The Chevrolet Cruze sold 32,871 units in June of this year, instantly becoming the best-selling car in its segment in the United States (with a market share of 17.35 percent) while beating out segment stalwarts such as the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla. The Cruze usually hovers in fourth and firth place, behind the Civic, Corolla, and Ford’s Focus, but a 73.2 percent year-over-year sales increase (of 9,816 units) compared to the month of May have shot it up to first place.
Consequently, May’s leader — the Honda Civic, dropped to second, the Corolla dropped to third, the Focus fell to fourth, and Hyundai’s Elantra came in fifth.
But even with Chevy’s strong performance in June, the Corolla remains the leading seller year-to-date in the compact segment, with the Civic sitting closely in second, and the Focus in third by roughly 24,000 units. The big June month allowed the Cruze to move up to fourth place from fifth in year-to-date rankings.
MAKE & MODEL | JUNE 2013 SALES | JUNE 2013 MARKET SHARE |
---|---|---|
CHEVROLET CRUZE | 32871 | 17.35% |
HONDA CIVIC | 29724 | 15.69% |
TOYOTA COROLLA/MATRIX | 26458 | 13.96% |
FORD FOCUS | 23144 | 12.21% |
HYUNDAI ELANTRA | 22163 | 11.70% |
VW JETTA | 14813 | 7.82% |
NISSAN SENTRA | 10199 | 5.38% |
MAZDA3 | 7566 | 3.99% |
SUBARU IMPREZA | 6907 | 3.64% |
KIA FORTE | 6620 | 3.49% |
DODGE DART | 6437 | 3.40% |
VW GOLF/GTI | 2602 | 1.37% |
TOTAL | 189,504 | 100.00% |
Next month, the Cruze family will grow with the addition of the Cruze Turbo Diesel model, which attains the best fuel economy of any gasoline- or diesel-only car in the country with a whopping 46 MPG on the highway. Following that, an all-new Cruze on GM’s D2XX vehicle architecture is expected around the 2015 timeframe, for the 2016 model year.
Comments
Nice to see this car the Nox and Terrain at the end of their life cycles all doing so well sales wise and so little in the way of Fleet sales being responsible.
Now to have the coming models build on this success.
Doesn’t it seemed like the Dodge dart is a flop?
Well, given that neither Dodge nor Chrysler have been volume brands in the last decade (at least not at the level that Ford, Chevy, Toyota, or Honda are), the Dart is doing ok. But I have a feeling that attractive Cruze leases are playing a huge part in its success.
1212, You are correct! The Dart has “droopy” styling, it looks like it melted in the hot sun. Its too big in the wrong places, overhangs and droops. I don’t think the name “works” either, was there really a lot of brand equity in that name? I’d get a Dodge Avenger V6 WAY before a Dart.
Dart looks way better than the Focus, Civic,Elantra, Forte and Corolla for sure…
Seeing the lack of a small car for so long at Chrysler I feel the opposite should have happened and it should have made a bigger impact on the market. But the fact is the Dart is an average car at best in a competitive segment.
It is kind of like the Malibu of this segment as it is not really a bad car but it just is not enough to set it’s self to the top ranks.
The real mater with the lack of interest in cars at Chrysler right now and the hemorrhaging of money by Fiat will Dodge survive?
Jeep is getting investment as have the trucks that no longer are Dodge.
Chrysler has had some Volume cars like the Caliber and Status but they were non volume due to their quality and because of much better competition. It just happens that their only cars of value are not high volume over 200,000 unit cars like the 300 etc.
Chrysler is literally 10 years behind the others in the mid and compact segments on most models due to the lack of investment and interest by Daimler.
The 500 was the first attempt to sell a small car in years at Chrysler and it does not even have their name on it.
I still think Fiat is making a mess of Chrysler. I’m over the Serg worship. The only good vehicles they produce are pre Fiat
Well I do not believe that Fiat is intentionally making a mess but it is a deal where they are not in a position to fix Chryslers issues fast enough to really make an impact short term.
The fact is Chrysler was flat broke and they lacked key smaller cars that GM had. While GM was going broke they at least had some money to continue working on cars like the Malibu, ZL1 and the XTS to help carry them out of the chapter 11 with new product that did not take 5 years to develop. They started these programs and other programs and then shelved them to hold them till they could afford to finish them. Chrysler could not afford to do so and were left with a rehash of the LX lines and a new interior in the Sebring and calling it a 200.
Fiat has come in and has invested in the trucks and the Jeep line but has shown little interest in the cars other than some ideas to this point. But to be fair Jeep and the Trucks are where the money is and they need it to fund the rest.
The Fiat 500 has had a much slower start than predicted and the Dart is a rehash of a old Alpha that just has not connected with the market.
When DIaimler was there they had no interest in small cars and even thought of killing any car under $30K at one time. Fiat came in and had no money at Chrysler to work with and what little they did get had to go to high profit vehicles. Fiat is also in dire financial state in Europe and many face major changes there if not corrected.
My greatest worry is that Fiat gets to a point where they could sell out to the Chinese and give then a connection in Europe and North America they lack now. China wants to be here and there but they can not even get their own people to like their cars. Hence we are now seeing them show interest in companies like Volvo Saab and others with money issues.
Who ever gave me a neg above should have at least stated where I am wrong as this is no a bias thing but just the reality of the financial issues and how Daimler never really had an interest for the cars at Chrysler if they were small.
Chrysler needs a new Neon like car like yesterday and there is not a lot being shown now and that is worrisome.
The new Jeep is very polarizing and has many of the traditional buyers upset but they did do a good job on the Grand Cherokee update. The truck are doing well but the lack of the name Dodge on them has me worried with reports the division may be axed.
I was never a Chrysler fan but I also do not ever want to see them lost and added to the list of failed brands either. We have already lost too much here.
Not a Serge fan here but he has done will with Maserati and Alfa in Europe but he is also working with one hand tied behind his back. If they fail I could not blame him for all that ills them as it may be a no win situation with the Economic Union there.
It will be interesting to watch as Chrysler will not follow the same path as GM and what happens may be more dramatic and not easy to watch.
Can’t really say they completely neglected the cars – all of the cars got a “crash fix” of new dash/interior, headlights/taillights, and the new V6 within a very short period after Fiat got control. Normally I’m not a fan of mid-cycle enhancements (they don’t always seem to “fit” the original styling), but in this case, each of these updates were what these cars/vans really needed. Without that quick fix, there would have been no cashflow for any improvements for the future.
As for the Dart, what turns me off is the awkward shape from the rear door back. The tail lights should have been flat, like the Charger, not curved around the edge, into bulbous rear fenders. And while the front looks nice, low and wide, it has an unfortunate Neon resemblance from some angles. Also, to get the high MPG’s on the 1.4 Turbo you need to buy premium fuel, kinda defeats the purpose.
These are nice little cars, glad to see them doing this good.
The Cruze DESERVES to be number one, I’ve always thought this car was pretty decent.