Movers and Losers: August's Top Economy Cars

Our new/old list format is under fire, but we stand behind its goal of painting a picture of what’s happening at the dealer level versus the industry level. Regardless, we all know economy cars are hot, and our list for August shows that while the Movers don’t move much faster than hot cars in other segments, the Losers do much better than other segments. The average number of days it took to sell a car of any type in August was 70, and many of these Losers were close to that figure. 

August Movers

• 2009 Scion xD: 3 days
• 2008 Toyota Yaris two-door: 7 days
• 2009 Ford Focus: 8 days
• 2009 Mazda3 sedan: 10 days
• 2008 Toyota Yaris sedan: 11 days
• 2009 Chevy Cobalt coupe: 12 days
• 2009 Chevy Cobalt sedan: 13 days
• 2009 Scion tC: 13 days
• 2009 Toyota Corolla: 14 days
• 2008 Honda Civic sedan: 15 days

Comments

I'm a bit surprised to see the Nissan Versa on the Losers list - I have heard mostly pretty good things about it! It certainly is economical, and that's what seems to be selling right now. What's wrong with the Versa?

It seems that most of the Losers are the ones that either have a terrible reliablity record (Spectra, Aveo, Suzuki)or cost significantly more (Astra, G5 and Imprezza)than the ones on the Movers list. I would say the the Versa sedan is the only "odd ball". I think it doesn't sell well because buyers prefer the hatchback version and if they want a small Nissan sedan they choose the Sentra. GM has even came out recently and admitted that the Astra is priced too high to compete in this segment.

I'm a bit surprised to see the Nissan Versa on the Losers list - I have heard mostly pretty good things about it! It certainly is economical, and that's what seems to be selling right now. What's wrong with the Versa?

Dave-
Just out of curiousity - where does the Versa Hatchback fall on the Movers list and how are you able to get numbers of the hatch vs sedan on this?The only number I can find are the total Versa sales.

Ziggy,
good question. Actually the 2009s are out but I thought not long enough to impact 2008 numbers. However, the 2009 hatch moved in just 19 days in fact with very good sales. 2009 Hatch sales were about 6 to 1 to the 2009 sedan according to our internal numbers. and the 2009 sedan did sell quickly too at 21 days. next month I won't include the 2008 on the losers list.

So we could assume that the high numbers on the 08 Versa sedan is due to buyers opting for the 09 instead. Also it interesting to note that on the movers list the only 08 model is the Yaris. It must be competing well against 09 models that are already out.

Oh sorry didn't see the 08 Civic - also doing well.

Nissan should try to do something different with the Versa sedan. It's much too close in size to the Sentra. A diff of about 4 inches, I believe. There must be something that Nissan can do to make the Versa sedan more attractive to potential buyers, aside from price. It's an oddball design doing nothing positive in Versa sales, since most everyone goes for the Liftback version.
Nissan forgot one thing, though, for its 2009 Versa and Sentra:
ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL.
NISSAN: WAKE UP! Some of us want ESC, and if it's NOT available we may just go elsewhere to another brand that does have it as an option at least.
Peace!<=AladdinSane--

the 2009 mazda3 was already out in august? the mazda corporate website just has 2008 mazda3 listed.

i know 2010 mazda 3 will be all new. i'm just surprised 2009 was already out.

G5, Aveo, and ASTRA?!

Geez, if this keeps on, GM is ready to doom.

To mee, it looks like vehicle price is more important than fuel economy.

It makes no sense that the Chevy Cobalt coupe would be a "mover" and the Pontiac G5 would be a "loser"...they are the same vehicle. If this is truly the case, Cobalt coupe buyers should head to the Pontiac dealer. They could probably get the G5 at a better price than the Cobalt as dealers probably are looking to sell their inventory of '08's.