Some interesting sales trends as we reach the halfway point of 2010

(June 2010) As we near the halfway point of 2010, some interesting facts can be derived from automotive sales statistics.

We have delved into the stats and emerged with some surprising losers and some equally surprising winners. And of course there are a large number of nameplates whose sales — up or down — are no surprise.

Our biggest single disappointment — because we really like the car and apparently a lot of other automotive reviewers do as well — is with the new-for-2010 Suzuki Kizashi.

Suzuki has put a lot of time and money into promoting its mid-sized sedan. And we are sure they put a lot of effort into designing and building it.

The mid-sized segment is highly competitive and a tough nut to crack. But with a good product such as the Kizashi we expected sales of the car to be considerably better. Through the first five months of the year, only 1,693 copies had been sold. If sales continue at this rate, Suzuki will sell only about 4,000 this year.

On the other hand — speaking of the mid-sized sedan segment — probably not as surprising is the strength of the Chevrolet Malibu. The Malibu, all new and considerably improved in 2008, is holding up well in its third model year.

The Malibu sold a commendable 178,253 copies in 2008, but slipped to 161,568 in 2009. For the first five months of 2010, Malibu sales have totaled 87,597, a rate that will result in record annual sales of 210,000.

The surprising thing is that the Malibu has edged ahead of the full-sized Impala, which has been Chevrolet's best-selling car for several years. Impala sales this year total 75,000.

We expected it and it's occurring — a surge in Hyundai Sonata sales. The new Sonata is one of the best new cars we've driven in years. Early sales statistics show that the car-buying public feels the same way. Through five months of 2010, Sonata sales are up 47 percent from last year, totaling 71,478.

The all-new Korean crossovers are doing extremely well too, not surprisingly. The completely re-designed Kia Sorento — built southwest of Atlanta — has sold 42,170 copies so far this year, a whopping 189 percent increase over 2009. And the all-new Hyundai Tucson has sold 16,307 copes, nearly 10,000 more than last year.

Chevrolet has struck gold with its new Equinox crossover. Through five months, 55,500 have left dealer lots. Sales would be much higher if Chevrolet had not been surprised by the vehicle's success and fallen behind on production. Last year, after five months, only 21,043 were sold.

The Cadillac SRX crossover, based on the same platform, is also performing extremely well. Sales hit 18,851 by the end of May compared to 3,178 last year.

A bit surprising perhaps to a lot of people is that the big truck-based SUVs are generally doing well, much better than in 2009. People like big vehicles if they think they can afford the gas no matter how hard the government tries to convince us that driving small is necessary.

Examples — Chevrolet Suburban, up 31 percent: GMC Yukon XL, up 48 percent; Ford Expedition, up 42 percent; Ford Explorer, up 32 percent; Nissan Armada, up 101 percent; Toyota 4Runner, up 98 percent.

On the downside, joining Suzuki, is the entire Scion lineup. This is surprising because the small Toyota-built Scion vehicles are extremely fuel efficient and are aimed at younger buyers. But the four Scion models combined are down from 21,822 sales in 2009 to 17,262 this year, a 26 percent drop.

And the tiny Smart car craze may be over. The little two-seater is struggling with 2,772 sales over five months this year. That's a steep drop of 277 percent from 2009.

The Smart folks may be praying every night for $6-a-gallon gas.

— Jim Meachen