With the popularity of SUVs, crossovers, and electric vehicles increasing over the last few years, combustion-engined sedan sales show that premium brand sedans have taken the biggest knock. Budget-friendly sedans like the Honda Accord and Civic still sell well in the United States and are less affected. Buyers wanting a more premium vehicle seem more eager to spend on larger, more spacious sports utility vehicles or electrically-powered options.

BMW Sedan Sales In The United States
In the year that the E90 BMW fifth-gen 3 Series sedan was released, four-door family cars were still gaining traction in the US. The 3 Series, specifically, showed a 20.5% increase in sales up until 2006. A large jump in sales was reported between 2005 and 2007, just as the 5th-gen Bimmer came into the market. In 2005, 106,950 3 Series cars were sold, jumping to over 120k for 2006 and topping out at 142,488 in 2007.

Sales then took a dip to around 112k units sold for 2008, and even fewer – just over 90k – in 2009. These figures stayed relatively low in the following years until the introduction of the sixth-gen F30 and F31 BMW 3 Series in 2012 where we start to see an uptake again with 107,705 cars sold. This generation was popular, selling almost 120k units in 2013 and topping out over 141k for 2014. But, in 2016, these numbers fell to half that, sinking as low as 39,290 units for 2020.

Did The Same Thing Happen With Honda Sedans?
The Honda Civic and the Accord have much higher sales figures than the BMW sedans mentioned above. The 9th-gen Honda Civic was launched in 2012 in both hatchback and sedan format and sold 344,996 units in that year alone. Sales numbers remained in excess of 325k units for the next seven years, only dipping to 261,225 in 2020, despite a new-gen model being introduced after 2015.

Similarly, the 9th-gen Accord had already sold over 353k units of the previous generation before its introduction in 2013. In 2014,this number increased to 388,435, dipped to 355,557 in 2015, and down to 322,655 by 2017. Even with newer generations available now, neither of these Japanese sedans have sold less than 200k units in 2021.

While the budget compact segment seems to be doing fine, the luxury premium sedan class seems to be suffering. Experts suggest that this is a result of consumers favoring heavier, more spacious SUVs with off-roading capabilities and those with an eco-friendly mindset investing in hybrids and EVs.

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