When Times are Tough, Drop the Top
August 29, 2008

By Bill Visnic

It may be tough sledding these days in the heart of the market, with deep incentives on just about everything with an internal-combustion engine, but the sharply downturning U.S. market hasn't affected one of the industry's oldest niches: convertibles.

Times may be bad, but as the summer winds down, many convertibles are more than holding their own in the showroom, led by a few new names but supported by some old stalwarts.

The numbers are comparatively tiny - convertibles are a fairly extreme niche, remember - but data from Edmunds.com shows many droptops definitely are bucking the strong overall industry sales downturn.

Volkswagen's Eos, for example, is running some 30 percent ahead of last year's pace, selling 9,629 units through July. VW moved 12,744 Eos in all of 2007, its first full year on the market.

Or check out Volvo's C70, in its first generation a traditional convertible, in its current form, launched in 2005, a folding hardtop. Through July, Volvo sold 3,836 units - more than the entire year's sales for the C70 in several years, and outpacing like-2007 by 40 percent. If its current sales rate continues, the C70 will set a sales record this year.

General Motors Corp.'s Saturn Sky two-seat roadster also has managed to resist the market's downhill run, with sales through July running a couple of percent ahead of least year's pace. If the Sky's sales rate holds, it too will have a record year by perhaps a couple hundred units.

Other segment stalwarts holding steady include the Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder - through July, almost 5 percent ahead of 2007 and tracking for its best year since 2005 - and the Mercedes-Benz SL flagship roadster, which is running almost 10 percent ahead of last year, although 2007 was the car's worst sales year in the Edmunds.com 6-year analysis window.

Toyota Motor Corp. may be aware of the relative tenacity of convertible sales, which could have influenced its decision to confirm earlier this month that it will keep its Camry Solara convertible in production for another two years. Toyota had planned to discontinue the Solara after this year.

A look at the numbers show not all convertibles are making the best of the summer of 2008, however. Porsche's Boxster, for example, although tracking to beat its 2007 sales by perhaps a bit more than 100 units, remains in the throes of a long decline. And the Mazda MX-5 Miata, often the segment sales leader, is well behind last year's pace, while the once strong-selling Lexus SC430 is tracking for an all-time low.

Many factors play into convertible sales figures, not the least of which being time in the market. Perhaps even more so than coupes, convertibles are fashion items, and falling sales typically run in direct proportion to the length of time in the market without a sheetmetal freshening or more significant redesign. Or in the case of the C70, the price point was markedly decreased for the second-generation model.

The Edmunds.com data includes only convertibles that are distinct models. Product ranges that include a convertible, such as Camry or Ford Mustang, for instance, were not included in the data; in many cases, automakers do not break out sales for the convertible bodystyle.

*Sales are January through July
Source: Edmunds.com

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