December 2013 sees hefty sales losses across the compact economy sedan segment. Eight out of eleven vehicles listed here were in the red. Nissan Sentra (+39.3%) and Hyundai Elantra (+14.0%) were the standouts posting double digit growth. These two also posted huge year-over-year increases in 2013.
The picture for the whole year looks a little better. Six out of the eleven had growth, with the Dodge Dart having a solid first year with 83,388 units sold. Dart was able to outsell the Kia Forte and the Subaru Impreza for the year.
Although Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla were red in December, the Civic asserted itself as the clear leader of the segment with total 336,180 units sold in 2013 (exactly 34,000 more than the Corolla). Can the Corolla recover and catch up in 2014?
Chevrolet Cruze and Ford Focus took heavy losses in December, but the Cruze edged out the Elantra for the third most popular small sedan of 2013.
Compact Sedan – December 2013
| Nov 2013 # | Nov ’13 / ’12 % | YTD 2013 # | YTD ’13 / ’12 % | |
| Honda Civic | 29,000 | -12.4% | 336,180 | 5.7% |
| Toyota Corolla | 22,562 | -8.6% | 302,180 | 3.9% |
| Hyundai Elantra | 21,692 | 14.0% | 247,912 | 22.7% |
| Chevrolet Cruze | 18,162 | -14.5% | 248,224 | 4.4% |
| Ford Focus | 15,569 | -31.1% | 234,570 | -4.6% |
| VW Jetta | 15,393 | -1.7% | 163,793 | -3.9% |
| Nissan Sentra | 10,799 | 39.3% | 129,143 | 21.4% |
| Mazda3 | 7,669 | -25.5% | 104,713 | -15.1% |
| Dodge Dart | 5,449 | -11.0% | 83,388 | 230.0% |
| KIA Forte | 4,302 | 0.6% | 66,146 | -12.6% |
| Subaru Impreza | 4,949 | -15.6% | 58,856 | -13.7% |
Check out this TFLcar video comparison of the compact sedans:
