Small SUVs Are The New Big Cars Prove April Sales Figures

Americans have suddenly rediscovered their passion for cars. But this time, they have new favorites.

As per the latest sales records, America registered a substantial upswing in purchase of Small SUVs and Pickups. The sales have been really encouraging and consistent and analysts are confident the pace will continue for the rest of the year, offering a huge respite to harried automakers.

Small SUVs are now of particular preference for the first time, owing to their versatility. Given their smaller frame, as compared to their bigger brethren, small SUVs can easily be ridden in the city and can be taken for a quick trip into the wild as well. Moreover, their capacity easily rivals the station wagons, minus the soccer–mom appearance.

Buyers across the board are now keen to reduce their carbon–footprint and are quickly downsizing larger SUVs. Interestingly, Small SUVs still offer the maneuverability and high seating position that is important in city as well as wilderness settings.

Small SUVs and Pickups have suddenly become so popular that they are aggressively delving into the heretofore assured market of small cars, revealed Jesse Toprak, chief analyst for Cars.com.

“It is our estimation that both the midsize… and small-car segments are being adversely impacted by continued really strong performance in the small utility category this year.”

Not just the small cars, but the other segments as well are feeling pinch of the small SUV market gaining speed. Sales of the Honda CR-V, the No. 1 seller in the segment for example, rose a healthy 7.4% to more than 28,000, making it one of the most popular vehicles in the nation, reported ABC News.

At Ford, smaller SUVs accounted for 16 percent of U.S. sales in April, 2 percentage points higher than the same month last year. Toprak expects the April sales pace to hold or improve slightly through the rest of the year. His full-year forecast calls for sales of 16.2 million units of small SUVs. However, as far as sales of small SUVS are concerned, Nissan led the way with an 18.3 percent increase over a year ago, most popular model being the Rogue, which individually gained a massive 27 percent jump in sales.

Car makers have been suffering severely thanks to recent recalls they had to initiate. Almost all the popular car brands and have collectively recalled more than 13 million units. It appears the small SUV segment could be their savior for this year.

[Images via Bing]