2017's Biggest Winners and Losers in the New Car Market

When buying a new car, it's important to do your research into vehicle quality and into reports of problems with the vehicle. It's also important that you understand consumer protection laws and reach out to a Los Angeles lemon law attorney if there is a problem with your car. 

As you do your research into vehicles, you'll notice wide discrepancies in features, price, and vehicle reputation so you'll need to make an informed choice about which car is right for you. Some vehicles perform much better than others and there is much higher consumer demand for them. Forbes recently provided some key insight into vehicle winners and losers in 2017.

The Biggest Winners and Losers Among New Cars in 2017

According to Forbes, small cars that run economically and that prioritize fuel efficiency performed poorly in 2017 thanks to falling gas prices.  However, even though these compact economy cars have become less popular, electric cars have become more popular and electric car sales rose 26.6 percent in 2017 compared with the same time period in 2016.

There were also big discrepancies among different vehicle models within each car category.  For example:

• Among subcompact cars, the Toyota Yaris iA was a top performer last year and was one of the only subcompact cars to see an increase in sales. By contrast, the biggest loser among subcompact cars was the Kia Rio which underwent a redesign and which saw a 47.6 percent reduction in sales for 2017.
• Among compact cars, the Subaru Impreza saw a big gain in sales, with new deliveries going up by 48.3 percent. However, the Hyundai Veloster was a big loser and lost 52.9 percent of its sales through October 2017.
• Among mid-sized vehicles, all car models sold less in 2017 than in 2016. In fact, there were 15.6 percent fewer midsize cars sold during the first 10 months of 2017 compared with in 2016. The Honda Accord performed the best in a bad market, losing just 2.3 percent of its sales compared with the prior year. The worst performing of the mid-sized cars was the Volkswagen CC which lost 52.2 percent of its sales volume in 2017.
• Among full-size cars, the Nissan Maxima and the Kia Cadenza were among the only models that saw growth even as sales of all full-sized cars fell by 11.6 percent. The Hyundai Azera, however, saw a decline in sales of 32.9 percent.
• Among entry-level luxury cars, there was also an overall decline in sales. However, the Infiniti Q60 saw a 324 percent increase in sales. By contrast, the Buick Regal was the biggest loser among this type of vehicle, with a decline in sales of 41.8 percent as it underwent a redesign.
• Among luxury cars, the Lincoln Continental, Genesis G90 and Volvo S90 all increased their sales while the Lexus GS saw a decline.

Whatever type of car you shop for, you could face losses if the car turns out to have problems after you buy it. If you find yourself in this situation, reach out to a Los Angeles lemon law attorney for help.