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Customer LoginsCamry, Accord and Altima hear footsteps
As one of the largest categories in the U.S. car industry, with a share somewhere between 15% and 20% depending on how it's measured, the midsize sedan segment attracts all mainstream and "wanna-be" mainstream brands. Yet, up until recently the segment was dominated by the familiar Camry/Accord/Altima trio. In each of the past five years these three cars have posted impressive results: they have been the most popular cars in the segment, together they have accounted for more than half of total segment registrations, and there has been a large gap between the segment share for each of these three models and that of their nearest competitor.
In the past two years, though, things have begun to change. While the three Japanese cars remain the top three in the segment, they now face more serious competitors than at any time in the recent past. The gap between the segment share of the Altima (consistently number three in the segment) and the model in fourth place has narrowed to just 1.2 percentage points from as high as 7.9 points in 2007. Further, the share of segment for the three Japanese leaders has slipped from 60.8% in 2007 to 53.0% in 2010.
The bad news for the domestics is that the "new kid on the block" challenging the "top dogs" is not a domestic; rather, the Hyundai Sonata has come out of nowhere to place fourth, ahead of all domestics in 2010 calendar year retail registrations. The Sonata's share of segment has more than doubled from 2005 to 2010, when it reached 12.3%. The Fusion and Malibu have moved up as well.
The competition in this category should persist as all the mid-level models continue to attack the leaders, which will bring ongoing downward pressure on transaction prices. This will be a boon for the retail buyer.
Posted by Tom Libby, PolkInsight Advisor, Polk (03.01.2011)