Biggest Sales Losers in March
Yesterday we broke down what was selling in March (fuel-efficient and new cars) and what wasn’t (big trucks and SUVs). There were quite a few noticeable exceptions, though, that stood out as losers not because of our current economic outlook, but perhaps more because of their general underachieving nature.
While even some of the least-intriguing compact cars, like the $12,895 Kia Spectra, saw sales gains, the Chevy Aveo — which costs even less at $10,235 — dropped a whopping 45.6%.
We would feel bad for Chrysler if it didn’t disappoint so often. The 1-year-old Dodge Nitro has few excuses for its 34% slide, nor does the redesigned Jeep Liberty for hitting a 24% sales dip. You could say, “Hey, no one’s buying new SUVs these days.” But the similarly priced and thirsty Ford Edge is enjoying healthy sales. Edge sales were up 23.8%; it even outsold the Nitro and Liberty combined (13,508 versus 12,347).
The Hyundai Entourage, one of the safest minivans on the market, saw sales drop 53%. Even though minivan sales are down overall, most aren’t seeing slides like that. Scion’s once-top-selling tC saw a sharp decline of 30.4%. The xB is now the line’s best-selling model. The funky Toyota FJ Cruiser continues to lose fans, as it seems most buyers were early adopters. The SUV saw sales slide 41.6%.
Another small surprise was the all-new Volvo XC70 losing 10% in sales compared to its outgoing 2007 model. Normally a new design equals better sales. Maybe it just takes awhile for Volvo; the same thing was initially true for the S80, but it’s now seeing better sales in March versus last year.
Note: We tried to include models with losses so big that even reduced fleet sales -- those to government, rental-car companies, etc., which aren’t broken out by automakers, wouldn’t save them.
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No surprises with the tC ... it's long in the tooth for a coupe.
Not sure why the Aveo dropped. Maybe at the expense of Fit sales, which were up a lot. I know the Fit costs more, but the Aveo 5-door looks just like it without Honda-quality.
LM,
The tC had been doing pretty well though up until recently. Not sure why. Competition is really only the Civic Coupe, Ford Focus, Chevy Cobalt and Mitsubishi Eclipse.
Could the fugly new redesigns be affecting the sales of the tC. Scion used to be the cool alternatives to everything else but that alien like redesign has tarnished it's image, I think. It's no longer cool, it's just plain weird. Hopefully, Toyota will atleast fix the faces on those horrible redesigns before it affects it's other vehicle and future ones too.
Could this be due to the economy?
The Aveo gets lousy mileage for its size. 24 in the city and 32 on the highway is about the same as the malibu four cylinder.
The Aveo used to be quirky enough to be different. The facelift has made it look to conservative. And,,, it's an econobox with a bad reputation, so people are leary to look at one. And I doubt salespeople are pushing them much either.
Nitro/Liberty sales numbers might make more sense if you combine them. There really isn't enough difference between the too. This is a return to the bad old days of Badge Engineering (the Nitro should have been a compact pickup on the Liberty chassis, that might have made sense). So most likely they're canablizing sales from each other.
Edge has more carlike ride, 'nuff said.
Is the Entourage still ridiculously heavy for a minivan? I haven't been following the minivan wars, but the 1st Kia mini-van was badly over weight. Might just be that the HEART of the minivan market is too conservative for Koreans. They're just begining to accept the Toyota/Honda vans. And I'm sure there are lots of leftover and used Windstars and Chryslers out there.
TC? Well sad but true, nothing is older than Yesterday's Coupe. Sales will probably continue to tank. Unless Toyota does a proper re-design or new model. Look for the crowd to gravitate to the Hyundai Genisis Coupe. That Kia Koup looks like it could take TC sales too.
FJ Cruiser was DOA as far as I was concerend. How people could slam Hummer, praise the Prius and NOT notice this THING was a Toyota baffles me. They've probably made as many as they need too. Used ones will terrorize trails for years to come once the "I can't go off road I'll get dirty" crowd starts unloading them into the used car market.
XC70? Hmmm maybe they just offered really good 'out the door' sales? Seems like a solid contender in it's segment. So chalk it up to poor SUV sales and a tightening economy.
(So are you guys hiring? Hahahah)
how about that RDX being 20 percent off.. what being the pride and joy of Japanese engineering and A NEW MODEL like the nitro!