The Nissan Versa continues to run away from the rest of the pack in subcompact car sales, selling nearly two and a half times as much as the second place Ford Fiesta.
The Versa increased sales by almost 50 percent over July, and also increased over August 2014 by 1.7 percent. Although sales are still down 9 percent for the year, the Versa is on pace to be the first – and possibly the only – subcompact car to hit 100,000 sales for the year.
Fiesta sales continue to be steady, with strong increases for the month. Yearly sales are down slightly, but it is still performing better than others on the list.
The Hyundai Accent rode a strong month to take the final podium spot. It’s one of only two cars on the list to post increases in all three categories, the other being the surprising Mitsubishi Mirage.
The Honda Fit dropped 33 percent from July and 52 percent from August 2014, although yearly sales are still up 30 percent. Along with the drastic drop for its sister car, the HR-V, it’s possible that the factory can’t keep up with demand as both cars are made in Honda’s new Mexican plant.
One surprise at the bottom of the list is the Toyota Yaris. It’s not a bad car – subjectively, it’s better than other cars on the list that sell more – and Toyota has a wide dealer network. But despite this, Toyota couldn’t even sell 1,000 of their most affordable car in August. Oddly enough, this number is still 64 percent higher than in August of 2014. But the fact that Mitsubishi, with a much smaller dealer base, has sold more Mirages than Toyota has sold Yarises says a lot about how Toyota views its subcompact hatchback.
Toyota is revamping its Scion lineup, and the new Mazda 2-based iA should join this list soon.
Subcompact Car Sales – August 2015
| Aug 2015 # | Aug ’15/July ’15 % | Aug ’15/’14 % | YTD 2015 # | YTD ’15/’14 % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nissan Versa | 14,875 | 49.5% | 1.7% | 91,779 | -6.5% |
| Ford Fiesta | 5,892 | 7.3% | 5.4% | 46,872 | -2.8% |
| Hyundai Accent | 4,733 | 10.7% | 0.2% | 44,958 | 5.2% |
| Chevrolet Sonic | 4,677 | -8.3% | -63.5% | 46,755 | -32.8% |
| Honda Fit | 2,901 | -33.0% | -52.1% | 42,867 | 29.9% |
| Chevrolet Spark | 2,772 | -15.7% | -4.3% | 25,468 | -11.9% |
| Fiat 500 | 2,054 | 4.9% | -38.0% | 19,403 | -19.0% |
| Kia Rio | 1,734 | -22.1% | -48.8% | 18,796 | -30.8% |
| MINI Cooper 2-door | 1,593 | -35.7% | 0.8% | 14,229 | 19.8% |
| Mitsubishi Mirage | 1,569 | 1.0% | 5.8% | 16,623 | 44.2% |
| MINI Cooper 4-door | 1,128 | 8.9% | NEW | 10,425 | NEW |
| Toyota Yaris | 858 | -38.8% | 64.1% | 14,949 | 53.5% |
Watch this TFLcar video of the 2015 Honda Fit taking on the 2015 Nissan Versa Note:
