Industry Statistics - sales of small cares in the US market by company and model - Brief Article - Statistical Data Included

Automotive Industries, July, 2000 by Ray Windecker

BASIC SMALL CARS: UNDERAPPRECIATED, YET POTENT

In this, the automotive age of bigger-is-better and the higher-the-price-the-better-they-sell, basic small cars are under appreciated. But they continue as a potent automotive force.

The basic small-car brands cover a wide variety of vehicles moving up from skinny-tired econobox sedans selling for less than $10,000 to fully optioned convertibles on the far side of $20,000. They account for slightly more than one of every four cars sold in the United States. As of May, they are up 9 percent from a year ago, exceeding the total car/truck industry growth rate of 7 percent. Basic small cars are on a 2.35 million sales track for the 2000 calendar year, second in car sales only to the mainstream midsize segment.

General Motors -- fielding Cavalier, Prizm, Metro, Saturn and Sunfire -- is the softening volume leader. Ford holds second place on the strength of the new Focus. Honda, relying only on the Civic, outsells Toyota's Corolla and Echo pair and DaimlerChrysler rounds out the top five on the combined efforts of the Neons.

The top five carline volume list begins with Civic, the current champ, at 136,700 sales through May. Newer often helps, bringing the Focus in second at 121,900 and growing. Toyota's Corolla holds third at 104,500, followed by the Cavalier's 96,400, and the combined Neons 81,000. For those who do not combine Neons, put Saturn in fifth place at 79,000.

The numbers underline two methods for increasing sales -- new product such as the Ford Focus, Toyota Echo and Volkswagen New Beetle, or vehicles priced at Korean exchange rates. The Koreans are today where the VW Beetle was in the 1950s, battling an unknown durability image but priced cheaper than any competitor.

Price is a factor in this segment, yet price is relative. The Koreans, on average, offer more hardware and warranty per dollar than do the more established brands. Yet their lowest-priced offerings are not high on the wish list of either their dealers or retail buyers. The pattern holds with some of Japanese automakers. Suzuki's Swift, one of the few models starting under $10,000, attracts less than one in five of Suzuki's customers.

To many consumers, frugality is a virtue but is not to be overdone. Small and less pricey may be a lure to millions of buyers, but being really cheap is out. Automatic transmissions rule most brands, electric windows save tennis elbows from strain and the latest downloaded CD caresses the ears of both occupants and bystanders. Small is in -- cheap is out.

-- Ray Windecker, American Autodatum

CORPORATE SALES OF BASIC SMALL-CAR BRANDS

January-May 2000

Company                      Sales    % Change

General Motors              254,200     -14
Ford                        173,400      30.9
Honda                       136,700       5
Toyota                      125,900      19.9
DaimlerChrysler              81,000      -2.1
Volkswagen                   51,400      17.6
Kia                          31,400       3.3
Hyundai                      28,400      80.1
Mazda                        25,300      -5.4
Nissan                       24,100     -13.4
Mitsubishi                   22,500       7.7
Daewoo                        8,700     282.5
Suzuki                        8,600      40
Subaru                        7,800      17.8

The Top Sellers

 1. Honda Civic             136,600       5.5
 2. Ford Focus              121,800       n/a
 3. Toyota Corolla          104,500      -0.5
 4. Chevrolet Cavalier       96,400     -24.4
 5. Saturn S-Series          79,600     -14.6
 6. Dodge Neon               55,100      11.0
 7. Ford Escort              48,900     -59.7
 8. Pontiac Sunfire          36,500      -9.7
 9. Volkswagen New Beetle    34,700       6.7
10. Kia Sephia               31,300       3.3
11. Hyundai Accent           28,400      80.1
12. Plymouth Neon            25,800     -21.8
13. Mazda Protege            25,300      -5.4
14. Nissan Sentra            24,100     -13.4
15. Chevrolet Prizm          22,800       9.7
16. Mitsubishi Mirage        22,500       7.7
17. Toyota Echo              21,400       n/a
18. Chevrolet Metro          18,700      44.5
19. Volkswagen Golf           9,600      30.1
20. Daewoo Lanos              8,700     282.5
21. Subaru Impreza            7,800      17.8
22. Volkswagen Cabrio         7,000      87.7
23. Suzuki Swift              1,300      50.6