U.S. Small-Car Sales Are Down

In their rush to embrace beefy sport-utility vehicles and brawny pickup trucks, Americans are slowly discarding a prominent piece of their recent past: Smaller cars.

Sales of the Ford Contour are down 13% in the first 11 months of 1997, while sales of General Motors’ Saturn cars are down 10%.

Chrysler hasn’t had better luck with Plymouth and Dodge Neons, with sales off 19% and 15%, respectively. Sales of the Chevrolet Prizm and Metro are down 23% and 38%, respectively, while the Mercury Tracer sales are down 10%.

“The economy segment of the market doesn’t really exist anymore,” said G. Richard Wagoner Jr., president of GM’s North American operations. “It’s basically been wiped out.”

The slumping small-car sales are especially noteworthy following the recent international agreement aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions to fight global warming. If ratified by the U.S. Senate, the agreement could lead to stricter fuel-efficiency rules.

Auto makers rely heavily on making small cars to meet the current federal standards, which call for U.S.-made and imported vehicles to average 27.5 miles per gallon for cars and 20.7 mpg for light trucks.

U.S. car sales overall are down 3% for the first 11 months of this year compared to the same 1996 period, although sales of sport-utility vehicles, vans and pickups are up 8.5%.

Luxury models have done the best of any car segment, with sales up 6%, according to an analysis by Ward’s Automotive Reports. But small- and medium-sized car sales are down 5%, Ward’s said.