Midsize Sedan Deathwatch #9: Detroit's Participants Tumble At Double Speed In February 2017
Aside from the Volkswagen Passat’s 40-percent year-over-year uptick, every automaker competing in America’s midsize sedan segment suffered from declining volume in February 2017.
The midsize car category tumbled 19 percent, a loss of more than 34,000 sales.
February 2017 marked the twelfth consecutive month of year-over-year declines for midsize car sales in America.
This is the ninth edition of TTAC’s Midsize Sedan Deathwatch. The midsize sedan as we know it — “midsizedus sedanicus” in the original latin — isn’t going anywhere any time soon, but the ongoing sales contraction will result in a reduction of mainstream intermediate sedans in the U.S. market.
How do we know? It already has.
The Passat’s exceptional year-over-year uptick by no means represents healthy volume for the big Volkswagen. But the bigger story from February’s results was the horrific nosedive performed by Detroit nameplates: one discontinued nameplate, one of the older members of the midsize fleet, the newest member of the midsize fleet, and one semi-premium niche player.
Combined, the Chrysler 200, Chevrolet Malibu and Ford Fusion lost 22,592 sales in February 2017, a frightening 41-percent decline compared with February 2016.
FCA
Naturally, the 200 skews the overall picture. But removing the Chrysler from the equation does not alter the overall midsize segment’s rapid decrease in demand. Nor does it change the fact that the 200’s Detroit rivals likewise reported awful February sales figures while continuing their own downward trends.
FoMoCo
Prior to the current streak, Fusion sales crested the 20K mark in 40 out of 45 months.
Year-over-year, Fusion sales in February slid 35 percent, a loss of nearly 9,000 sales. After averaging 24,000 February Fusion sales over the previous five years, only 16,512 were sold in February 2017, as total Ford division car volume slid 26 percent.
The Fusion isn’t the freshest face on the runway, however. That title belongs, for the moment, to the Chevrolet Malibu. Last year, U.S. Malibu volume grew quickly even as the segment declined thanks to the launch of a well-received ninth-generation model.
GM
Remember, these are the results for the segment’s recently redesigned model.
Together, the Malibu, the soon-to-be-replaced Buick Regal that we covered earlier today, the discontinued Chrysler 200, and the Ford Fusion that’s now in its fifth model year, traditional Detroit nameplates owned only 22 percent of the midsize sedan market in the United States in February 2017, down from 30 percent in each of the two previous Februarys and 34 percent February 2014.
Three years ago, more than one in three midsize cars sold in America was a Buick, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, or Ford. Now, barely more than one in five come from those same brands.
Yet while traditional Detroit marques suffered most last month, almost all of the made-in-America “imports” reported fewer sales than in February 2016, as well. The Honda Accord fell 9 percent. Hyundai Sonata volume was down 16 percent for an 11th consecutive month of decline. The Subaru Legacy and Toyota Camry both reported double-digit percentage losses.
Gone are the glory days of 2012 and 2013 when Volkswagen could sell nearly 10,000 Passats in America each month. Over the last four months, Volkswagen of America has averaged fewer than 6,500 Passat sales per month.
Is the Passat the future of Volkswagen in America? Will Volkswagen again decide that building a distinct Passat in North America for North America is worth it in a market gone mad for SUVs?
It’s certainly not a Passat-exclusive line of questioning. Barely one in ten new vehicles sold in the U.S. in February were midsize cars. If sales continue to fall by one-fifth, month after month after month, automakers will lose 425,000 midsize car sales in 2017 after losing more than 250,000 in 2016.
Timothy Cain is the founder of GoodCarBadCar.net, which obsesses over the free and frequent publication of U.S. and Canadian auto sales figures. Follow on Twitter @goodcarbadcar and on Facebook.
More by Timothy Cain
Latest Car Reviews
Read moreLatest Product Reviews
Read moreRecent Comments
- MaintenanceCosts I wish more vehicles in our market would be at or under 70" wide. Narrowness makes everything easier in the city.
- El scotto They should be supping with a very, very long spoon.
- El scotto [list=1][*]Please make an EV that's not butt-ugly. Not Jaguar gorgeous but Buick handsome will do.[/*][*] For all the golf cart dudes: A Tesla S in Plaid mode will be the fastest ride you'll ever take.[/*][*]We have actual EV owners posting on here. Just calmly stated facts and real world experience. This always seems to bring out those who would argue math.[/*][/list=1]For some people an EV will never do, too far out in the country, taking trips where an EV will need recharged, etc. If you own a home and can charge overnight an EV makes perfect sense. You're refueling while you're sleeping.My condo association is allowing owners to install chargers. You have to pay all of the owners of the parking spaces the new electric service will cross. Suggested fee is 100$ and the one getting a charger pays all the legal and filing fees. I held out for a bottle of 30 year old single malt.Perhaps high end apartments will feature reserved parking spaces with chargers in the future. Until then non home owners are relying on public charge and one of my neighbors is in IT and he charges at work. It's call a perk.I don't see company owned delivery vehicles that are EV's. The USPS and the smiley boxes should be the 1st to do this. Nor are any of our mega car dealerships doing this and but of course advertising this fact.I think a great many of the EV haters haven't came to the self-actualization that no one really cares what you drive. I can respect and appreciate what you drive but if I was pushed to answer, no I really don't care what you drive. Before everyone goes into umbrage over my last sentence, I still like cars. Especially yours.I have heated tiles in my bathroom and my kitchen. The two places you're most likely to be barefoot. An EV may fall into to the one less thing to mess with for many people.Macallan for those who were wondering.
- EBFlex The way things look in the next 5-10 years no. There are no breakthroughs in battery technology coming, the charging infrastructure is essentially nonexistent, and the price of entry is still way too high.As soon as an EV can meet the bar set by ICE in range, refueling times, and price it will take off.
- Jalop1991 Way to bury the lead. "Toyota to offer two EVs in the states"!
Comments
Join the conversation
GM midsize sedans drive as bad as minivans anyway - so you might as well make them as high as minivans also.
I really like my 2016 Fusion. If I had to buy another mid-size today the 2017 Fusion would be at the top of the list.