Tuesday, March 2, 2010

February 2010 subcompact sales


So what's the sales scoop for February 2010? Versa sales. Nissan's subcompact jumped a whopping 130.1% from this time last year, and has already sold 17,523 cars to date. Also impressive is the '10 Kia Rio, up more than 80%.

Not so good news for Honda's Fit, down more than 34% for the year, and the Suzuki SX4 down almost 50% from 2009. And if you're "Smart," you're thinking about how to stay afloat. 2010 sales are down 68.8% with total sale of only 720 vehicles.

Things of note: Technically, the Kia Soul had more than a 10,000% increase in sales for February, but that's because the car was introduced late in '09 and only sold a handful of vehicles. March '10 should be the first full year of sales for Kia's funk box.

Also of note: What is Nissan doing right with the Versa? With 6,468 more cars sold compared to the second-place Hyundai Accent, Nissan is obviously doing something right with its subcompact sales. And what a gap between the top three (Versa, Accent, Yaris)!

Here's the big board:

Make/Model
Feb. '10 vs Feb. '09Total 2009 vs. 2010
Total sold in '10
Nissan Versa
+130.1%
+74.4%
17,523
Kia Rio
+81.1%+59.3%
4,347
Chevrolet Aveo
+31.8%
+29.9%4,105
Hyundai Accent
+22.5%
+40.0%
11,055
MINI Cooper
+1.6%
+4.3%
4,908
Toyota Yaris
-13.4%
-11.7%
7,811
Scion xD
-26.6%-26.8%1,419
Honda Fit
-31.1%-34.9%5,622
Suzuki SX4
-49.0%-24.0%1,915
Smart ForTwo
-68.8%-77.4%720
Kia Soul
--
--
5,745
Nissan Cube
----4,975

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

It seems that the Versa and Accent are really the dominant cars, as far as sales figures are concerned. That said, I don't have any idea what Nissan is doing right. I looked at the Versa last year, and neither it's appearance or warranty dazzled me. The Accent has won the reputation for reliability, which I don't think the Versa has earned yet. I've heard the Accent described as "bullet-proof" by a former Hyundai service tech. He was less kind about other makes and models. Maybe some buyers are looking at Nissan because they are bored with Honda and nervous about Toyota....but continue to believe that Japanese is superior to Korean.

Anonymous said...

Could the good figures for the Versa be the result of rental fleet sales? I have noticed that Budget Rent-A-Car, Enterprise rentals and other low-cost outfits offer the Versa as their main compact car. The Yaris is also there, and the Aveo as well, but not as many or as often.

nlpnt said...

I think that just might be it.

That; the fact that the Sentra is a harder upsell than most other C-segments from makers that have a B offering; and the fact that the Aveo is now officially a runout model.