Last chance saloon for US icon
WHISPER it quietly, but the traditional saloon car is dying a slow death in the US.
The monsters that were half a block long are long gone and now many of the more modest sedans are said to be on death row. Question marks have been raised over the long-term future of the Chevrolet Impala and Ford Taurus.
Many experts believe they will follow the Chrysler 200 and Dodge Dart into the motoring history books.
It is as if the US is turning the page on its motoring past, rejecting cars that have been serenaded for decades in popular culture. The figures tell a stark story. Sales of conventional saloon cars, which accounted for 35.6% of the market in 2007, have dropped to 27.7%, according to the latest figures covering the first 11 months of last year.
Mainstream mid-size models, such as the Toyota Camry and the Honda Accord, have seen market share fall from 16.8% of sales in 2012 to 10.7% last year. Compacts such as the Honda Civic and the Toyota Corolla have seen their slice of the market drop from 16% to 12.9% in the same period.
During the heyday of the US sedan, cars were seen as things of beauty, boasting massive fins and spectacular designs. Much of the marketing was aspirational, appealing to buyers’ desire for status.
Now, cars are largely sold on their practicality and safety.
Technically, an SUV is a car such as the Chevrolet Tahoe or the GMC Yukon, where the body is bolted to a stronger frame. Models such as the Ford Escape and the Jeep Cherokee, where the body and frame are built as one unit, are regarded as crossovers. There are 78 different crossovers on the market in the US, and Bank of America Merrill Lynch predicts this will rise to more than 110 by 2021.
In reality, for consumers at least, the distinction between SUVs and crossovers is fairly blurred. They now account for 42.2% of sales, compared with 28% a decade ago.
“Manufacturers are offering a very wide range of crossovers, from sub-compact to full-sized SUVs. They offer something to the consumer that ordinary sedans don’t, such as the higher driving position, the ability to tow and to go off-road,” said Tom Libby, an automotive analyst with IHS Markit.
Even prestige manufacturers such as Audi, BMW, Mercedes and Volvo are seeing a fall in sedan sales, which took 5.1% of the US market five years ago. In the first 11 months of last year, the slice had shrunk to 3.7%.
John Quelch, dean of the Miami Business School, believes the trend reflects changes in US society.
“The sedan’s interior design reflects the structure of the traditional American family – two married parents plus two children – an ideal that now accounts for barely 5% of US households,” he said.
“The SUV offers the illusion of height-advantaged superiority and family-friendly versatility.” – The Sunday Telegraph