bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

no one said sedans in general, a comment was made (not by me) about flagship luxury sedans being a dying breed, but you're right, this isn't an either/or - sedans aren't going anywhere but they ARE less popular than in the past.

peteharvey

Sedan/hatches/wagon to SUV sales are now roughly 50/50.
It will be interesting to see what the future brings.
Will SUV continue to grow and eventually totally replace sedans/hatches/wagons, and phasing them out altogether?
Or will there come a point in time when SUV/sedan/hatch/wagon sales stabilize?

Electric vehicles and their under floor battery packs actually suit tall upright crossover/SUV designs more than traditional sedans/hatches/wagons.
So it will be interesting to see what trends continue.
I doubt traditional sedans/hatches/wagons will be phased out altogether, but it will be interesting to see what market share they command in the next 5 to 10 years.
Only time will tell.

Below is the Honda Fit and Nissan Leaf respectively with their under floor battery packs, and tall noddy SUV-like designs, albeit without the big rolling diameter tires and the high ground clearance.

situman

American consumers are incredibly shortsighted. When gas was $4-$5, everybody rushed to buy a Prius, Yaris or whatever gas sipping penalty box they can get. Now with gas hovering around $3, everybody wants an SUV as if the price of gas is set in stone.

plex

iTrader: (11)

Ha Ha agreed that's why I think there's the growth of the smaller/mid size type SUV's guess that's the middle ground somewhat.

mmarshall

I think it is more than that. Regardless of the price of gas, the American public has becoming addicted to the winter traction, space-efficiency, and high seating position of SUVs. That isn't going to change just because the price of gas rises.

Toys4RJill

I don't think luxury sedans are done. It just seem that the most of the sedans have not been updated in a while and gas price will go up, large SUVs will decrease in sales. Also, cars like the NX and RX are not really SUVS, they are cars with AWD that are jacked up and higher. They are not much more roomy as they are more convenient to get in an out.

Sulu

What does the future bring?

I personally believe that the SUV craze is merely that -- a fad, a trend -- just like minivans were fashionable for a few years and station wagons were before that.

We may, in fact, be returning to station wagons (if not that name). We have crossover sport utility vehicles that are available with FWD (there goes the "I need a 4-wheel drive SUV to be able to drive in bad weather" argument). We have the Subaru Outback, which is just a Subaru Legacy wagon on a higher suspension with plastic cladding. We have the Infiniti QX30, which is just a jacked-up Q30 on a higher suspension with plastic cladding (it is so crazy that Infiniti sells both the AWD and the lower suspension FWD models as the QX30 here in North America). We now have the VW Golf Alltrack, which is just a Golf SportWagen on a higher suspension with plastic cladding. We have the Audi A4 allroad quattro, which is just an A4 wagon.

There will always be a demand for sedans and coupes. We may even see an increase in the demand for station wagons, even if they do not use that label.

dseag2

The industry is also morphing into coupe-like hatchbacks. The Audi A7 was the first, followed by the BMW 4 Gran Coupe. Now Audi is bringing the A5/S5 Sportback to the states, followed by the Kia Stinger (hatchback). Buick is replacing the Verano with a "sportback". Hoping to bring customers that want a decent driving experience with practical utility to these cars. Of course, there will always be those that like riding high and isolated who will choose SUVs.

Sulu

Bring it on! I still prefer a real, long-roof wagon but if I cannot have that, a hatchback will do.

I believe that mid-size, 4-door hatchbacks are a compromise (albeit a nice one) from 2 segments of the market. Firstly, hatchbacks add utility to the normal, 3-box sedan -- have a sport utility vehicle with true sedan-like driving dynamics. Secondly, as current styling trends more toward fastback sedans, trunk openings become compromised and postage stamp-sized. Changing the cargo area opening to a hatch increases trunk opening size without affecting styling.

BrownPride

I agree with some of the other posters about the "gas mileage" argument having less relevance now than it did a decade ago. Nowadays, most of the high-volume small CUVs get similar mileage as their sedan counterparts. Regardless, I do think that when gas prices eventually rise things will normalize a bit. Luxury sedans will probably continue to do very well, especially the entry-level models. People in the market for Bimmers, Lexus', Audis, Mercs, etc. care about things beyond practicality and residuals.

Personally, I love sedans, coupes, and convertibles. Practicality doesn't really matter to me at this stage in my life, things like driving dynamics and styling are more important to me. Even in the future when I have a family, I'd only consider smaller-to-midsize SUVs like the Macan or X5.

BrownPride

Well the thing with station wagons was that they were replaced by larger and more comfortable minivans. Minivans were then replaced by less dorky looking but nearly as comfortable SUVs and CUVs. I don't see anything replacing the latter, especially station wagons which command as much % of the market as convertibles do. I'd say the Subaru Outback is an outlier because it fills a niche in the market and has a lot of brand loyalty behind it. If other automakers attempted to make similar models they wouldn't do well.

mmarshall

No. Buick is dropping American-market Veranos, period...it will be confined to China. It is the Regal sedan that MAY get replaced by both hatchback and wagon versions here next year. In fact, there is currently a live Car Chat thread on that.

dseag2

That's what I was referring to. Had the wrong model, but thanks for keeping me honest.

Aron9000

I will believe this thread title if Lexus does indeed drop the GS, there is another "rumor" thread about this in the GS section. Sedan sales are definitely contracting, but to call the segment dying is a bit ludicrous at this point.

I can't think of a single sedan nameplate that has been killed off(the line discontinued, not a rename/rebadge of the same car or replaced with something very similar) in the past couple of years. Except for that one Buick a certain member drives.

dseag2

You're right about that, and I am a perfect example. We had an Infiniti FX35 that got ****-poor mileage and our lease was ending. Gas prices were high and we headed to the closest Mini dealership to buy a Clubman. There were so many people in the dealership that the salesmen were taking numbers to meet with buyers. They were all scrambling to trade in their low MPG cars.

We actually ordered a Clubman and the salesman never got back to us, so we kept our FX35, traded for another FX and never looked back. Gas prices went down again.

We are well-positioned now because my A4 gets 23+ MPG, my cousin's Accord gets 25+ MPG, and we will be trading our G37 for something with decent mileage. Many of the newer cars combine great MPG with decent performance. We are no longer short-sighted about the swings in oil/gas prices and will be prepared.