Dead could be too strong a word. The Ford Escape, Nissan Altima and Chevrolet Impala, among others, are faraway from dead. Actually, before long they'll be breathing crisp mountain air. But in April 2012, these and other cars saw sales suffer by the hands of a market that knew that something better is coming down the road.
The glitz and glamour of unveiling cars at an auto show grabs headlines, but it surely also informs shoppers that something better is at the way, they usually may hold off on a purchase order until it arrives.
It's happened before.
The BMW 3 Series, a nameplate that routinely secures the title of America's best-selling luxury car, saw it happen last year. In 2011, because the U.S. new-vehicle market grew at a ten% clip, sales of the three Series slid 6.5%. True, the three Series stayed on as America's top-selling premium vehicle, but shoppers were all too privy to two factors.
First, there have been more recently redesigned and more stylish luxury cars available. Second, shoppers knew a brand new 3 Series was coming. Toward the top of the calendar year, they knew exactly what it might seem to be, how much power it's going to generate and what its fuel economy benefits will be.
That dip before the hot model arrived likely pained dealers, but there's a corollary effect. Throughout the first quarter of this year, the hot BMW sedan helped 3 Series sales climb 27%, which helps offset that 6.5% drop, especially on the grounds that coupe and convertible models hadn't been updated. Mercedes-Benz's slightly altered C-Class saw sales up 20%, mainly fueled by a brand new entry engine just like the 3 Series. But this can be a swing that BMW would gladly plow through to launch such a big model. A 6.5% drop isn't that bad, in spite of everything.
This is the peril of letting consumers know early on what an automaker goes to deliver. Apple releases an iPhone, and soon thereafter it goes on sale. Indeed, we predict there'll be a brand new Honda Accord soon, but Honda is keeping with its tradition of holding its cards on the subject of the vest. Accord sales jumped 26% in April. Incidentally, we don't know indubitably what a better Accord will appear to be, though we've several hints. But they're just that, hints.
We do know what the following Nissan Altima, due in July, will appear to be. The midsize Nissan was America's second-best-selling car in January, February and March, nonetheless it fell to 12th after sales slid 6% last month compared with April 2011. The 2013 Altima was revealed on the Big apple auto show in April.
The Chevrolet Impala is currently a worth-conscious, high-volume large car in an entire-size market that has shrunk significantly during the last several years. It's been in dire need of a redesign for years, however it kept selling despite its age. During the first quarter, Impala sales had risen 2% year over year. In April, sales of the present Impala plunged 29%, the worst year-over-year decline reported by any of America's 20 best-selling cars. The 2014 Impala was revealed on the Manhattan auto show in the beginning of April, but shoppers might want to wait for much longer for that car. It won't go on sale until early 2013. That's ages for GM to be observing percentage drops nearly five times larger than the BMW 3 Series.
Other factors were at play last month, even if potential buyers can be turned on by a more recent, flashier car while outgoing 4- or 5-year-old designs sit on dealer lots with discounts. April 2011 had three more selling days than April 2012, so year-over-year percentage volume changes are skewed. GM fleet sales were especially strong a year ago. U.S. auto sales had also been unexpectedly buoyant within the first few months of 2012, and dealer inventory was limited in certain instances.
All those factors can have had some impact but don't totally explain the Ford Escape's slide, the single model which could best illustrate shoppers holding off. Ford showed the 2013 Escape on the L.A. auto show last fall, with reviews like this one singing its praise hitting the web a couple of weeks ago. The present version of the Escape was with us for greater than a decade with far fewer changes than most models mentioned above. Is it any wonder Escape sales were down 20% in April when the recent version was just weeks faraway from dealers?
New-car buyers could be a patient bunch, or a minimum of a group that's willing to think about the hot car that's actually available. Honda introduced the brand new CR-V on the L.A. auto show in November, and the vehicle that has now taken over from the Escape as America's best-selling SUV was being stocked under two months later.
Tim Cain is a contributing writer for Cars.com and the editor-in-chief of fine Car Bad Car, a domain that analyzes both U.S. and Canadian car sales.
From WhatNewsToday.net
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