The media is having a field day with the F150s lack of success last month but I'm not sure what is so surprising. Gas prices are up and the home construction industry is a mess and thus pickup sales are collapsing. The F150 is obviously far more reliant on fleet sales than the Civic, Accord or Camry so its not a shocker that those vehicles outsold the F150 last month. Without commercial customers pickups cannot sell in the huge numbers we are used to seeing. On top of that the F150 is the 2nd oldest truck on the market and is clearly outclassed by the Tundra and Silverado. An old product + high gas prices + housing slump equals huge sales declines. All trucks have declined but the F150 has the farthest to fall because it was the #1 pickup.

"May was best sales month ever for Caliber, Civic, Corolla, Fit, Focus, Mini, Sentra, Spectra, Versa and Yaris"
 
As a small car lover/driver, I love to hear the news about the truck decline. I am looking forward to the new offerings in this market over the next few years. Its a shame Ford is taking so long with its new Fiesta - if they could bring it over a little faster, I think that would be great..............not that I'm getting rid of my MINI anytime soon.

Question: Why must the Ford Focus always be referred to as "he nine-year-old Focus", but never just as "the Focus"? It seems like every mention I ever read about that car has to constantly remind readers of the fact that Americans didn't get the redesign while the Europeans did.
 
It makes me wonder if auto writers aren't afraid that American buyers just might find the current (and supposedly way too long in the tooth) Focus a completely acceptable automobile. Horrors!!!!!

"Ford Focus <WILL> Outsell F-150"
 
That headline would've shown you as a genius if this was January 2007 but in the current day with high gas prices why bother writing this post at all?
 
I think it is a good thing though that Focus outsold F-150. I see most pick up trucks with one person and no load which is a bloody waste of oil. Of course I also see that tiny 5 foot lady (on her cell phone) driving the Suburban wasting natural resources. Definitely one reason why gas prices are so high.

Automakers dropped the collective ball big time! All this going on and not ONE of them predicted this would happen?! What sort of morons do they hire for their strategy departments? It was crystal clear 20 years ago that this would happen. It was clear in the early 90s that splitting from the rest of the world on product would eventually bite them in the a$$.
 
I thought of this exact situation in 1993 when Honda started making two separate Accords for US and the rest of the world. This is absolutely nuts. The 1993 Accord was the best of the best. 1994 Accord was very mediocre.
 
All this going on and we still don't have Corsa, Fiesta, Swift, Polo, Picanto, Getz, i10, Colt, Mazda2, Micra, Note, Justy, Aygo, Meriva, Ka, Fusion (Euro), Matiz, Logan, C-Max, Verso, Zafira, FR-V, Touran, Space Star, etc., etc. And these are just a few of the models available from manufacturers with ESTABLISHED US/Canada operations. Not to mention all the 107/206/207/308, Meganes, 500s, etc., etc. from the likes of Renault, Peugeot and Fiat who have a unique chance to reestablish themselves in North America. We still don't have smaller engines offered in existing models. Why is Mazda not offering the 2.0 liter in their Mazda3 hatch? Why not offer their 1.6 liter? Why not have the 1.6l in VW Rabbit/Jetta? Wouldn't it improve fuel economy and make the car far more desirable? Why no 1.5 liter in Impreza -- the base engine in so many other countries? Why no 1.6 or 1.8 liter in the Passat? What, 120 mph top speed is not enough for us red-blooded Americans? Please.

Karl-Given this huge shift to smaller vehicles, what's been the effect on overall mpgs? Is this making the CAFE changes moot? Are the people ahead of the Feds on this?

Why don't we have all those well-designed, fuel and space efficient models Europeans buy all the time; often with diesels? Because, every time we here in the USA were offered the choice between efficiency and power/0-60<10 secs/120mph+ we chose the latter. The huge improvement in hp/litre obscured that. Now, Karl's figures seem to show that we buyers believe that cheap gas aint coming back. Judging by alll the big vehicle plant closings, GM, et. al. agree. Soon we'll be able to buy some of those sophisticated European-style econoboxes. Eventually, there may even be a 40mpg Expedition!

I saw a new Focus (2009?) without the side vents yesterday, and you know, it wasn't half bad. Not a terribly exciting design, but then none of them are (except of course for my Mazda3! - I admit my bias). Certainly no worse looking than any other small car, and seems like a lot of features for the money. It got a lot of love in the press when it was new. So it may be somewhat outdated under the skin, but it hasn't gotten worse, even if the competition has gotten better. If anything they've got the bugs worked out by now. I'd definitely recommend a 35 mpg Focus to someone like my sister or mother, just looking for something affordable, efficient, and reliable.

vvk: The automakers didn't drop the ball. The American public dropped the ball. The manufacturers build what people want to buy, and a whole lot of people wanted to buy big trucks and SUVs. Manufacturers have tried to market small, fuel-efficient vehicles such as those European models you mentioned, but they have always been met with very limited success.
 
Look at the first two hybrids that came out in the U.S. market: Honda Insight and the first-gen Toyota Prius. Impressive fuel economy and innovative, to be sure, but did they sell well? No. Heck, they were laughed at on the road. Geo Metros were seen as super fuel-efficient by some, but the general public saw it as something you would buy if you absolutely had to have a new car and couldn't afford anything else.
 
And the manufacturers were smart to start making models specific for the North American market. Camry sold well, but it really took off when they introduced a big and soft version for North America. Same for Accord, and Altima, and will probably follow suit with the new Mazda6. And the domestic manufacturers have tried to bring over their European offerings... can anyone say Merkur, Contour, or Catera? All big failures with big losses.
 
So, can we really blame the manufacturers? They saw this coming, but they also knew to stay in business, they had to build and sell what the customers wanted, and they wanted big, bigger, and biggest.

Also, I can't find the report that's being referred to - a link would be helpful - but, I'm willing to guess that GM light trucks are techincally still on top. The Ford F-150 has been the "best selling vehicle" for a long time, but has really been been outsold by the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra *combined*, by a healthy margin. If you accept that the Silverado and Sierra are basically different versions of the same vehicle, then GM light trucks are still on top. Just sayin'.

All of these sales stats are completely predictable and understandable. As 1487 stated, pick-up trucks are really hurting because the commerical customer base is dwindling. If you know anyone who's a private contractor, then you should be well aware of what's going on. All of sub contractors (plumbing, construction, electical, etc) we use at work are struggling and they are the ones who need pick-ups and use them for their intended purpose.
 
Just a few years ago when developers were building houses in every possible piece of available land, they needed trucks and detroit was there to deliver. Toyota didn't even anticipate this down turn as they spent big time money trying to get the commercial industry to accept the new Tundra.

Karl, all these boils down to market and economics. Sure you will have those that will not change and can afford expensive gas drinkers(example: a friend of mine trade his H2 for another H2 [tax loophole]). There are many good examples listed above for why is happening.
 
 A good example of what is happening now is that I don't see many big diesel 3/4" & 1 ton Fords, Dodges & Chevy's cruising for fun like they used too. Also, the long list used large pickups and SUV's for sale.

The switch is not surprising, considering the fuel prices are skyrocketing with no slowdown in sight. Despite a huge slowdown in fuel consumption, the prices keep driving upward.
 
What surprises me is the speed at which people are switching and making the changes. Granted, financially, it is very easy to go from a $30-40K V8 to a $15-25K compact.
 
However, the speed of change tells me people have no "cushion" and need to make this change rather than feel they can gradually change.
That says bad things for our economy and worry about the next 5 years...
 
I do think it is great that more people are being economical, or thinking more economically.
The fullsize truck/suv market was artificially bloated and expensive because of the high poser market. Having the unwashed masses pushing for trucks & suv's to become more 'car-like' has just weakened the class overall.
 
As a truck lover, I think this change will bring these segments back to reality.
What the fuel prices are killing are diesel truck users. That hurts EVERYBODY. There is not one item not delivered with a diesel truck. Think about that.

I stopped by a local Honda dealer yesterday and they were out of civics (except the SI). There was a salesman on the phone when I walked in apolozing to someone about them being completely out. Then another salesman asked me twice if I wanted to sell back my Fit to them. He kept saying, "its probably worth more now than when you bought it."
 
They had the same problem with Fits. The salesman said he just wished that Honda would make more of them. If they did, he'd sell more. I know I'm seeing a lot more of them in my area now than I did last year.

crowb
i dont know, I just did a search found tons of civics in my area, and a handfull of fits.

"Not a terribly exciting design, but then none of them are (except of course for my Mazda3! - I admit my bias). Certainly no worse looking than any other small car, and seems like a lot of features for the money. It got a lot of love in the press when it was new."
 
This is why automakers rarely listen to automotive journalists. Journalists are in the business of Euro-car worship and thus anything that is seen as too American (e.g. Focus) is lambasted by the press. Some believe Americans have really been clamoring for a $30k European Focus and simply providing that vehicle would solve Ford's woes. Until recently most Americans thought the idea of a "premium compact" was ridiculous even though such cars exist in abundance in Europe. American automakers didnt make Americans think this way but that was just how consumer tastes developed in this country. We have all these Monday morning QBs fuming about Detroit not putting out world class compact and subcompact vehicles but the reality is that its hard to create a Euro style compact car at the prices Americans want to pay for a compact. That may finally be changing due to high gas prices. expect the next generation of Cobalt and Focus to be much better and more expensive than their predecessors. Amazingly no one has ever noted that the Civic and Corolla are hardly Euro focused premium compacts and have sold extremely well for many years.

I have to agree with jstandefer. The media (and those that follow the media) are way to eager to blame the manufactures for producing exactly what the public wants to buy.

Mexico has the new European Focus, http://www.ford.com.mx/vehicles/homevehicle.asp?idModel=FOC
and it doesn't cost $30K, it starts at 172000 pesos plus some other charge....which at today's exchange rate equates to $16585 .
 
If I were in the market for a compact of this type, there is no way I'd buy the current Focus, To me, it's essentially a ten year old design, tarted up to appeal to folks who don't care and it only sells well because of the current gas situation. I feel that Ford should of invested in bringing the new Euro design to the US, it might be selling even better than our current one as it would be riding on the wave of the high gas prices and it would attract sales from people who desire a modern design and best in class car.

The media should feel free to blame automakers for producing what consumers wanted to buy. In an industry where lead times are measured in years, the winners are those who predict upcoming markets or are at least prepared for possible changes.
 
Yeah the changes in gas prices have been pretty sudden, but they weren't terribly surprising either. Several automotive media sources called it... they all knew the domestics had to start making money on cars, SUVs have been going out of style even without mileage being an issue, having good small cars has a strong effect on hooking younger car buyers for life, hybrids were cool... there've been thousands of articles trying to give advice to the domestics and they've often proven correct. What kind of "full-line" manufacturer doesn't have a subcompact and a decent compact offering? Or vehicle built specifically for mileage?

opfreak, I don't doubt your findings at all. Honda would be pretty lousy if dealerships were commonly running out of civics. I'm not even sure he was telling the truth. He was a car salesman afterall, but according to the guy I talked to, they were sold out at that particular dealership yesterday in my area.
 
They also said that they had heard that Honda was supposed to be switching over some of their capacity to make more civics. I'm sure it won't take them long to get restocked if they really were out. Still, I thought it was telling as in the past, when I went by a Honda dealership there were always lots and lots of civics on the lot.

"Honda Civic, the model, outsold every brand in May except Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford, Nissan and Toyota"
 
So the Civic outsold Honda, too? That's impressive! ;-)
 
-----
 
Fits are very hard to find just about anywhere. Also, Crowb's story of selling his Fit for more than he bought it for is not uncommon. The Honda dealership here is actually selling a couple Fits for over $17K. One of them isn't even a sport model. Oh, and they're both used.
 
The Civic has always been in high demand. In fact, the most often stolen car in history is the '95 Civic.

Kind of silly about the Fit selling above sticker. The Civic is rated for higher mpg, is it not? I understood the Fit's 1.5 to be chosen for its small size, but it's not known to be as smooth or frugal as the Civic's. I read through some posts on the Fit forum, and members are claiming high 30's in city driving, which seems unrealistic. I don't know if they are "hypermiling", or stretching the truth a bit to brag. Speaking of which, isn't it time for a Fit lifetime gas mileage update on the LT blog yet?
 
Oh well, having said all of that, I almost wish I'd bought one last fall. They were going for full MSRP, but not above, and I even had them talked out of charging extra for the "paint lusterizing shield" or whatever the hell they call it. $15,200 for a Fit Sport, manual, bright blue (or orange, or dark grey, there was plenty of selection then). And I would have been very pleased to drive a car in which I was not "upside down", for the first time in my life... The leg room was tight, I couldn't stretch out. Although there was no annoying knee-space intrusion, and as it's mostly just a commuter car, I don't find myself "stretching" out too often these days. I probably could have lived with it and been fine.
 
However, reading the LT blog brings me back to reality, as the Fit appears to be less reliable than typically associated with the Honda reputation. And, try as I might, I just can't get over the looks. Sometimes it looks cool and funky, other times I'd swear I saw a Daihatsu go by.

I am excited to hear that Americans now prefer small cars with small engines. It will help automakers to meet CAFÉ standards and still make powerful RWD large cars for rest of us who like more comfort and more power.
 
I also noticed lighter traffic lately. If more people switch to public transportation - rest of us - who can afford paying higher gas prices - will feel enormous relief. At 4-6 $$/g I have no problem affording big cars. Of course it would never come to my mind to buy truck or SUV for commute but Focus and Civic are out of consideration too.
 
So life in America becomes like in the rest of the world – major part of population can afford only basic transportation, but more affluent elite will big drive RWD cars.
 
Thank you US Senate and presidents Carter and Clinton for making us such a wonderful slaves of Middle Eastern despots. How politically correct is that – Euroamericans exploited Arab countries in the past – now it is time for us to pay back our dues! No more drilling in USA, no more Nuclear Power stations, more taxes and carbon dioxide captures! America rules!

Psh, I don't take public transportation because I can't afford to drive - it's just more convenient and pleasant for the particular commute I have. Until recently, it was actually more expensive than the gas costs would've been.
 
I actually have a better relationship with my little sports car now that we don't have to put up with each other in rush hour traffic. That's how it should be... public transit for what would've been an irritating drive, and car for fun and to give you the freedom to go anywhere interesting.

I also noticed lighter traffic lately. If more people switch to public transportation - rest of us - who can afford paying higher gas prices - will feel enormous relief.
 
rofl
 
If i could take public transit to the office, I would. Cash is not the issue, convenience is! My bro-in-law takes the trolley home every night. He loves it. 25 minutes to chill or do work. Either way, he relaxes while the rest of the world deals with traffic. I envy that.

"So the Civic outsold Honda, too? That's impressive! ;-) "
 
Why the heck didn't I catch that? Funny!

"What kind of "full-line" manufacturer doesn't have a subcompact and a decent compact offering? Or vehicle built specifically for mileage?"
 
The Focus is Ford's best small car ever and it debuted in 1999 when gas was cheap. The Cobalt has sold well since it's debut in 2004. Chevy had the Aveo out before the Fit and Yaris. I'm not saying its a great car but it debuted LONG before gas was $4 a gallon and before it's competitors. Where do people get off saying American automakers stopped caring about compact cars? The focus and Cobalt outsell numerous import small cars including the Sentra, Lancer, Golf and 3.