US car sales analysis Q2 2019 – Subcompact SUV segment

Krzysztof Wozniak
US Subcompact SUV segment

Segment growth slows down as declining sales of Jeep Renegade blunt sales growth from new models

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Sales in the US Subcompact SUV segment rose by 11.9% to 330,770 in the first half of 2019, a significant slowdown on the 31.5% growth rate the segment enjoyed in 2018, but still one of the fastest rate of growth in the shrinking market. With the new Ford EcoSport, Hyundai Kona, and Nissan Kicks hitting their stride now, the new Buick Encore and Chevrolet Trax coming to market before the end of the year, and consumer demand for small SUVs growing apace, the segment’s growth is likely to continue for a while still.

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:

  • Plenty of change in rankings in this young segment, with many models rising up and many others falling down by quite a few places, not least Jeep Renegade, which fell from first to fifth in the rankings, illustrating just how competitive this segment has become
  • The biggest winners were the new-for-2018 Hyundai Kona and Nissan Kicks, with the former rising to fourth on the back of its sales more than doubling on 2018 figures, while the latter rose to seventh, almost toppling the total sales its Juke predecessor managed in its best full year
  • Also doing well as the Ford EcoSport, seeing its sales rise by almost 50%, not a bad performance for a model which came to the US market many years after its international debut
  • Other than these three models the Chevrolet Trax was the only other model to register (very mild) growth, while most other models in the segment saw their sales decline gently in the first half of the year (this will arguably be disappointing for the still new Toyota C-HR for which its maker undoubtedly had higher ambitions than this)
  • The exceptions here were Jeep Renegade and Mazda CX-3, both of which registered disappointing sales declines of around 30%

Note: clicking on the model names in legend turns the display for that model on/off; data is displayed from 1990 onwards, but starts in 1973 – access previous years using slider on bottom