YTD figure of less than 3,000 cars, one has to wonder whether the company can really justify continuing its offering in the segment (the same is true of its sister brand, Hyundai, with the Azera, as well as Chevrolet with the SS)

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