C-max sales increase

[Seth7721]

For the first time since August of 2014 the C-max has had an increase in sales. Sales hit 1,966 units in September, up 10.1% from last year. This may seem like quite a jump, but it comes no where close to the all time C-max high of 4,848 units in November of 2012. Sadly, as a whole the hybrid and electric car market has decreased by 17% year over year. Most of this can be linked to the continually falling gas prices. It seems Americans in particular have very short term memory. Eventually gas prices will go back up.

 

Year to date the C-max sales hit 17,291 down 20.4% from last year.

 

For comparison the total Prius family sales in September hit 16,110 up 12.8%. However, year to date sales hit 141,940 down 14.2%.

 

Ford really needs to give the C-max some updates. It's lacking some of their latest technology like adaptive cruise control with collision warning, blis, and even the new surround camera. I think with some new additions and slightly reworked styling I think Ford could add some life back to the C-max sales. If all else fails, maybe the VW scandal will makes some potential buyers look into the C-max instead!

Edited October 10, 2015 by Seth7721

[obob]

I'll second that headroom comment.  It is so hard to get a smaller car with lots of headroom that allows for me to sit up straight.  

Edited October 4, 2015 by obob

[HotPotato]

It seems like a mistake to pour those resources into a dedicated hybrid platform, when the future is already moving on to BEVs. I can only guess they're building a platform that can work for a hybrid, a plug-in hybrid, an extended-range electric vehicle, or a full battery electric vehicle. 

 

We've seen a lot of lame engineering efforts in electrification: Honda's weak Integrated Motor Assist, GM's cyncial eAssist, Hyundai's underbaked first-gen Sonata Hybrid, Toyota's halfhearted plug-in Prius, and even Ford's Energi (adding a cord doesn't turn a hybrid into an extended-range electric vehicle). So it's nice to see that carmakers are getting serious about the space at last: Hyundai/Kia's second-generation hybrid sedans and the upcoming Chevy Malibu Hybrid promise worthy competition for the desirable Fusion and Camry Hybrids, while Honda's Accord Hybrid sets a whole new bar for hybrid efficiency. The 2016 Volt outdoes the original in every way yet costs less, and loses the weird factor. And the upcoming Chevy Bolt and Tesla Model III, and to a lesser extent the upcoming refresh to the Nissan Leaf, promise a much more useful amount of battery range in all-electric motoring. A 200-mile BEV with DC fast charge capability can credibly be a family's only car in many markets.

[kostby]

Your first statement is in error.

 

For the first time since August of 2013 the C-max has had an increase in sales. 

 

In August of 2014, combined C-MAX sales of Hybrids and Energi plug-in Hybrids increased compared to the prior year.

 

Individual monthly sales of C-MAX Hybrid-only models also increased over the prior monthly sales in December 2014.

 

I post charts and selected statistics  in this thread: http://fordcmaxhybridforum.com/topic/3733-ford-c-max-monthly-sales-chart/?p=60053

Numbers come directly from Ford monthly US sales reports, and C-MAX Hybrid and C-MAX Energi Plug-in Hybrid model sales breakouts as reported in InsideEVs.com and HybridCars.com

 

Early C-MAX sales numbers were large, perhaps artificially large, because Ford sold many early C-MAX vehicles to car rental companies and fleet buyers. More recently, Ford has made public its intention to reduce reliance on rental and fleet sales to bump up sales numbers.

 

General Motors discovered with the GM A-Platform front-wheel-drive vehicles (Olds Cutlass Ciera, Pontiac 6000, Buick Century, and Chevy Celebrity), pushing thousands of cars annually into the rental market makes sales numbers look good, but adds nothing to the corporate profit margin. The other effect for GM was that when those nearly-new rental units hit the market, they often 'took' sales from the same new models in the showrooms.

 

So after 3 years of production, the authentic demand now seems to average about 2000 combined monthly sales of about 70% C-MAX Hybrids and 30% Energi Plug-in Hybrids per month, achieved basically without any advertising, and without using Ford incentives larger than any other Ford vehicles.

Edited October 5, 2015 by kostby

[Seth7721]

Your first statement is in error.

 

 

 

In August of 2014, combined C-MAX sales of Hybrids and Energi plug-in Hybrids increased compared to the prior year.

 

Individual monthly sales of C-MAX Hybrid-only models also increased over the prior monthly sales in December 2014.

 

I post charts and selected statistics  in this thread: http://fordcmaxhybridforum.com/topic/3733-ford-c-max-monthly-sales-chart/?p=60053

Numbers come directly from Ford monthly US sales reports, and C-MAX Hybrid and C-MAX Energi Plug-in Hybrid model sales breakouts as reported in InsideEVs.com and HybridCars.com

 

Early C-MAX sales numbers were large, perhaps artificially large, because Ford sold many early C-MAX vehicles to car rental companies and fleet buyers. More recently, Ford has made public its intention to reduce reliance on rental and fleet sales to bump up sales numbers.

 

General Motors discovered with the GM A-Platform front-wheel-drive vehicles (Olds Cutlass Ciera, Pontiac 6000, Buick Century, and Chevy Celebrity), pushing thousands of cars annually into the rental market makes sales numbers look good, but adds nothing to the corporate profit margin. The other effect for GM was that when those nearly-new rental units hit the market, they often 'took' sales from the same new models in the showrooms.

 

So after 3 years of production, the authentic demand now seems to average about 2000 combined monthly sales of about 70% C-MAX Hybrids and 30% Energi Plug-in Hybrids per month, achieved basically without any advertising, and without using Ford incentives larger than any other Ford vehicles.

 

Thanks! I corrected the post.