Sales of Small Premium Sports Cars in the US shrank by 6% in 2015 to 14,652 units, helped by a 15% increase in the last quarter, as sales were down by 20% in the first half and still down 10% in Q3. The new generation Audi TT is to thank for the recovery, as the outgoing model sold just 60 units in Q4 of 2014, but the new one arrived in showrooms last August and sold 647 units in the last three months of 2015, which is almost as many as the Porsche Boxster. Porsche has two models in this segment, in 2nd and 3rd place, although they’ve switched places last year. The Cayman coupe was up 4% while the Boxster roadster lost 20% of its volume as the updated “718 Boxster” is making its way into showrooms early 2016.
The segment leader Mercedes-Benz SLK also lost 12% of its volume, and sees its share of the segment drop below 30%, probably due to increased competition from the new Audi TT roadster. Similarly, the BMW Z4 loses 15% of its volume, although the new generation won’t be in showrooms anytime soon. That car is being co-developed with Toyota and will have a soft-top again instead of the current fold-down hard-top. Alfa Romeo sells more than 600 units of its 4C in the model’s first full year of sales, moving it way ahead of the Lotus models, with which it shares the less=more philosophy.
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