The subcompact car sales race has been dominated by two vehicles for a while, so it’s fitting that once again the Nissan Versa and Kia Soul are far ahead of the others in March sales.
The Versa ran away from the Soul in March, beating the funky hatchback by more than 4,000 sales. The smallest Nissan in the U.S. also had a month-over-month increase of 13 percent. It wasn’t quite enough to erase its yearly deficit, but it brought it down to an almost statistically insignificant 1.3-percent drop.
The Soul’s monthly numbers were the opposite of the Versa, down 5 percent for the month of March but still showing a yearly gain of more than seven percent.
Taking third place again is the Hyundai Accent, although a strong sales month pushed the gap to the next-best-selling car to more than 3,000 sales. The Accent’s monthly increase was five percent and its sales are up six percent for the year.
Further down the list, the numbers are dominated by negative signs as most contenders saw drops for both the month and the year. The one notable exception is the Mitsubishi Mirage, which posted an inexplicable 65-percent monthly increase despite still being a 2015 model (the Mirage skipped the 2016 model year).
The MINI Clubman’s numbers are greatly exaggerated as they hardly sold any last year, and the new model is brand-new for the company, with a longer wheelbase and four real doors to go along with those signature rear barn doors.
The Scion iA, which will be the Toyota Yaris iA in 2017, continued to outclass all other Scions including the larger, Corolla-based iM, and sold more in March than the actual Yaris has all year long.
Subcompact Car Sales – March 2016
| Mar 2016 # | Feb 2016 # | Mar ’16/Feb ’16 % | Mar 2016/2015 | YTD 2016 # | YTD 2016/2015 % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nissan Versa | 16,244 | 12,249 | 32.6% | 13.0% | 36,499 | -1.3% |
| Kia Soul | 12,043 | 11,842 | 1.7% | -5.4% | 33,076 | 7.3% |
| Hyundai Accent | 7,879 | 4,897 | 60.9% | 5.1% | 17,826 | 6.1% |
| Honda Fit | 4,771 | 3,647 | 30.8% | -28.1% | 11,513 | -36.4% |
| Chevrolet Sonic | 4,708 | 4,241 | 11.0% | -3.8% | 12,627 | 11.6% |
| Ford Fiesta | 4,549 | 3,754 | 21.2% | -8.1% | 10,863 | -10.3% |
| Mitsubishi Mirage | 4,113 | 1,156 | 255.8% | 65.3% | 6,232 | 2.9% |
| Scion iA | 3,264 | 2,305 | 41.6% | NEW | 7,409 | NEW |
| Kia Rio | 2,475 | 1,461 | 69.4% | -0.3% | 5,366 | -10.5% |
| Chevrolet Spark | 2,273 | 1,761 | 29.1% | -30.3% | 5,155 | -43.4% |
| Fiat 500 | 1,490 | 1,081 | 37.8% | -55.0% | 3,778 | -53.0% |
| MINI Cooper 4-door | 1,300 | 920 | 41.3% | -13.9% | 3,452 | 4.8% |
| Toyota Yaris | 1,227 | 908 | 35.1% | -51.3 | 2,683 | -49.6% |
| MINI Cooper 2-door | 1,122 | 948 | 18.4% | -47.2% | 3,286 | -33.3% |
| MINI Clubman | 1,037 | 381 | 172.2% | 51750.0%* | 1,695 | 33800.0%* |
| Fiat 500L | 533 | 365 | 46.0% | -56.0% | 1,267 | -58.0% |
*NOTE: The percentage increases for the MINI Clubman were not used in determining the highest for the month as they are statistical anomalies based on the extremely low numbers sold in 2015 (two in March 2015; five in the year to date).
Check out this TFLcar video of the new 2016 MINI Clubman:
