AutoMotion Blog

Compact Crossovers Continue to Gain Momentum with US Consumers

  • Date Published: 03/06/2012
Nearly one of every four new vehicles purchased or leased in the U.S. market during 2011 was a crossover utility vehicle, which is a car-based utility vehicle. The four CUV segments, for both luxury and non-luxury brands, accounted for nearly 24% of new-vehicle sales.

Compact crossovers were the most popular among all crossovers, accounting for 11.3% of industry sales in 2011. Total (retail and fleet) deliveries of these smaller crossovers climbed by nearly 20 percent on a year-over-year basis.

Compact crossover demographic and sales trends are based on data from the Power Information Network(R) (PIN) Division of J.D. Power and Associates:
  • Retailers and manufacturers in the U.S. sold 239,000 more new compact crossovers in 2011 than in 2010. Overall, more than 1.5 million compact crossovers were sold in 2011.
  • Higher percentages of vehicle owners in other compact segments traded up to a compact crossover. One of the most significant differences was that 20.9% of compact MPV owners traded in their vehicle for a compact crossover.
  • PIN data indicates that the average age of a compact CUV buyer in 2011 was 49, down from 50 in 2010.
  • Although slightly lower than the previous year, in 2011 nearly one-half of these vehicles were purchased or leased by female buyers.
  • The average transaction price (less customer cash rebate) for a compact crossover was $25,128 in 2011, compared with $24,762 a year ago.
  • Among the 21 compact crossover models available in the market in 2011, seven were produced by Detroit-based automakers.
  • Rounding out the list of the five highest-selling compact crossovers for 2011, in rank order, are: Honda CR-V, Chevrolet Equinox, Toyota RAV4 and Nissan Rogue.