Sporty Car Sales And Premium Sporty Car Sales In America - October 2011

The sporty car graph GoodCarBadCar publishes twice per month - once for U.S. sales and once for Canadian sales - offers up a mixed bag of markets inside one overarching pie chart. There are muscle cars; they're the most popular. There are German roadsters, Asian hot hatches, and a Swedish convertible. The Mini Cooper and Fiat 500 are charted elsewhere. The Honda Civic Si, BMW M3, and many sports sedans have their sales wrapped up in the core model's numbers, as the Civic Si's are here.

The point is, although Chevrolet's 23.3% share of the sporty car segment in October 2011 sounds good, the Camaro's true share of its genuine market is actually much higher. Americans purchased or leased 14,114 new American muscle cars in October. 43.4% of those Camaro/Mustang/Challenger acquisitions resulted from an attraction to the Camaro. There are many more details on the sales of sporty cars and sports cars and roadsters and hot hatchbacks in the table below.

CLICK EITHER CHART FOR A LARGER VIEW

Sales of BMW's 6-Series and Nissan's GT-R shot through the roof in October. This occurred during the same period in which BMW Z4 sales plunged and Nissan 370Z sales dove for the basement. The 6-Series came within 28 sales of beating the Porsche 911.

Speaking of the generally unbeatable Porsche, 911 sales fell 17% in October. The next-gen 911 will soon be upon us. Many customers would therefore be reluctant to acquire the now out-dated 997-gen 911. 

A 17% drop would certainly have been an easier pill for Mercedes-Benz to swallow with its SLS AMG. Sales of the Mercedes-Benz's exotic-looking supercar fell 78% instead. Through ten months, the SLS AMG is up 13%, though sales of the lower-rung SL-Class are off 38%. All these numbers and more can be viewed in the table at the end of this post. 

Sporty Car	October 2011	% Change	Year To Date	YTD % Change
Audi A5	1394	+ 22%	13,118	- 5%
Audi TT	194	+ 134%	1856	+ 33%
BMW Z4	92	- 47%	3024	- 12%
Chevrolet Camaro	6119	+ 22%	76,368	+ 7%
Chevrolet Corvette	946	- 6%	11,216	+ 4%
Dodge Challenger	3097	- 3%	33,254	+ 7%
Ford Mustang	4898	- 8%	61,516	- 4%
Honda CR-Z	289	- 80%	10,461	+ 212%
Hyundai Veloster	3724	----	4558	-----
Mazda MX-5 Miata	354	- 35%	5041	- 12%
Mazda RX-8	41	- 56%	705	- 26%
Mercedes-Benz SLK	212	+ 58%	2748	+ 57%
Mitsubishi Eclipse	229	- 9%	7226	+ 87%
Nissan 370Z	442	- 41%	6523	- 26%
Porche Boxster	64	- 54%	1681	- 12%
Porsche Cayman	122	+ 31%	1197	+ 7%
Scion tC	1927	- 11%	19,268	+ 61%
Volkswagen Eos	564	+ 52%	6730	+ 11%
Volkswagen GTI	1214	+ 33%	14,402	+ 22%
Volvo C70	284	+ 20%	4316	+ 8%

Premium Sporty Car	October 2011	% Change	Year To Date	YTD % Change
Audi R8	69	+ 15%	928	+ 61%
BMW 6-Series	414	+ 763%	2631	+ 15%
Dodge Viper	12	- 68%	156	- 55%
Jaguar XK	201	+ 7%	1549	- 18%
Lexus LFA	4	-----	48	-----
Mercedes-Benz CL-Class	101	+ 20%	807	+ 5%
Mercedes-Benz SL-Class	86	- 59%	1271	- 38%
Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG	13	- 78%	467	+ 13%
Nissan GT-R	101	+ 120%	1203	+ 53%
Porsche 911	441	- 17%	5198	+ 9%

Source: Manufacturers & ANDC

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Sporty Car & Premium Sporty Car Sales In America - November 2011
Sporty Car & Premium Sporty Car Sales In America - September 2011
Top 30 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In America - October 2011
U.S. Auto Brand Market Share - October 2011 

Truck Sales And Minivan Sales In America - October 2011

Americans acquired nearly 37,000 minivans in October. The segment's top seller last month was the Honda Odyssey. The Odyssey's 10,415 sales marked a 5% improvement over last October's Honda minivan sales performance. Combined, the identical Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan duo sees Chrysler's share of the minivan market climb to 36.7% from the separate 17.3%/19.4% market share stats owned by the Town & Country and Grand Caravan, respectively. 

The table below shows that America's best-selling minivan this year has been the Dodge Grand Caravan, sales of which are up 12% this year. The Odyssey was America's 26th-best-selling vehicle in October but it's America's third-best-selling minivan this year.

One-third of all trucks sold in America in October were Ford F-Series pickups. F-Series sales rose 7% in October 2011 and are up 8% in 2011. For context, America's new vehicle marker has improved 10% through the first ten months of 2011.

No truck reported a worse year-over-year October drop than the Honda Ridgeline. As the second table shows, Ridgeline sales fell 30% in October. That's not as bad as 2011's ten-month total. Ridgeline sales are down 47% so far this year. 

Conversely, apart from Suzuki's ultra-low volume Equator, no automaker reported a greater year-over-year gain in pickup truck sales than Ford did with the.... Ranger? Despite the fact that Ford is killing off the Ranger, discounted leftover Rangers are clearly an attractive proposition for buyers who need a truck. Any truck. Even the least appealing truck on the market.

Minivan	October 2011	% Change	Year To Date	YTD % Change
Chrysler Town & Country	6338	- 25%	78,255	- 18%
Dodge Grand Caravan	7100	- 14%	92,930	+ 12%
Honda Odyssey	10,415	+ 5%	86,436	- 3%
Kia Sedona	1541	- 7%	20,776	+ 10%
Mazda 5	962	-18%	16,967	+ 21%
Nissan Quest	641	-----	9293	+ 5150%
Toyota Sienna	8767	- 5%	91,955	+ 13%
Volkswagen Routan	834	- 24%	11,241	- 18%

Truck	October 2011	% Change	Year To Date	YTD % Change
Cadillac Escalade EXT	163	- 33%	1578	- 3%
Chevrolet Avalanche	1696	- 12%	15,865	- 8%
Chevrolet Colorado	2093	- 6%	26,078	+26%
Chevrolet Silverado	36,656	+ 7%	333,092	+10%
Dodge Dakota	642	- 17%	11,299	+ 1%
Dodge Ram	21,037	+ 22%	199,011	+ 26%
Ford F-Series	52,511	+ 7%	468,899	+ 8%
Ford Ranger	7270	+ 64%	57,058	+ 21%
GMC Canyon	778	- 15%	8412	+ 28%
GMC Sierra	13,362	+ 3%	120,704	+17%
Honda Ridgeline	880	- 30%	7356	- 47%
Nissan Frontier	4305	+ 24%	41,750	+ 25%
Nissan Titan	2114	+ 8%	17,462	- 10%
Suzuki Equator	203	+ 78%	1802	+ 51%
Toyota Tacoma	10,172	+ 13%	88,826	+ 3%
Toyota Tundra	6496	- 10%	67,553	- 11%

Source: Manufacturers & ANDC

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Minivan Sales & Truck Sales In America - November 2011
Truck Sales & Minivan Sales In America - September 2011
Top 30 Best-Selling Vehicles In America - October 2011
Top 10 Best-Selling Trucks In America - October 2011

Small SUV Sales, Midsize SUV Sales, Large SUV Sales In America - October 2011

Seven out of every ten smallerish sport utilities and crossovers sold in America last month were tallied up by the eight most popular smaller SUVs/crossovers. That's one-third of the nameplates grabbing more than two-thirds of the sales. The fact that Hyundai's Santa Fe and Kia's Sorento are included on the small side of the ledger skews this a bit, but they're both so inexpensive that their natural rivals aren't necessarily bigger SUVs like the Honda Pilot.

Aside from the all-new-at-this-time-last-year Mitsubishi Outlander Sport, no small utility vehicle reported a better year-over-year increase than the Jeep Compass. October 2011 Compass sales totalled 5179, a 566% improvement from October 2010. Apart from the dying Mazda Tribute and Honda Element, the Subaru Forester's 19% drop was exceeded only by the Toyota RAV4 and its 27% plunge.

Among somewhat larger SUVs and crossovers, three utility vehicles garnered more than 10% of the market. 38.4% of all mainstream midsize utility vehicles sold were either Honda Pilots, Ford Explorers, or Jeep Grand Cherokees. Throw another 10% of the market in the direction of the Ford Edge.

The Mitsubishi Endeavor's 50% year-over-year drop is easily explained by its defunct status. Hyundai Veracruz sales slid 29%. Through ten months, Ford Flex sales are 22% off last year's pace. Positively speaking, Ford Explorer sales jumped 225%, and the Pilot was up 53% in October. The Dodge Durango's 6562% jump simply manifests the deflated state of October 2010's Durango sales total. These numbers and many more can be viewed in the exhaustive tables of SUV sales stats after the jump.

CLICK ANY CHART FOR LARGER VIEW

Large SUVs are far from the dominant U.S. market force they were just six or seven years ago. Compared with last year, however, America's five mainstream truck-based sport-utility vehicles are much, much healthier. October was a down month for both the GMC Yukon and Yukon XL, but like the Chevrolet Tahoe, Chevrolet Suburban, and Ford Expedition, GMC jumbo SUV sales in the first ten months of 2011 have improved.

In the case of the Yukon, sales are way up. Its 21% jump equals 4722 more sales between January and October than there were between January and October of 2010. 

As was the case with GCBC's changed small and midsize SUV charts - a change which is explained here  - you'll find more info for October and 2011's SUV sales figures after the jump.

Large Car Sales In America - October 2011

33% of the cars in the U.S. large car sales table below are Chevrolet Impalas. It's an unfair comparison for many of the Impala's relatively indirect competitors. The Impala's base price is a Camry-baiting $25,645 while many of the cars in this group operate with base prices closer to or above $30,000. The Camry's big brother, Toyota's Avalon, is one such car. Its base price of $33,195 is at the very least semi-premium. So Chevrolet sells boatloads of Impalas to buyers who want a cheap big car - that's the story, as always.

Obviously there is one more glaring fact manifested by the October 2011 rundown of big car sales in America. Out of a possible 18 places where red font - an indicator of declining year-over-year sales - could make itself apparent, there are 14 such appearances. It's not surprising to see the half-dead Hyundai Azera and defunct Buick Lucerne way off last year's pace. But Ford Taurus sales are down 10% this year. Buick LaCrosse sales were down 9% in a month in which Buick posted a 7% drop. We keep waiting for the revamped Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger to make gains but they keep reporting losses.  The Nissan Maxima had a decent October but is off 6% this year despite Nissan's brand-wide 18% boost.

America's new vehicle market was bigger this October than last, so it may be safe to say big car buyers are choosing slightly smaller vehicles these days. Or they're opting for premium-badged cars, sales of which are just fine thanks. Or maybe increasingly common crossovers are exercising sway. Regardless, sales are down, and evidence of that fact can be clearly seen in the table below, one which taps into more auto sales data than GoodCarBadCar's previously... er, tapped.

As you've probably already read in October's U.S. small and midsize car sales posts, GoodCarBadCar has changed things up with October 2011's charts and segment-by-segment breakdowns. The table below provides more info than any of GCBC's charts ever have, and the market share chart above (click it to make it bigger) manifests the dominance of the best-selling midsize cars in the United States.

This format will hold true for all monthly segment wrap-ups. With another new feature about to be released - one which will allow you to see the monthly and yearly sales figures for every car on sale, individually, accessible by a simple dropdown menu - GoodCarBadCar is taking the free and unfettered broadcasting of auto sales info to a whole... nutha... level.

Large Car	October 2011	% Change	Year To Date	YTD % Change
Buick LaCrosse	4048	- 9%	49,106	- 6%
Buick Lucerne	849	- 53%	18,822	- 16%
Chevrolet Caprice PPV	116	----	614	----
Chevrolet Impala	11,982	- 3%	150,104	+ 3%
Chrysler 300	3701	- 29%	27,077	- 21%
Dodge Charger	3626	- 10%	57,779	- 19%
Ford Taurus	5438	- 2%	52,976	- 10%
Hyundai Azera	41	- 80%	1448	- 45%
Nissan Maxima	4190	+ 9%	48,783	- 6%
Toyota Avalon	2502	+ 13%	23,507	0%

Source: Manufacturers & ANDC 
Red font indicates declining year-over-year sales

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Large Car Sales In America - November 2011
Large Car Sales In America - September 2011
Top 20 Best-Selling Cars In America - October 2011
Small Car Sales In America - October 2011
Midsize Car Sales In America - October 2011

Midsize Car Sales In America - October 2011

There's news today that Honda Civic inventory in the United States is "virtually zero", and sales which slid 6% in October go some way to proving that. One size category up, however, the Honda Accord sold well last month. The Accord was America's best-selling car and sedan/coupe Accord sales were up 5.3%. Honda sold 1478 Crosstours in October 2011.

Clearly then, the Accord led the loosely defined midsize segment in October. Trailing the pack was the Suzuki Kizashi, sales of which fell 18%. In an off-shoot of the midsize sector - cars which are priced similarly but cater to a very different buyer - the Chevrolet Volt beat the Nissan LEAF. Sales of Toyota's Prius were ten times stronger.

No car from the table below reported a worse year-over-year decline than the Honda Insight. Its 75% plunge steered the Insight straight toward the Worst-Selling Cars In America list. Chrysler 200 sales were 405% better than Chrysler Sebring sales from a year ago. Sound good? The Kia optima was up 429%. Not good enough? The Volkswagen Passat registered an 825% jump, something that wasn't actually that hard to achieve. Volkswagen sold only 545 Passats at this time last year.

As you've probably already read in October's U.S. small car post, GoodCarBadCar has changed things up with October 2011's charts and segment-by-segment breakdowns. The table below provides more info than any of GCBC's charts ever have, and the market share chart above (click it to make it bigger) manifests the dominance of the best-selling midsize cars in the United States.

This format will hold true for all monthly segment wrap-ups. With another new feature about to be released - one which will allow you to see the monthly and yearly sales figures for every car on sale, individually, accessible by a simple dropdown menu - GoodCarBadCar is taking the free and unfettered broadcasting of auto sales info to a whole... nutha... level.

Scroll down for all the details on the sales of mainstream midsize cars competing in the U.S. in October 2011. The chart at the top is indeed a new way of showing market share, and you'll like it.

Midsize Car	October 2011	% Change	Year To Date	YTD % Change
Buick Regal	2281	+ 40%	34,938	+ 379%
Chevrolet Malibu	10,239	- 17%	181,505	+ 3%
Chevrolet Volt	1108	-----	5003	-----
Chrysler 200	11,205	+ 405%	72,135	+ 101%
Dodge Avenger	7136	+ 145%	52,164	+ 17%
Ford Fusion	18,094	+ 4%	206,533	+ 15%
Honda Accord/Crosstour	24,067	- 1%	219,169	- 16%
Honda Insight	492	- 75%	14,110	- 21%
Hyundai Sonata	18,192	+ 4%	192,953	+ 16%
Kia Optima	8616	+ 429%	64,353	+ 182%
Mazda 6	3438	+ 39%	28,352	- 4%
Mitsubishi Galant	583	- 70%	14,399	+ 42%
Nissan Altima	21,838	+ 15%	222,392	+ 18%
Nissan LEAF	849	-----	8048	-----
Subaru Legacy	3546	0%	34,884	+ 10%
Subaru Outback	8891	+ 2%	83,682	+ 12%
Suzuki Kizashi	480	- 18%	5925	+ 31%
Toyota Camry	22,043	- 12%	251,564	- 9%
Toyota Prius	11,008	- 6%	104,251	- 9%
Toyota Venza	3326	- 6%	33,157	- 17%
Volkswagen Passat	5040	+ 825%	9933	- 17%
Volkswagen Passat CC	2025	+ 14%	25,354	+ 12%

Source: Manufacturers & ANDC 
Red font indicates declining year-over-year sales. 
Chrysler 200 % change compares with October 2010 performance of Chrysler Sebring. YTD info includes 2011's Sebring sales. Accord & Crosstour sales are combined until the end of 2011.

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Midsize Car Sales In America - November 2011
Midsize Car Sales In America - September 2011
Top 20 Best-Selling Cars In America - October 2011
U.S. Auto Sales By Brand - October 2011
Small Car Sales In America - October 2011
Large Car Sales In America - October 2011

What Canadians Pay For A New 2012 Hyundai Veloster

The number of Canadians searching, and finding, the price of the 2012 Hyundai Veloster has been startling. This unique and inexpensive sporty hatch has caught the attention of a wide range of buyers. There's proof in the numbers:  Hyundai sold 997 Velosters in the first two months it was on sale in Canada. Four at the tail end of August, 568 in September, and 425 in October. 

The Good Car Guy will be spending some quality time in one of Hyundai Canada's Velosters next week, so now seems like as good a time as any to get down to the nitty-gritty of the Veloster's Canadian pricing structure. Hyundai is obviously gearing the Veloster towards a younger generation, a group of people unlikely to walk in and plop down $23,700 (including delivery, fees, and taxes) or $29,335 (for the top-of-the-line Veloster) in cash. 

Granted, swiping your points-registering Mastercard on a purchase of such magnitude would likely earn you 2000 AirMiles, but you probably don't have the coin. And if you do, with Hyundai's low interest rates, you're better off using your cash as a down payment on a home in Canada's healthy housing market.

Priced from $18,999 to $23,899, the Veloster lines up well against the $23,490-$24,290 Honda CR-Z and the pre-accessorized $20,490-$21,990 Scion tC. The price you pay for a car has as much to do with interest rates as it does with MSRP, however. So what will you actually pay to get a Veloster off the Hyundai lot and into your driveway?

For the purposes of this exercise we'll assume Nova Scotia's 15% HST and use www.HyundaiCanada.com's fairly faithful Build & Price calculator.

Starting with a basic Veloster and its 6-speed manual transmission, a 60-month purchase with zero dollars down nets you a $424.81 payment. Hyundai will gladly fit you in to a biweekly payment schedule, which would drop your payment to about $196 every two weeks. Hyundai's 60-month interest rate on the Veloster is currently at 2.9%

Now, if you want the basic Veloster but require Hyundai's DCT automatic, your monthly payment rises to $453.67. Paying over 48 or 36 months doesn't allow your interest rate to drop (at the moment) so the payment rises rapidly to $559.11 or $734.94, respectively.

With the Veloster's tech package and a manual transmission, 60 payments of $496.96 can be expected. Finally, expect to pay $525.82 for a fully outfitted 2012 Veloster with the tech package and the Ecoshift DCT automatic. 

Compare these payments with those for the CVT-equipped Honda CR-Z and you'll find that Honda's 5.9% interest rate drives the rare CR-Z up to $572.82 over 60 months. Equip the CR-Z with a manual transmission and the monthly payment drops by $17.74. Stick with the CVT but add the style package and the essentials package and the CR-Z's monthly payment shoots up to $650.72. The same CR-Z could be leased for 48 months at $473.03.

An automatic-equipped Scion tC will run you $496.38 with Toyota Canada's 3.9% 60-month rate. The $474.20 of the manual-tranny Scion tC is an easier pill to swallow.

Term	Veloster  6-Speed  Manual	Veloster Ecoshift DCT	Veloster 6-Speed Manual w/ Tech Package	Veloster Ecoshift DCT w/ Tech Package
36 Months	$688.19	$734.94	$805.07	$851.82
48 Months	$523.54	$559.11	$612.46	$648.02
60 Months	$424.81	$453.67	$496.96	$525.82
72 Months	$359.04	$383.43	$420.01	$444.40

Purchase payments are based on Hyundai Canada's current 2.9% rates, $0.00 down, and N.S. residency

Don't take these prices as nails in a coffin. Dealers may have room to negotiate, and rates (Hyundai's in particular) are likely to fall over time. For example, Hyundai's turbocharged Sonata 2.0T can be paid interest-free over 72 months.

It's a useful guide, however, and it goes a long way to explaining why the newest Hyundai has been so popular from the get-go. Though the Veloster accounted for just 4.1% of all Hyundai Canada sales in October, it was more than twice as popular as the Genesis Coupe despite the rear-wheel drive Hyundai's 31% year-over-year increase. The Veloster out-sold the Elantra Touring by five units. With 425 sales, the Veloster was responsible for 38.5% of Hyundai's 12.1% year-over-year increase. 

Moreover, the Veloster's 425 October sales were 208-units stronger than Chevrolet's Camaro total, 296 greater than Ford's Mustang total, and 344 better than what Chrysler managed with the Challenger. Scion sold 143 copies of the tC in September. Sales of a GoodCarBadCar favourite, the Volkswagen GTI, topped out at 160. Finally, another possible rival, the Fiat 500, found 405 buyers in September. 67 of those Fiat 500 sales were actually for the 500C.

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Sporty Car Sales In Canada - September 2011
Official Canadian Hyundai Veloster Pricing Released
2011's The Good 12 v4.0 Part 4 - Fiat 500