In the U.S. market, where consumers generally prefer big cars, SUVs and pickups dominate the market, and the combined sales of sedans and MPV categories are less than a quarter of the overall market. Even so, throughout the year last year, automakers sold 3.6 million cars and MPVs in the United States.
As shown above, unlike the Chinese car market led by compact cars, the largest volume of the US car market is a medium-sized car, even if it suffered an 11% decline last year, it is still one head higher than the compact market, and behind this macro pattern, there is naturally a micro ecology that is very different from the Chinese car market.
In today's article, we will delve into the specific models of each level and look at which models are still favored by American consumers in the shrinking car market.
Mini car: The entire market sells 65,000 units a year, and the three models stand tall
In the United States, a market of 15 million vehicles sold a year, the sales of mini cars last year were only 65,000 units, which is enough to see how indifferent Americans are to mini cars. Because the market segment is too small, although there are only 3 models on the scale, the annual sales of each car are only about 20,000.
In fact, the mainland's mini-car market has also shrunk significantly in previous years, until the rise of electric micro-vehicles such as Wuling Hongguang MINI, Euler Black Cat, Chery Little Ant and so on in the past two years, and this level has risen again. But this change did not happen in the US market.
Considering the relatively lagging rhythm of new energy vehicles in the United States, electric micro-vehicles are not completely impossible to rise in the United States, and one day if Chinese car companies can bring electric micro-cars to the United States, they may also be able to set off a new wave of micro-cars on the other side of the ocean.
Small cars: Monopolized by Japanese and Korean models, american and European soy sauce
With sales of 198,000 units in the U.S. small car market in 2021, the presence in the overall market is still weak, but it is already equivalent to three times that of the mini car market. The situation in the Chinese market is just the opposite, the volume of small cars is only half that of mini cars, but the sales volume reaches 432,000 units, which is still much larger than the US market.
Leading the U.S. small car market is Kia Shuer, which was introduced to China but withdrew due to poor sales, and this unique boxy shape is quite popular with Americans, but due to the size of the market segment, only 75,000 units were sold last year.
Nissan Versa, ranked second, is actually the Chinese market has been discontinued Nissan Sunshine, this Nissan low-end sedan, in the U.S. market has maintained a certain sales scale, after the replacement of the shape, has been quite a small Xuanyi temperament, if the daily production capacity of this generation of models reintroduced into China, may also be able to achieve good results.
The kia Rio, ranked third, and the hyundai Accent, which ranked fourth, have little popularity in China, but the fifth is Honda Fit, which is known as a civilian supercar, a representative model of the Chinese small car market, which sold less than 9,000 vehicles in the United States last year, which is only equivalent to the level of the Chinese market for one month.
Compact cars: Civic, Corolla lead the way, American brands are almost all out
In the compact car market in the United States, the top three are occupied by the Japanese top three Civic, Corolla and American version of Xuanyi (Sentra), of which Civic and Corolla are the first camp of this level, with average monthly sales of more than 20,000 vehicles, and the market share of more than 20%, far exceeding the Nissan Sentra (American version of Xuanyi), which ranks 3rd.
Ranked 4th and 5th, respectively, hyundai Elantra and Kia Forte, two Korean cars, their sales are more than 100,000 vehicles, the average monthly sales of about 10,000 vehicles, and after the Top 5, the 6th Volkswagen Jetta (American version of Sagitar), the sales scale fell straight to more than 60,000, only equivalent to Half of the Sentra, Elantra, Forte and other models, and this is already volkswagen's highest sales car in the US market, as for the classic hatchback Golf, Only 9,253 units were sold in the whole of last year, ranking 17th.
Overall, Japanese brands in the compact car market account for nearly 70% of the share, Korean brands share more than 20%, while the entire European brand in this market segment only about 10% of the share, the United States local brands have been almost completely squeezed out of this field.
Medium and large cars: Japan and South Korea share more than 70%, the United States rely on model 3 to save some face
The size of the mid-size car market in the United States is 1.357 million units, which is a significant gap between 2.499 million units in the same level of the Chinese market, but the Tesla Model 3, which ranks first in the Chinese market for medium-sized cars, sold 273,000 units last year, but it is not as good as the American mid-size car champion Camry, which sold 314,000 units in the US market.
Camry's share of midsize cars in the U.S. is 23.1 percent, and if a midsize car were to capture the same share in the Chinese market, it would need to sell 570,000 units a year. Through this comparison, it is enough to see how much American consumers love camry.
The 300,000-vehicle range is owned by camry, while the Honda Accord has become the only seedling with an annual sales of 200,000 units in the mid-size car market, and further back, the third-place Model 3 and the fourth-place Nissan Tianlai are already in the early 100,000-early level. The share of these 4 models in the entire mid-size car market has exceeded half.
Similar to the compact market, it is followed by two Korean cars, the Hyundai Sonata and the Kia K5, which are very dismal in the Chinese market, but they still maintain a considerable sales scale in the US market. In the compact market, which can still rely on Jetta to squeeze into the sixth Volkswagen, the mid-size car market is already outside the top ten, and the US version of Passat sold only 24,000 units last year, ranking 12th in the mid-size car list.
In addition to the Tesla Model 3, the best-selling of the traditional luxury brands in the mid-size car market is the BMW 3 Series and Lexus ES, but last year sold less than 50,000 units, while in the Chinese market, both cars sold more than 100,000 units. It can be seen that in addition to a few medium-sized cars in Japan and South Korea, the lineup of luxury brands has also declined in the United States.
It is worth mentioning that the G70 of the emerging luxury brand Jenises sold 10,718 units in the United States last year, although the scale is not large, but for a new brand, it is already a small achievement.
Medium and large vehicles: Dodge Trucker dominates a third of the market, and Toyota Asian Dragons sell less than 20,000 units
In the large and medium-sized car market dominated by executive cars, the United States is led by a model with an American sports temperament, the Dodge Chargeer, which sold 78,000 units last year, almost equivalent to the combined sales of the next 2-5 4 models, accounting for 35.3% of the mid-size car market.
The BMW 5 Series and Mercedes-Benz E-Class, which sold 170,000 and 140,000 units respectively in China last year, although ranked 2nd and 3rd in the U.S. mid- and large-sized car market, sold only more than 20,000 vehicles a year, and Audi's A6/S6 sold less than 10,000 units.
It is worth mentioning that although the Camry sold more than 300,000 vehicles in the United States last year, the Asian Dragon, which is half a grade higher than it, only sold 19,000 vehicles, and the two cars from the Toyota brand also encountered completely different fates.
Cadillac CT5 is classified as medium and large in the United States, and it and Volvo's 90 Series, Lincoln Continental, Jaguar XF and other luxury brand executive-class cars, annual sales are less than 10,000, and the size of the same level in the Chinese market is far from the scale.
Large luxury car: Mercedes-Benz S-class status can not be shaken, CT6 generation American brand hit soy sauce
Consistent with other major regional markets around the world, in the large luxury car market in the United States, Mercedes-Benz S-Class is still the absolute leader, selling 14,000 units last year, almost twice that of bmw's 7 Series, but Porsche pure electric vehicle Taycan has increased significantly, has surpassed the Panamera, becoming the second only model in the same class after mercedes-Benz S-class.
In this segment, only the Cadillac CT6 can barely be counted, but the annual sales of 173 units are almost negligible, while the G90 of Jenises has sold 1821 vehicles, which is close to the Audi A8.
Affordable sports cars: Challengers, Mustangs, Camaro lead the way, defending the dignity of American sports cars
Although the scale of the conventional car market at all levels is much smaller than that of China, in the sports car segment, the volume of the U.S. market is still much larger than that of China, and the main reason behind it is that the challenger, mustang, camaro, these three American muscle sports cars, also have a considerable scale of fans.
Looking back at the entire American car market, in addition to the Tesla Model 3, the highest-selling car of the American brand is the Dodge Chargeer, the Challenger and the Ford Mustang, which is also the last glory of the American brand in the fuel car market.
MPV: Few models but not small, Xena anti-super large Jackie Into the best-selling MPV
Unlike the Chinese market, where there are dozens of MPV models at various price points and levels, there are only 5 models with a certain scale in the U.S. MPV market, and the number of models is very small, but the annual sales scale has reached 310,000 vehicles, which has exceeded the size of the medium and large car market.
After the replacement, Toyota Syna has grown rapidly in the United States, selling 108,000 vehicles in 2021, an increase of 1.5 times year-on-year, which also makes it successfully surpass the classic Chrysler Grand Jaylon and reach the top of the U.S. MPV market, while Honda Odyssey ranks third after the Grand Jaylon.
Kia Regal's growth in the U.S. last year was also very strong, but the sales of 25,000 vehicles were only a quarter of that of their rivals, Xena and Jawa, which officially landed in the Chinese market last year, and China has become a new battlefield for the two models.
summary
The above is the current situation of the US car market and the MPV market at various levels, through the sales of specific models, we can clearly see the differences between the car markets of China and the United States, many of which are hot in China, but unknown models in the United States, and there is no shortage of examples of opposite situations.
Compared with the car market that is gradually shrinking, the SUV and pickup truck market in the United States is more lively and exciting, and these two categories of markets will be left to the next article to interpret it.
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