• Sales figures are jumping this year for the most popular small cars still on the market.
For the past 15 years, sales of cars have been declining relative to those of SUVs, and that’s understating matters. Some manufacturers have even abandoned car segments, convinced that in the long term, the profits just aren’t there.
Ford was the first to officially forsake sedans altogether in North America. Others have since followed. Some brands have stayed in the game, however – and this year, they are reaping the rewards.
Sales figures for 2024-to-date in the United States, which ultimately decide whether models remain in the catalog or not, show that several compact sedans are doing very well.
The popular Honda Civic saw sales jump in the U.S. by a massive 38 percent year-on-year in the January-to-June period. In all, the company sold 129,788 units. In all of 2022, the automaker sold under 134,000 units. Sales climbed to 200,000 units or so in 2023, and Honda looks set to beat that mark this year.
At Nissan, the Sentra has impressed so far this year. The 89,028 units sold to date represent a 55 percent increase over the same period in 2023. The car even ranks second in sales for Nissan, the lineup of which includes several SUVs. At this rate, the Japanese automaker could move 180,000 Sentras this year, putting the model among the top 20 best sellers in the industry in the U.S.
That's no mean feat. And in Canada, the Sentra is up 13.9 percent year-to-date, with 5,843 units sold compared with 5,130 in the first half of last year.
Sales of the Versa subcompact, scheduled to enter its final year in 2025, have leaped by 61 percent in the U.S. since January. The rise is even more dramatic in Canada, with sales up 107 percent, from 920 to 1,904 units.
Over at Toyota, sales of the Corolla are up 25 percent so far this year in the U.S., to almost 122,000 units. And interestingly, twice as many Corollas have been sold as Corolla Crosses, the SUV that bears its name.
Even Kia, with an aging Forte about to change its name to the K4, has seen growth of 13 percent, to just over 70,000 units sold south of the border since January.
All this says something about the price of vehicles on the market. Affordable models are rarer than ever, so the ones that remain are proving that much more attractive to buyers affected by inflation and the rising cost of living.
SUVs remain a much more popular format with buyers overall, to say nothing of pickup trucks, but the compact sedan, aided by its affordable pricing, is proving resilient and clearly drawing back in consumers who may have “gone SUV” with their prior vehicle purchase.