After reporting on the news, Ford CEO Jim Farley said America needs to fall back in love with smaller cars. despite running a company killed the Fiesta, Focus, Fusion and TaurusWe decided to look at the sales figures for the smallest, cheapest cars still on the market. After all, it’s July, which means most of the Q2 figures are in. And guess what? We have great news! Those cars saw strong sales growth in the first half of the year. Maybe the cheap new car isn’t dead yet.
Let’s start with the cheapest new car you can buy—the Nissan Versa. With a base price of $16,680, it’s slightly less than the Mitsubishi Mirage’s starting price of $16,695. In the second quarter of 2023, Nissan sold 11,014 Versas, but this year, it’s sold 17,812. That’s an increase of more than 61 percent. Well done, Nissan!
Now what about the Mirage, which you’re probably more interested in reading about, since it’s long been the new cheap car of choice? Well, wouldn’t you know it, first-half sales jumped from 5,316 in 2023 to 9,862 in 2024. That’s not a doubling, but an 85 percent increase in sales is pretty significant nonetheless. It’s almost like people really want small, affordable cars.
Admittedly, those numbers pale in comparison to, say, the Ford F-Series, which has sold 352,406 vehicles this year, including 15,645 F-150 Lightnings, but still. There’s clearly a demand here. So, you know, just bring back the small cars, okay, automakers? If all you’re offering are cars that cost more than most people make in a year, you’re only going to sell them to a handful of people.
