Small Is Hot, Hot, Hot!
By Michelle Krebs April 3, 2007
March car sales are just beginning to roll in today, but one trend immediately noticeable is that some compact cars are hot, hot, hot -- and with little incentives required to prod customers.
Sales of the Mazda 3, only mildly freshened this year, soared a whopping 93 percent. Hot since it was introduced nearly four years ago, Mazda 3 sales shot up to 15,606 in March from 8,087 from a year ago. While the car had some lease programs and special financing on it, the increased demand for the Mazda 3 is due mainly to rising gas prices, according to Edmunds.com’s AutoObserver analysis.
Mitsubishi’s turnaround appears to be taking hold, led by the new Lancer. The redesigned compact car hit showrooms in March, prompting sales to soar 40 percent over March 2006 levels.
Edmunds.com's monthly True Cost of Incentives (TCI) show the industry average incentive on compact cars was $1,170 up 12.5 percent from $1,040 in February. By comparison, the average automotive manufacturer incentive on all cars was $2,512 per vehicle sold in March 2007, up $220, or 9.6 percent, from February 2007, and down $9, or 0.4 percent, from March 2006.
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