As prices of gas continue to fall, so do sales of smaller vehicles. While most automakers are doing quite well, their small car inventory is likely being looked over for larger, thirstier vehicles, which is evidenced by July 2015's numbers tell the tale.
The Mazda MX-5 Miata—the track day darling, drop-top superstar, and all-around super-fun car—managed to sell a few more units this past month, giving it a whopping 183.2% gain over last year at this time; overall sales are up 22.9% because of it. Perhaps people are snatching up the current model before the all-new versions come out.
The if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it Toyota Yaris is up 104.5%, giving it eight straight months in a row of positive sales. I wonder why? For what it's worth, I see a lot of 2015 Yaris hatchbacks around Portland.
The ever-strong-selling Buick Encore subcompact CUV is the last of the list with impressive gains; and, for what it's worth, the Nissan Juke is up 0.9%. Every other car is down compared to this time last year. And in case you were wondering, the average price of gas at this time is $2.64/gal. Last year at this same time it was $3.50/gal. So there you have it.
The big loser this month is Fiat's functional yet unfortunately styled Fiat 500L. The always-slow-to-sell MINI Coupe is down 70%; the soon-to-be-redesigned Smart ForTwo is down 67.4%, likely because of those aforementioned low fuel prices, and because buyers are finally getting a clue how terrible the transmission is.
Of the vehicles that haven't yet been on sale for as much time as it takes the earth to go around the sun (that's one year for you math-challenged readers), the Jeep Renegade, which just rolled out, sold 6,320 units, outselling the Chevrolet Trax. The Fiat 500X is just now hitting dealerships, and didn't sell 1,000 this month. I expect that to change.
So what this month's sales lacked in volume, I made up for in snark and hyphenated adjectives here in this article. You're welcome.
| Make/Model | % Jul. '15 vs Jul. '14 | Units Jul. '15 | % YTD Jul. '15 vs Jul. '14 | Units YTD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mazda MX-5 Miata | 183.2 | 1130 | 22.9 | 3062 |
| Toyota Yaris | 104.5 | 1403 | 52.9 | 14091 |
| Buick Encore | 68.1 | 6826 | 64.8 | 37375 |
| Nissan Juke | 0.9 | 2347 | -39.5 | 16994 |
| Mitsubishi Mirage | -2.5 | 1553 | 52.7 | 15054 |
| Toyota Prius c | -4.9 | 3571 | -6.4 | 22438 |
| Kia Soul | -5.0 | 13975 | -8.6 | 81961 |
| MINI Cooper Hardtop 2 Dr | -5.8 | 2479 | 22.7 | 12706 |
| Hyundai Veloster | -7.8 | 2062 | -22.9 | 13261 |
| Chevrolet Spark | -11.5 | 3287 | -12.8 | 22696 |
| Hyundai Accent | -12.1 | 3755 | -5.9 | 40252 |
| Honda Fit | -15.3 | 4332 | 48.4 | 39966 |
| Fiat 500 | -17.0 | 1959 | -16.0 | 17349 |
| Chevrolet Sonic | -20.7 | 5102 | -25.9 | 42078 |
| Honda CR-Z | -24.2 | 270 | -33.7 | 1562 |
| MINI Cooper /S Convertible | -25.1 | 272 | -5.8 | 1979 |
| Ford Fiesta | -27.2 | 5491 | -3.9 | 40980 |
| MINI Paceman | -36.2 | 95 | -13.3 | 933 |
| Nissan Versa | -36.3 | 9949 | -8.0 | 76904 |
| Kia Rio | -41.3 | 2227 | -28.2 | 17062 |
| MINI Countryman | -44.9 | 1203 | -26 | 9481 |
| MINI Roadster | -48.0 | 78 | -14.1 | 751 |
| Smart ForTwo | -67.4 | 441 | -32.2 | 4065 |
| MINI Coupe | -70.2 | 25 | -52.5 | 283 |
| Fiat 500L | -78.0 | 314 | -22.0 | 6390 |
| Jeep Renegade | - | 6320 | - | 20751 |
| Chevrolet Trax | - | 6111 | - | 30926 |
| MINI Cooper Hardtop 4 Dr | - | 1036 | - | 9297 |
| Fiat 500X | - | 962 | - | 970 |
| BMW i3 | - | 935 | - | 5391 |
4 comments:
I owned a 2009 Yaris and have had '12, '14 and '15 Yarii as rental cars. I thought the '12 and '13 drove pretty similar to my '09, which is to say pretty comfortable but to soft to be any fun going around corners. I sold my '09 Yaris to buy a Fit because because of the handling and the earlier year rentals kept me convinced that getting the Fit was the right choice. The '15 Yaris rental felt like it drove a lot better, it felt more confident and less scary in emergency maneuvers. I've read that along with the mild body restyle that the L and LE had the suspension tweaked which might account my different feelings towards the '15 Yarii. The Fit won me away form a long run of Toyotas (I still have a '94 Corolla manual wagon after 445k miles), and while I wouldn't say the '15 Yaris has won me back, at least I would consider it.
Now if they sold a longer, says almost wagon like version...
Why is the MINI Coupe listed twice?
Sorry, Kevin. that was a typo, and I've fixed it. Thanks for the heads up. - Andy
The Fiat 500L is really a grille and a brand-identity swap away from being the secondgen PT Cruiser, and I wonder if it would sell better as such.
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