US sales first half 2016 Large Sports segment

Krzysztof Wozniak
US Large sports car segment

US_sales-large-sports_car-segment

Sales in the Large Sports segment in the US fell by 14% in Q2 of 2016 to 13,668 vehicles, leading to a 16% drop in sales year-to-date.  Every model lost volume in the first half of 2016, except for the Mercedes-AMG GT which was introduced during this period last year. In Q2, the facelifted Porsche 911 and the all-new Audi R8 gained volume, but not yet enough to offset their first quarter losses. These two models will finish the first three quarters and the whole year in positive territory, and so will the newcomer Acura NSX, naturally. However, that is unlikely to be enough to compensate for the drop-off in sales for the one model that sells more than the rest of the cars in the segment combined: the Chevrolet Corvette.

Highlights in H1 2016:

  • Sales of Chevy Corvette fell by 20%, but its home field advantage means that it mainains its dominance of the segment, selling almost triple the volume of its nearest rival, the Porsche 911, even though the German player has stabilized its first-half volume after a drop in Q1 thanks to its updated (now turbocharged) engines.
  • If the Jaguar F-Type was the only winner in Q1, its sales suddenly drop off with a 19% loss in Q2 to finish the half with a 7% decline in sales. The F-Type was outsold by the facelifted Mercedes-Benz SL in Q2, but stays firmly in third place of the segment – for now.
  • Acura_NSX-US-car-sales-statisticsAfter its successful launch in Q2 of 2015, the Mercedes-AMG GT sells only half of its introduction quarter a year later, which means it ends the first half of 2016 with just a 12% increase over just the second quarter of 2015. Not a good prospect for the supposed 911-fighter if it stutters as soon as its intended target gets updated.
  • The Nissan GT-R continues its decline, having been outsold by the R8 in Q2 it will have to relegate its 7th place to the redesigned German sports car.
  • We welcome (back) the Acura NSX with an all-new second generation which starts shyly with just 2 sales in its first month, but expect the long-awaited hybrid sports car to start challenging the GT-R and R8 within a few months time.

Note: “est” designates our own estimates of model sales, based on brand total sales; 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