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REPORT: Consumers increasingly shying away from small cars; owners unhappy
2011 Chevrolet Cruze - Click above for high-res image gallery
When gas prices spiked above $4 per gallon in the summer of 2008, car buyers appeared to find their small car zen. Toyota Corollas, Honda Fits and Civics, Chevrolet Cobalts and Ford Focuses were flying off dealer shelves at a fevered pace, while truck buying dropped through the floor. Fast-forward to present day and car buyers are once again picking bigger vehicles while many of last year's "smart" small car buyers may be experiencing a bit of buyer's remorse.
A closer look at the current sales charts shows that Americans may not be too keen on small cars after all, as News Chief is reporting that America's compact car market has dropped 15% year over year. Even used small cars are taking a beating, as Kelley Blue Book reportedly told NC that small car residuals have dropped like a stone while larger vehicles are becoming increasingly valuable. In August 2008, truck prices dropped by 17% versus the same point in 2007, but from 2008 to 2009 overall truck sales jumped by 23%.
Perhaps the biggest issue here is that many of the customers who went small in 2008 are now unhappy with their more economical vehicles. George Peterson, president of AutoPacific told NC that a recent survey of 32,000 car buyers showed that customers aren't thrilled with their new small car, quoting customers as saying "'It does what I want, but it doesn't have what I want. It doesn't have the features, the power, the room, and next time I'll opt for a bigger car.'"
The survey showed that 30% of small vehicle buyers would like more power with their next new car or truck, 25% want more cargo room, and 25% want more technology. 18% of those surveyed would like more safety and 22% would like a softer ride. Only half of the subcompact buyers would opt for a compact vehicle with their next purchase, while 35% want a midsized sedan and 18% want a crossover or SUV.
While the Auto Pacific survey results shows that many car buyers are looking away from compacts with their next purchase, automakers are ramping up small car production. New products like the Ford Fiesta and the Chevrolet Cruze are coming Stateside over the next year or two, and if the apparent trend away from small cars continues, automakers will be fighting over a familiarly small group of perspective buyers. Unless, of course, gas prices once again spike into the stratosphere, in which case we're likely to repeat this process again.
Gallery: 2011 Chevy Cruze
[Source: News Chief]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 10)
Gruv 7:35PM (10/06/2009)
In other news, Americans make stupid decisions again and again with zero ability to remember history.
Reply
jv2k 7:47PM (10/06/2009)
The switch to small cars was a stupid knee jerk reaction by a majority that has no sense. Yes smaller cars are better on gas, but in the end of the day we had tons of people freaking out about gas prices and deciding that the only choice was to buy a brand new car that wasn't bad on gas(clearly the best financial decision).
Now the former SUV owners are unhappy that they replaced their giant 300hp land yachts with chevy aveos, toyota yarises, and etc. It might come as a surprise to a lot of people but SUVs sold for a good reason, people LIKED them. Sense would have told them to just keep their old car or get something that wasn't so small, but as I said before the knee jerk reaction made them stupid.
letsgetspocked 7:48PM (10/06/2009)
Ditto. Given the wild FLUCTUATIONS in gas prices we've experienced in the last few years (not just high prices, but unpredictable prices), I'm a little surprised that Americans are going back to their old habits so quickly. Though, to be perfectly honest, I'd be a little upset too if fate stuck me inside a Chevy Aveo or Dodge Caliber...
Andre 7:48PM (10/06/2009)
Pretty much on point with that...
hokieman09 8:07PM (10/06/2009)
The article is not saying that people don't like the mileage small cars get it says that people don't like small cars. The knee jerk reaction when gas prices went up is the stupid part.
Mike!!ekiM 8:21PM (10/06/2009)
I call BS.
They want more power? With 4 cyl's producing 200 HP!
- They're not using the power.
- Bogus INDUSTRY Survey.
jv2k 8:47PM (10/06/2009)
Most people don't buy 4cyl cars producing 200hp and most of those engines don't produce a lot of torque either which is probably the real problem the consumers have coming from suvs.
PercyPricksworth 8:52PM (10/06/2009)
This survey was brought to you by GM & Chrysler...
I could imagine Ford will strengthen its position as it will be able to cater to more different demands. And as the barrel will cost 100-150$ again (sooner than you might think) Ford will have its Fiesta and Focus ready. Meanwhile they have the F-150.
Generally I could imagine it depends more as how cool/sexy a small car is marketed.
Fiesta: cool
Aveo: as "sexy" as Rene Zellweger
futurama 9:01PM (10/06/2009)
Most of those people don't drive fast, why would they need a powerful car? Whether they have some big SUV or small car, they will drive slow on the fast lane, they are not considerate of other drivers, they still talk on the phone while not really paying attention to the road.
It's a mystery.
Noidor 9:20PM (10/06/2009)
This is a BS statistic and I'll tell you why 1) Never trust marketing research models 2) They ask a question in a form of "do you want more power?" "do you want more room?" "do you want more cargo space?" Questions are biased and do not yield useful info.
Satn 9:41PM (10/06/2009)
It's simple; during the recession fast food sales went way up, so americans now need bigger cars, to fit their fat asses.
Polly Prissy Pants 10:07PM (10/06/2009)
"Most of those people don't drive fast, why would they need a powerful car?"
They don't. The problem is that Detroit (in the U.S.) has been telling generations that bigger is better and more power is better. They also told us that small=cheap so it should be no surprise that people in America knee-jerk into thinking they need and want a bigger car. Same goes for houses and $2000 washing machines, etc. People in other countries don't think this way because that's not how they've been programmed.
Having driven daily drivers that ranged from a Suburban to a Hemi Charger to now a Corolla, there's no way I'd go back to piloting a barge no matter how many hp it has. And unless you're towing or are the Brady Bunch you don't _need_ any more space. You're convinced you do though.
Dan 10:21PM (10/06/2009)
"People in other countries don't think this way because that's not how they've been programmed."
Europe doesn't buy sardine cans because they're programmed differently, they settle for them because that's what gas prices and tiny parking spaces mandate.
Look at what rich Europeans who aren't so constrained drive. Not mini hatchbacks.
Preferring nice cars isn't programming it's common sense.
Mike 10:47PM (10/06/2009)
"The problem is that Detroit (in the U.S.) has been telling generations that bigger is better and more power is better."
Detroit hasn't been telling anyone anything. Japan and Europe's vehicles have also gained size over generations, the American public wants larger cars. We have the road space and parking spaces to fit them, as long as fuel is reasonably priced, we want to have our cake and eat it too.
"Having driven daily drivers that ranged from a Suburban to a Hemi Charger to now a Corolla, there's no way I'd go back to piloting a barge no matter how many hp it has. And unless you're towing or are the Brady Bunch you don't _need_ any more space. You're convinced you do though."
No, the instant you need to move a piece of furniture, a sheet of drywall, lumber, soil, a snowblower, lawnmower, etc., etc., etc. you wish you had a bigger car. There's few things as frustrating as buying something so seemlingly small as an office chair and realizing you now need tools to disassemble it in the parking lot to fit it in your car, especially if it's raining and cold out (ask me how I know).
I was lucky enough to have access to some work trucks during parts of my home renovation when I needed them but it was a major PITA to go and get the truck, go to the store and buy what I need, bring it home, then go and return the truck. It added an hour to two each time I needed something big, when your busy already you don't have that time to mess around.
Next time my company offered up new cars, I took a bigger one because I knew if I needed the space, it was there. It happens that it's a CUV so it's not terrible on gas but I wouldn't even care if it was a truck, I'd be happy with it. I also don't live far from work so the fuel prices never really affected me, but I know a few people who were considering selling their trucks and didn't, now they are happy they didn't as they have found they needed them and the gas prices are down.
I just laugh now because all the people screaming on Autoblog that gas would be over $8 per gallon by now, that trucks would never sell again. Idiots paid $7k for a Geo Metro on e-bay, mass hysteria. Now less than 12 months later, same idiot probably can't get $700 for that Metro.
The only thing for the auto manufacturers to do is to keep each line strong, have good offerings at all levels and use platform sharing to keep the prices down. Adding tech features to small cars will make the young generation and greenies happy, they've already developed the stuff, may as well offer it in smaller cars Fuel will probably swing again (or maybe not) and people will freak out, panic and sell off their large vehicles only to be sorry again 6 months later. It's human nature to panic.
amg 11:51PM (10/06/2009)
@Mike
I can count the number of times I have needed to haul a big enough load to NEED a truck sized car this year on one finger. I rented a SUV from Enterprise for $40 that day.
Following your "what if I someday need the space to fit a huge load" mentality would have us all driving huge land barges on a daily basis b/c someday the economy will turn around and we'll all get huge raises and be able to afford to renovate our houses and buy new furniture and we'll spend all of our weekends going to Home Depot.
I personally rarely see any of the ultra clean SUVs hauling anything other than a person sipping their Starbucks. Sheet rock barely fits in most SUVs so you will need a pickup or a van anyway.
Fact is most of the time the huge SUV has 1 driver in it stuck in stopped traffic getting 12 MPG CITY commuting to work. You don't NEED one every single day of the year for that activity. People should buy for what you really need. Buying into the hype that you might need something huge someday is BS so buy something big now is dumb IMO.
If you need a big truck, go get one. If you need some space, look at a hatch back car or wagon. Most of them fit as much junk as an SUV, have better brakes, better handling and are easier to drive so the idiots in them are hopefully less likely to have an accident.
I've had both SUVs (Grand Cherokee and Tahoe) and cars and I prefer a nice hatch back or wagon. Heck, last year I fit a 6' Christmas Tree in the back of my wife's Mini Cooper with the seats down. The guy next to me in his F250 bought the same size tree.
Chris 1:03AM (10/07/2009)
I'm with amg! Get a hatch. People buy way beyond their needs.
Then again, that's their right. But I smile when gas does shoot up and you can see the pain on that soccer-mom's face as she fills her Sequoia.
Nozferat 1:20AM (10/07/2009)
OMG...we need 400HP SUVS so we can get to 60 in 6 seconds instead of 8 seconds with a 140HP compact....
WTF is the world coming to????
Nozferat 1:24AM (10/07/2009)
@DAN:
Europeans drive smaller cars because their smaller cars are better than what you can get here in the US.
They have cars you can only dream of...so don't flatter yourself by thinking they drive things they can only afford. The wealthiest Europeans drive supercars...not SUVS.
PJ 1:31AM (10/07/2009)
I second the BS call. There's nothing surprising about the large and small car markets waxing and waning along with the price of gas. And fully half of subcompact car owners saying they want another compact next time? That's actually quite a victory--after all, this a segment that buyers traditionally shop because they have to, not because they want to.
"In August 2008, truck prices dropped by 17% versus the same point in 2007, but from 2008 to 2009 overall truck sales jumped by 23%."
Gee, maybe the sales increase has something to do with the proportionate reduction in price?
I'd be very interested to know who AutoPacific polled, and who funded the report.
Kitko 3:20AM (10/07/2009)
AMG is right. People buy cars with the "what if...." mentality.
Then there's American consumer mentality. I want this and that but I want it for 5 cents and preferably get one free. If you make a decision to buy a small car than don't complain that you can fit a fridge in.
Need for more power? OK, I'll be a positive person and say that 5% of power hungry folks can actually use that power. There's no need to have V6 in town and commuter traffic.
Again, I have a 1.6 liter Mazda3, it's a semi-automatic. And I have never ever had a problem with power. German Autobahn? Why on earth there would be a problem? The only issue is overtaking on twisting mountain roads, where I have to find a little bit more space, but other than that, I can't complaining. BTW, since my car is a hatchback, I can fit in a 1.5 meter long object and still have room for two or three people.... One just needs to THINK but I guess to some consumers that's an uncharted territory.