Chevrolet announced as far back as November 2018 that it would be discontinuing three Chevy sedan models – the Cruze, Volt and Impala. This was followed in July of last year by news that the Sonic would also be discontinued. Now that the dust is starting to settle, the obvious question is this: what are former Chevy sedan customers buying now?
Chevrolet Sonic Sedan
During a recent media conference, GM Authority executive editor, Alex Luft, asked head of Chevrolet, Steve Hill, exactly this question. More specifically, are people who bought a Chevy sedan in the past now buying GM vehicles of other types, such as crossovers, or are they being lost to rivals that are still offering sedans?
“We have a lot of experience here and one of the benefits of such a broad portfolio is we’ve got a lot of information and a lot of data that helps us guide consumer migration,” Hill replied. “It’s no surprise that what’s feeding small SUV and to many extent, compact SUV is the migration and growth out of the compact car.”
Chevrolet Trailblazer
To clarify, Chevrolet’s small crossovers are the Trax and Trailblazer, the latter proving to be so popular that demand is exceeding supply by four to one. The compact crossover is the Equinox.
Hill added that Toyota is experiencing a similar apparent migration, in this case from a sedan to a pickup truck. “I just saw a stat today, I thought I read it this morning, that surprisingly Tacoma outsold Corolla, I think, so it’s just this continuing presence of what you see of consumer migration.”
He’s correct about this. Toyota Corolla sales in the U.S. fell by 22 percent in 2020 to 237,178 units. Tacoma also lost ground, but by only 4.6 percent to 238,806 units. Tacoma has indeed outsold Corolla.
Chevrolet Impala
Back in 2014, Chevrolet sold even more examples of the Cruze than that – to be precise, 273,060. However, with industry trends definitely pointing towards a changeover from sedans to crossovers, the last Cruze came off the line in March 2019. The final Impala was built in February 2020, and Sonic production ended in October 2020.
The Sonic and Impala are still officially on sale, priced to start at $17,595 and $32,495 respectively, but these are run-out models manufactured before the dates mentioned above. No more will be built.
The only remaining Chevy sedan in GM’s portfolio is the 2021 Chevrolet Malibu, priced to start from $23,065. Now in the sixth model year of its ninth generation, the Malibu remains in production at the GM Fairfax plant in Kansas, and in factories in China and South Korea.
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Comments
If we want to talk about trends as well, the new trailblazer is similar in size and “seat orientation” as the Chevy chevette. Yet the chevette was still called a car back then. Granted the the trailblazer is more space efficient. Also cars back in the day used to be big body on frame vehicles with large motors, yet that doesn’t make them a truck. Honestly, it’s a disservice to real crossovers like the traverse and new blazer to call the trailblazer a “crossover”. It has the same footprint as the sonic hatchback. It’s a car. I’m glad they finally have the style right for “cars”
I get where you’re coming from, but I believe you have been misled. Please do a quick google search on the dimensions of the new Trailblazer vs. the Sonic. Not the same footprint in the slightest. By definition, Trailblazer remains a crossover as well.
This trend started a number of years ago. The decline is why GM made the move to the CZuZv models in the first place. They did not do this on a whim.
The simple deal is this most people who used to buy cars are finding them more and more smaller than they like. They have trunks that are large but have small openings.
Auto makers tried folding seats and even some hatches but people resisted.
Now they are finding the CUV more appealing. They sit higher up. Carry 5 or more. They have more head room and just bring the feel of a larger vehicle with better utility.
If you go back in time the mid size sedan was the do all vehicle. It carried 6, could hall a 10 speed in the trunk. If needed it could haul plywood or dry wall on the roof with out inflicting body damage. My father never owned a truck as his Chevelle did all the above and he had no need for a truck.
Most buyers have been flocking to mid size SUV models and trucks as they are close in size to the traditional car.
Today a vehicle like the Blazer is appealing to the same class of buyer that bought the fwd Monte Carlo (Maybe that was the name they should have used?).
The reality is people do not like cars that keep getting smaller and smaller. The utility and feel of these small CUV models appeal to all ages and many life styles.
I have an uncle who is in his 80’s. He owns a 911 and S10. He is replacing the S10 with 300,000 miles with a CUV. He wants the utility of a truck but he likes the CUV size and the fact it sits up higher. It is easier to get in and out of with bad knees.
My mother was the same before she passed. I feared she would have trouble when we bought out Terrain but she liked it better than her Malibu.
The trend started here but has moved to Europe now. Asia has always had these in some form but they still have stronger car sales there.
GM was not selling the American cars globally so making the change early was to their advantage.
The key now is to keep their products competitive with features and price.
I really think the fact Buick dealers surviving on CUV models and GMC showed them where the markets going.
You mention two older people and that’s exactly one of the drivers of the trend. The population is aging, due to boomers. You mentioned the seating position makes entry far easier. The larger interior cabin space lets you handle and store mobility aids, like canes and walkers. (That’s a big reason old people liked the front bench seats in the Crown Vic, Buick LeSabre and such)
The other factor is a hatchback with a high load floor lets you put groceries in without bending over like a sedan’s trunk. Motorized close is exactly targeted to older people who have difficulties reaching up.
The funny thing is older people who grew up on cars and are the first to complain about CUVs (and automatic transmissions) are now the first to buy them.
Sam
Canes, walkers, difficulty entering a car, unable to reach up. If you were a horse your owner would shoot you.
Dude, take a yoga class. It will increase your flexibility
Old people buy cars and low sitting low roof cars are a challenge to many drivers.
People are living longer and driving longer.
Also many are very active young and have bad knees by 40.
C8.R, Sam and Peter G: I see all of your points and agree. Although yoga helps, aging is still aging and some things can’t be changed.
I am now 53 and healthy. 5’8″ and 180 lbs. I’m in and out of all kinds of cars and suv’s daily at the dealership I work at. I can certainly see the ease of getting into a Mazda CX5 vs. a Mazda 6 or the Volvo XC60 over the S60 sedan. In my personal world, the last 4 vehicles I’ve had are a 2018 Buick Encore, 2006 Buick Lucerne, 2020 Chevy Spark and now a 2020 Cadillac CT4. Of the 4, the hardest for ingress/egress would be the Lucerne and CT4. Next the Spark and easiest was the Encore. Although basically still a car, the Spark was almost as good as the Encore as it sat slightly higher than the CT4 with a more upright stance. I still love driving sedans for the overall comfort and feel, but it’s totally understandable why SUV’c and CUV’s are the way things are going.
That’s an insensitive comment……..but funny at the same time. I’m 80 and qualify.
lol. No offense meant Peter U.
I think another factor in the move to CUV ‘s, has been left unsaid. Most modern cars have very little headroom. Americans by and large Arnel taller. In my case, for example, there are very few sedans where I can even get in the door after a lot of contortions. Once I’m in, I’m comfortable. Sort of. But, the task of getting in and out alone is so difficult, that I for one moved to a van long ago. Would I buy a CUV? Yes, if I could find one with a small or no consul. The market is not what it was.
Agreed, when we ever get car shows going again check out any 30’s or 40’s car and the roof height is right there with most modern crossovers and they also had running boards to help you step in. Ironically it was Harley Earl who was a big driver of ever lowering rooflines in the 50’s going into the early 60’s.
The only reason I’m not running across over myself, is that the center consoles in virtually all of them are massive. They just plain get in my way. So, I drive a Chrysler minivan. And before I get the thumbs down and the disparaging remarks, they have been trouble free. I just ordered me a new one. General Motors, gave up the minivan business. Ford? Give up the minivan business. I’m not interested in a Toyota, cause I don’t want to put up with their obnoxious dealers. Also, they’ve got a monster center console in them.
I have a couple of friends from when I was an FCA contractor who have Pacifica minivans and they are really nice! As people movers they just are hard to beat!
They serve my purpose as an older and slightly crippled up man. I’m also rather big. Big shoulders and all that sort of thing. It suits me very well for bringing things home from the grocery store or the big box hardware stores and places like that. I get reasonable mileage on the highway. And mines fixed up with a little bit of pinstriping have some nice wheels. I get compliments wherever I drive it. I decided I wanted to try another hybrid, so I now have a 21 Pacifica hybrid on order. I have driven them, and they’re quite something..
I have a 2020 Pacifica and it is my sixth Chrysler minivan. No thumbs down from me and certainly no disparaging remarks. If you need to take six people with you, no problem. If you need to haul a bunch of drywall, no problem. 287 HP, not great, but can move when needed, Great and comfortable seating position. Love the minivan!!
The transition from cars to crossovers is slower than one might have expected given the low number of cars being designed and built compared with the number of crossovers being designed and built.
Cars are still being sold, just not here. Ford Focus and Fiesta are UKs best sellers, South America loves Chevy compacts. Our large bodies and wallets like trucks.
Hopefully there’s a sedan based Malibu replacement for the US but facing facts is the US automakers make mass profits off trucks and a well designed car IMO may cut profits (a theoretical larger, rwd Malibu may want a few potential Traverse buyers look at the less profitable sedan).
You cite the Focus and Fiesta in Europe, but even there Ford has discontinued 4-door sedan versions in smaller markets. For example, the Focus is only available as a hatchback in the Balkans and Eastern Europe, which is very similar to the EcoSport we get in the US.
I live in Spain. You forgot to mention that Ford also sells the Focus SW in all Europe.
I love Malibu sedans. I am on my fourth. I am 76 and don’t have a problem getting in and out. The gas mileage is why I buy them. Cross overs don’t compare.
We Americans are also getting fatter and fatter over the past few decades. We can’t get our big assets in and out of a low-slung sedan as easy as we can a higher-riding vehicle.
Who is this “we”? Got a mouse in your pocket?
Silverado HD for when your belt size hits triple digits.
Many Canadians have a triple digit belt. Centimeters.
Do the Prius drivers still do 35 in the highway fast lane?
I can’t speak for Prius drivers, but, when I owned a hybrid, I just drove it like any other car.
I think the difference between a Pious (Prius) driver of the old days and the drivers of other hybrids was the unique look to the car. It shouted “look at me, I am good for the earth!”, and the attendant attitude of the greenie-weenie at the wheel. Other hybrids, like the Honda Civic, or even Toyota’s own Camry, looked virtually the same as their gas cousins. The buyers got them for fuel savings, or got them to use the carpool lane driving solo. I bought mine beause of the way it drove and nothing more. I have a new one on order.
Peter G: They are either doing 35 in the fast lane or 85 over all lanes. At least that’s in Los Angeles! There’s not a single car or “type” of driver that I dislike more than Prius and their drivers.
The other day during the elections coverage I was watching an some employees counting ballots and I was astonished the six of them, men and women looked like they came from the My 600 lb life show
Lot of pickups are replacing family sedans. Easy way to transport a um large rural family….
Oddly enough, electrification may bring back the sedan, including the big one. Lots of room for battery packs, at least until they’re smaller, will make a big car attractive. Having a trunk and a frunk if not taken up with motors and batteries. Look at the Tesla Model S: not a small vehicle.
They forced anyone wanting a full sized car experience into pickups and Tahoe’s/SUV’s. A front wheel drive anything masquerading as a full size with trim and paint is still a mid sized car. That appears to be the problem as the profit on a 8’ pick up box must be irresistible.
Actually it was our veterans and government, through the environmental protection agency, took the big cars away. General Motors didn’t force anything. Grow up!
i was using speech to text and didn’t edit soon enough. Make that, “our betters in Washington”.
I plead guilty as charged! LOL
I recently purchased a used Chevy Impala and plan on buying another large sedan when I need to replace it. I’ll look elsewhere if GM doesn’t offer the vehicle that I want.
It’s really something to look at the pics of the GM cars for this article. The Cruz is nice looking. I still think the Sonic (one pictured) is amazing looking. The Impala is very classy and comes across as very American. I’ve said it before and will again. I really (REALLY) hope GM doesn’t give up on cars/sedans 100%. I truly believe it would be smart to keep two sedans in the Chevy and Buick line (shared in everything but the body panels and dash/door panels/seats). Allow Cadillac to keep two sedans as well, but not shared with Chevy and Buick. Then concentrate heavily on the trucks and SUV’s where the true money is at. I feel this is needed for when (not if) the market trends back towards sedans again.
I just went back to a sedan myself after about 5 years of mostly just driving a smaller SUV. So far, I’m loving my CT4.
Seems like you’ve back peddled pretty heavily from the CUV stance now that you got your CT4. Hate to say I told you so.
h4cksaw: Absolutely not. A little history here. Well before SUV’s were the thing, I purchased my first one. It was a 2001 Jeep Cherokee. From that moment on, I have a great appreciation for sitting up higher and having more cargo flexibility. After that Jeep, I went back to sedans (Lincoln Continental to be exact). From 2001 on, I’ve vacillated between SUV’s and sedans with a couple trucks in the mix too as I normally have more than one vehicle at a time.
So what is it that causes you to say I have back peddled? I’ve never said SUV’s are bad. I’ve never said sedans need to go. I’ve clearly stated numerous times on here that I’m a fan of SUV’s and CUV’s, but that GM should not walk away from sedans no matter what. So I’m curious to learn from you how I’ve back peddled.
Talking out of both sides of your mouth… You must work for GM corporate.
h4cksaw: Are you having a bad day? Talking out of both sides of my mouth? Seriously? You need to take a few minutes to read some of my past posts over the last few years. You will be totally proven wrong and see I have been consistent in what I’ve said on here.
No more comment on this from me. You’re obviously looking for a (word) fight. No thanks.
Honda, Toyota, Mazda, and Hyundai has no problems with selling cars. I think GM is doing this because they can make more money off crossovers, suvs and trucks. One thing that frustrates me about most new cars is how the roof is sloped and my head is almost touching the top of the windshield; I like to sit up high so that I can see over the hood. I never had this problem in my 1981 Pontiac Grand Prix or 1984 Cadillac Fleetwood. One of the biggest mistakes that GM made was when they went crazy with that front wheel drive, downsizing nonsense in the mid to late 1980’s. That hurt the image of cars like the Chevy Monte Carlo and the Buick Electra. It would be great if I could stop by a Chevy dealer and buy a rear wheel drive Monte Carlo that’s about the same size as the 1981 to 1988 models, and available with the same engines used in the Camaro. One of my current vehicles is a 1996 Ford Econoline high top conversion van. I bought it in 2004 for $7500 and it has 470,000 miles on it. I will keep it for 2 more years and then I will buy a Chevy Express or GMC Savana high top conversion van. Econolines are getting harder to find and I don’t like the Ford Transit vans because they don’t use a V8 engine. I will never own a crossover or a SUV because I am spoiled by high top conversion vans. I love how the back seat folds into a sofabed. I enjoy looking at the mood lights in the ceiling; they remind me of those fancy looking lights in a limousine. No SUV can compare to a high top conversion van when it comes to passenger space and comfort. I just don’t understand why they are not more popular.
Yes, they can make more money off the newer products. But, no one is compelled to buy GM’s offerings; they can go to Nissan, Honda, Chrysler (Charger), Toyota, and the German makes for sedans. Many have done so.
It’s quite simple really. No sedan means no sale. I’m not paying 10K more for an equivalent sized AWD crossover to my Impala so I can sit up higher. I don’t need a hatchback body and don’t carry things around other than simple items like groceries or the occasional passenger or two. The Impala has plenty of room, a huge trunk, gets great mileage, is really quick and is like riding in a lay z boy on wheels traveling down the highways and is an awesome road car.
Yeah, DUH! Since Comrade Barra is axing all the sedans. I would be driving a Cruze hatch if it had been available with something other than that pop gun engine or the oil burner. I’d also consider another Malibu (I had an ‘09 with the V6) if that V6 was still available.
As my daughter in law said when she had a Sentra and my son a Mazda 3, we need a vehicle that can fit a grill size box. She now had a Rouge and the fon aCR
And my son a CR-V. I had nothing to do with their decisions.
I’m 71 and getting in up and these rigs has become problematic so i have a caddy xts which I love because I can fall into it.
So prove me wrong, a CUV is just a station wagon with a cooler name
And it’s taller, at least a little.
It is not my case, I am 58 y / o and I have a Chevrolet Cruze RS, my purchase intention is the Malibu, or an Impala I do not like SUVs, because of the size, If I could have a 2020 Impala, I would not hesitate to buy it since my father had one in the 70s, when he was a child, things of nostalgia.
Richard H
You comment that the car buyers are switching to cross overs and SUV’s. Could you tell me what a person that has had a big sedan for 60 years can do when time comes to replace his/her vehicle ? GM marketing needs to think about the retired traveler a little more. We like comfort, if we wanted a vehicle like a truck we would have bought one.
I drove big sedans (and convertibles) for my first 50+ years of driving.
The downsized ‘85s and the underpowered, unreliable ‘83 and up Cadillac V-8s pretty much did in GM sedans for me. (I’m a slow learner: I had several from HT-4100s through a couple of Northstars.)
When I retired, I “tried on” some of the newer Buicks and Cadillacs, including Lucernes, Enclaves, Escalades, XTSs, etc., and found that they weren’t much (if any) easier to get in and out of, and no more comfortable to sit/ride in, than the C-7 Corvette convertible I finally bought for my planned cross country road trip.
I never got to do the cross country trip, but I enjoyed the hell out of my last Corvette anyway. Best ever of the hundred or so cars I have owned.
Now I’m just a passenger in my wife’s Chrysler Pacifica (too high for me to get in comfortably), or her 4WD RAM 1500 (even worse), or my daughters Chevy Trax (the best of the lot).
I wish I had held on to my ‘78 Eldorado and my ‘14 Corvette.
But if I had to buy myself another car, I would look for a C-7 convertible previously owned by another old fart like me!
When I was at the dealership to pick up my Camaro, I pretty much noticed this trend. In the front lot, it was mostly CUVs (Trailblazers, Blazers, Traverses) with only ONE Malibu.
I own four Chevy’s, two Cruze, a Malibu and an Equinox. The Nox is utilitarian – it has better cargo space than the sedans, but the sedans handle far better. I guess if I want something that’s fun to drive my next vehicle won’t be a Chevy.
Once again GM mandating what they want the consumer to buy. No choice any more SUV Crossover Pickup trucks. The sedan is a thing of the past. Thanks Mary.
Yes, they are moving over to “crossovers” … they have too as there’s nothing much left to buy anymore if you want a Caprice, LTD, Chrysler 5th Avenue to mention a few. The “soccer” mom mindset has killed off an entire segment of great vehicles like the Caprice Wagon, the Buick Roadmaster sedan/wagon, the Chevy Astro/GMC Safari. The things about SUV’s … maybe sporty, but dern near no utility.
People are buying CU/SUV’s at GM because there are no more cars to buy!!
I love how this is some how a revolution for crossovers. When you basically axe your entire sedan line up, obviously consumers are going to favor crossovers.
Not everyone likes SUV’s and Crossovers or is willing to buy one no matter what. As owner of a Chevy Volt and a Chevy Malibu, I will never trade them for a boring SUV or Crossover and there’s no human power that is going to make me buy one. I hope GM doesn’t follow the short minded and irrational decision taken by Ford of cancelling the few sedans it still produces. Market is cyclic and letting one whole market segment go will make that those leaving to other brands looking for a sedan may not come back as they will become familiar with other brands. This SUV and Crossover cancer will also not last forever. Up to now, the only solution that I have when I decide to trade my Volt is a Model S from Tesla unless GM produces an EV or EREV sedan, but I definitely will not buy an SUV or a Crossover. Not today, not never.
The revolution has started ? It started decades ago.
So many are confused as why GM, Ford and maybe a few others are abandoning passenger cars or sedans. For the last 20 if not 30 years, the SUV and now more recently the CUV has out paced sales from sedans. GM has sold more full size SUV’s than anyone else when a full line of sedans were available. GM is only responding to the majority of what its customers want and by making a decision, as Ford has, to fade away from sedans there will always be the nay sayers and complainers. GM is dumping a ton of money in EV development with a platform that can be a sedan or a CUV. Sedan sales for now may look bleak but who knows what the crystal ball is telling them.
People are not switching from a $20k Cruze to a$40k pickup.
Many have been running from GM and buying Honda and Kia and others.
The problem is GM leadersheep
Last year change in U.S. car sales by company.
Toyota down 20%
Honda down 22%
Nissan down 48%
Subaru down 20%
Mazda down 27%
…by brand
Hyundai down 30%
KIA down 17%
I’m not sure what part of “Car sales are down” so many people fail to understand.but after 6 years I’m sick of your whining. If you’re going to go leave already.
Since March 2020, GM stock has more than doubled. $19+ to now $45
Toyota is ~$76
Ford stock tripled, ~$3 to currently $9
Everyone else the stock value is below GM’s. This is what it all is about. Good products to turn profits. If GM sold nothing but cars and was losing money, the stockholders would be asked the board to resigned. Didn’t that happen over ten years ago. GM went broke (selling everything from cars to trucks), Federal Government loan help them and the top brass were all asked to resign and they did.
What choice do they have. All the sedans are gone and soon the Camaro will be to. At this point, Chevrolet is pretty much dead anyway. I really dont care if Ford or Chevy continue with the traditional muscle car names and all that but GM needs to do something different and I dont mean go all electric.
There are lots of GM cars in really good condition siting on Used car lots. Available at really great deals.
NEVER
EVER
Excuse me? “Sedan owners moving into crossovers”? Where have you been? Do we have any choice? Give me a 6 cylinder Malibu, La Crosse, or for that matter, a Grand Prix or Intrigue and see where I’d be then.
No. They are still getting cars but from the competition.
Paul
It’s a WWII type of vehicle market. Meaning the Japanese, Germans and Italians are being slaughtered.
This comment will be a little late getting on this post, but it’s worth putting up.
Just last night while the kids were working on school stuff on the computers, I had a few minutes and so I grabbed a couple nice books I’ve had for years on older Cadillac’s. I really wasn’t looking to read, but more just gaze at the pictures of the beautiful Cadillac’s of years past. In doing so, for the first time I actually realized something. Get a book (or Google pics online) and take a look at most of the “cars” or “sedans” from the 20’s, 30’s and most of the 40’s. You will notice that many of them have a look of the SUV’s and are styled more like an older Suburban would be. It wasn’t till around the late 40’s when they began to look more sedan like. Just interesting.
I guess you have to be a brain surgeon to figure this out Hey dummies at GM you are forcing customers into suv’s you have taken away sedans .
Not all. As a GM buyer I am migrating to other brand but there’s no human power that is going to make me buy an SUV or a crossover no matter what for the simple reason that I don’t like them. I’m not the only GM buyer that thinks this way. Even when SUV’s and crossovers sell like hot cakes today, cancelling all sedans will only make that those leaving to other brands looking for a sedan, may not come back to GM when market trends change again. A shame that a company that produced excellent cars like the Corvette, Caprice, Impala, Malibu, Bel Aire wants to produce now boring, unexiting and cookie cutter SUV’s and crossovers. I hope GM gets cured of this SUV cancer and produces at least a few decent automobiles (sedans or coupes) for those who like driving and do care how they are transported from point A to point B.
Crossovers are bland. See you in hell GM!