My 1st Blog: Hatchbacks: Who says Americans don't buy 'em?

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Hatchbacks: Who says Americans don't buy 'em?

Filed under: Car Buying, Budget, Hybrid, Sedan, Hatchback, Design/Style

Hatchbacks and their sedan counterparts - Click above for high-res image gallery

There's a well-worn cliché that is uttered periodically by just about every product planner and PR wonk in the auto industry - one that's been dutifully parroted by the journalists and enthusiasts that surround them, and it goes something like this: "Sorry, fellas, Americans just don't buy hatchbacks." Typically, that chestnut is trotted out whenever an automaker is compelled to explain why a particularly desirable new hatchback won't be sold in U.S. showrooms. Thing is, this commonly accepted bit of wisdom isn't as true as we've been led to believe.

The hatchback accounts for 60 percent of Fiesta sales.

Just ask Ford, who announced today that its new-for-2011 Fiesta is selling more in five-door guise than it is in its more traditional four-door sedan format. According to figures the automaker has sourced from Ward's Auto, the jaunty hatch accounts for over 60 percent of the Fiesta's sales. Little wonder, perhaps, as Ford has seemingly devoted the Fiesta's entire marketing budget to that particular bodystyle.

As a further statement of faith in the viability of the utilitarian bodystyle, the Blue Oval is readying its 2012 Focus in both sedan and five-door formats, with the two-door Focus coupe being discarded in favor of the hatchback - a configuration unavailable since 2007. Ford sales analyst George Pipas nutshells what he sees as a growing trend:

"American car buyers have grown accustomed to the convenience of hatch bodystyles after years of owning SUVs and crossovers. Combined with a generation of younger drivers who have been exposed via the Internet to popular high-performance hatchback offerings in Europe and Asia, we may be seeing the beginning of a shift in buyer acceptance of hatchbacks."

Ford isn't alone in its bid to disprove that consumers are inherently averse to two-box designs because they feel they're cheap and frumpy - sensible as opposed to stylish. Autoblog recently inquired with a number of automakers who offer entry-level models available in both hatchback and sedan bodystyles, only to find out that in many cases, bubbleback models are outselling their trunked counterparts.

Continue reading...

Gallery: Hatchbacks and Their Sedan Counterparts