Chevy Sedan Owners Are Moving Into Crossovers
Sponsored Links
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.
Be sure to subscribe to GM Authority for more Chevrolet news and around-the-clock GM news coverage.
Sponsored Links
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 .