US car sales analysis Q2 2019 – Compact SUV segment

Krzysztof Wozniak
US Compact SUV segment
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Compact SUV segment shrinks as Nissan Rogue and Jeep models sales slide

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Sales in the US Compact SUV segment fell by 6.3% to 1679,385 in the first half of 2019, a considerably worse performance than the 12.6% sales growth the segment experienced in 2018. In fact, if the segment does not return to growth by the end of the year, which seems unlikely, it will mark the first time sales in the segment have decreased since the financial crisis hit in 2008. However, with the Toyota RAV4 being the only truly new model on the market and just the new Ford Escape waiting to go on sale in the second half of the year, the chances of a rapid upswing in fortunes are remote.


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

Highlights:

  • Only 6 out of the 20 models in the segment experienced positive sales growth, and only 3 of those were in the Top 10
  • The biggest winners of the year so far have been Chevy Equinox (sales up 7%), the new Subaru Forester (sales up 9%), Volkswagen Tiguan L (sales up almost a quarter) and the new Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross (note: sales began only in earnest only in Q2’18)
  • Also worth mentioning is that the new Toyota RAV4 saw its sales rise by 9% in the second half of the year, so the model will probably go on to register a healthy sales growth by the end of the year
  • The biggest losers of the year were arguably Nissan Rogue (sales down 19%), the entire Jeep range, including the still-new Wrangler (all down in low double figures) and the new Subaru Crosstrek (sales down 22%)
  • Interesting fact: sales rise for Volkswagen Tiguan L barely compensated for the sales lost as the older Volkswagen Tiguan left the market

Note: clicking on the model names in legend turns the display for that model on/off; data is displayed from 1990 onwards, but starts earlier – access previous years using slider on bottom

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Krzysztof Wozniak
Kriss grew up in Poland reading German car magazines, before moving to England and graduating to the British magazines, which he still considers the best in the world and continues reading them after he'd moved to the US. In college he promised himself he's buy himself a used Porsche before he turned 30 (not to be accused of having a mid-life crisis), but instead family needs dictated a Subaru Outback. Still waiting for that perfect moment to buy a used 2008-ish Cayman... You can find all his articles Here.
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4 Comments

  1. Japan dominates another segment in the US. Fascinating! RAV4 looks better in real life than on paper, but I’d go for the CR-V, Rogue or new Escape/Kuga.
    .
    Americans don’t seem to care about VW’s position as the only European brand present. Or should I say, VW can’t take advantage of it.

    Reply

      1. Yes! 😉 I find these cultural differences very interesting. The fact cars like the Subaru Forester and Crosstrek can outperform the VW Tiguan, you gotta love Americans. And I’m not even a fan of Subaru…
        .
        VW can’t complain considering the sales numbers of American brands in Europe.

  2. the cultural differences indeed very much interseting. this shows that, the decison of the humans are not realistic but emotional. I am from Turkey and admire japanese Honda and also other japanese brands but my country is a fan of german cars such as Mercedes BMW and the VW. they are crazy about especially VW and Mercedes. And I wonder why they are the fan of especially VW’s cars with faulty/defectiveautomatic gearbox called DSG.
    On the other hand, Honda is a mechanical miracle (by the way, I am a mechanical Engineer) and not many amount of people in my country are aware of this truth! Ok. I admit that Japanese cars are not as comfortable as German’s cars but do you want to drive a car that does not breakdown but a little less comfort or a car more comfortable but often goes to service/ car repair shops?
    I choose the mechanical miracle Japanese cars like Honda. Also Honda has a very very beautiful design and shapes and very good safety systems like Collision mitigation systems etc.
    And I think for the same reason US people choose the Japanese cars!.

    Reply

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