Auto production in the United States No love for small cars

In the United States, car sales in the corona pandemic plummeted by around 20 percent. Small cars in particular - although cheaper - sell so badly that the construction of many models is ended.

When car dealer Sam Lee from Virginia is to explain why his compatriots love to drive big cars, he says: "There is only a speed limit here everywhere. So no real motorway. But here are most roads highways. Unlike in Europe, one drives Average family from the suburbs constantly on multi-lane roads. And they want to drive a safe car there. "

Even before the corona pandemic, pick-up trucks, the typical American small trucks, and SUVs had a market share of around 70 percent. More economical and therefore more climate-friendly small cars didn't even get three percent. The pandemic has intensified this trend: 20 percent fewer new cars have been sold so far this year than in 2019. For small cars, it is even a minus of 50 percent - although many Americans are turning every penny in the Corona crisis.

Jessica Caldwell of the online car magazine "Edmunds" from Santa Monica in California also sees the paradox. "If people are not doing well financially and cannot afford a large car loan, for example, then you would think that this is the hour for these small, cheap cars. But that is not the case," she says, looking pessimistically at them The future of small cars. "If they don't make it now, then they won't make it in the long run."

Chevrolet and Ford clean up product range
The US auto companies apparently think similarly: General Motors has announced that it will stop producing the Chevrolet Sonic. The economical Sonic - marketed in Germany under the name Aveo - has long been a symbol for the comeback of the group after the crisis in 2009. Chevrolet sold more than 93,000 Sonics in 2015. Last year, the figure was less than 14,000. Ford wants to take several models, such as the Fiesta and the Focus, from the US market. Toyota also stops producing its Yaris in the United States.

Gasoline is cheap and there is simply no money to be made with small cars, said Michelle Krebs, a car expert from Detroit: "These small cars are hardly profitable. And since the great recession, corporations have been paying particular attention to which cars they make profit. And now in the pandemic, where they lose money, they take a closer look at their fleet and which cars are not selling well. "

The Toyota Yaris - here the assembly in a plant in Onnaing in northern France - will soon no longer be built in the USA.

Popular as a used car
There is also a market for small cars: As a used car, car dealer Sam Lee from Virginia says: "Because of the recession, small cars are selling particularly well. Better than SUVs. Because they are cheaper."

The car dealer sees with great concern that the supply of used small cars could dry up at some point: "Really frightening that the manufacturers discontinue these models! People who have to pay attention to money also look at consumption and they will continue to be small cars want to buy, like Europeans. For this middle class, that's really bad news for them. "

By the way, the infirmity of traditional small cars does not mean that there is generally no demand for more environmentally friendly cars in the USA: Tesla's electric cars are going so well that despite Corona, the group has now made a full year with profits for the first time and now has another Plant builds. And Toyota is currently selling more RAV 4 SUVs with hybrid drives than with combustion engines.