Honda HR-V outsells the Jeep Renegade for the first time in Q3’17
After seeing its growth dip into the single digits in the second quarter of the year, the subcompact SUV segment rebounded in style in the third quarter – with sales 15% higher than in Q3’16 it was the second-fastest growing segment over the past quarter (second only to premium compact SUVs). With 12% growth YTD, highest among the non-premium SUV segments, the subcompact SUV segment registered 320,899 sales in the first three quarters, not far off the 376,213 registered in the subcompact segment, which suggests that the two could be neck-and-neck in 2018. With the new Hyundai Kona and Kia Stonic coming to market soon, and the new Toyota C-HR still building up its sales, the segment’s healthy growth is likely to continue in the near future.
Highlights for Q3 2017:
- The segment-leading Jeep Renegade recovered from a poor Q2, when it registered a sales drop, to see its sales rise by 9% in Q3, but this is still a much slower sales rate than that registered by the second-placed Honda HR-V, whose sales consistently grew by about 25% in each of the quarters so far this year and which outsold the Jeep for the first time this quarter
- The GM twins, Buick Encore and Chevrolet Trax, also continued to gain sales at double-digit rates, which is quite remarkable given that they’ve been around for five years
- The new Toyota C-HR climbed into fifth place for YTD sales, and while its sales are still some way off the Top 4, in the third quarter it sold just under half of what the fourth-placed Buick Encore did – not bad for a new model
- Behind these cars are three stragglers: the pricey Mazda CX-3 (sales down 3% in Q3), the begging-to-be-replaced Nissan Juke (sales down by half in Q3) and the hapless Fiat 500X (sales down 29% in Q3), the car which was meant to be the “mainstream” model alongside the “sturdy” Renegade, but which is clearly held back by its brand name and contrived styling
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