Chevrolet e Ford perdem clientes nos EUA pela falta de sedãs e hatches

Boa parte dos donos de Cruze Sport6 e Focus estão trocando seus carros por equivalentes de outras marcas

Por: Christopher Smith

Traduzido por: Nicolas Tavares

18 Novembro 2019 em 11:09

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Não há dúvidas de que a decisão da Ford e da General Motors de encerrar a oferta de alguns hatchbacks e sedãs nos Estados Unidos é bem controversa. A Ford em particular abandonou completamente estes segmentos no país, para investir apenas em SUVs, crossovers e picapes. Na teoria, a ideia é que os clientes continuem leais a marca e escolham um utilitário ao invés de um hatch. Porém, uma análise feita pelo site Edmunds sugere que boa parte dos compradores deixaram a Ford e a GM de lado para comprar um carro da concorrência, já que eles ainda oferecem o tipo de veículos que eles querem.

O estudo usou como base os donos de Ford Focus e Chevrolet Cruze Sport6, dois hatches bem conhecidos e que saíram de linha nos Estados Unidos. Observando diversos fatores desde o fim da oferta da dupla até setembro de 2019, o Edmunds determina que 42% dos donos destes veículos não compraram um SUVs. Mais especificamente, 23% dos donos de Cruze deixaram a Chevrolet e comprar carros de outra fabricante. O número é ainda maior no caso do Focus, chegando a quase 33% de ex-donos do hatch médio que largaram a Ford.

Galeria: Chevrolet Cruze 2019

Para onde estes consumidores foram? O estudo não diz exatamente, mas aponta que "equivalentes competitivos como Toyota Corolla e Honda Civic - dois carros que continuam entre os 10 mais vendidos dos EUA, apesar do crescimento dos SUVS". O estudo ainda menciona que uma parcela destes clientes realmente decidiu comprar um crossover, mas de marcas como Jeep, Hyundai ou Kia.

O estudo ponta que há uma parte dos clientes que continuou leal à Ford e GM. Cerca de 21% dos donos do Cruze teriam adquirido um SUV da empresa, como Tracker ou Equinox, enquanto 18% dos proprietários da Ford foram para modelos como EcoSport e Escape. Ainda assim, as duas fabricantes estão perdendo clientes que não querem pagar o preço extra normalmente cobrado por um SUV, mesmo em opções de entrada como EcoSport ou Tracker, que tem valor inicial acima de US$ 20 mil (aproximadamente R$ 83,6 mil). E mesmo que os segmentos de sedã e hatches médios estejam encolhendo, eles ainda representam 4,5 milhões de unidades no acumulado de 2019, um número bem expressivo e que mostra que ainda tem muita gente interessada nestes tipos de carros.

Será que esta estratégia de investir apenas em SUVs e picapes dará certo no futuro? Apesar o tempo irá dizer mas, no lugar dos executivos da Ford e da GM, estaríamos bem preocupados com números como esses.

Fonte: Edmunds via Ford Authority

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GM, Ford Sacrifice Loyal Buyers by Abandoning Small Cars, Edmunds Report Reveals

Former Cruze and Focus owners are heading to competitors to find affordable options as the average price of a new vehicle continues to break records

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Nov. 13, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Now that more than a year has passed since Ford and GM announced the strategic decision to end production of several popular small car models, the automotive experts at Edmunds have released a new report detailing how car shoppers are reacting. The analysis revealed that instead of jumping on the SUV bandwagon, 42% of Cruze and Focus owners are choosing to stay in the passenger car segment. So far this year, 23% of Cruze owners and 31% of Focus owners who traded in their car for another car bought from a competitor. Analysts say losing these shoppers to the competition could hurt GM and Ford in the long run because the compact car segment is the largest passenger car segment (accounting for 9.1% of vehicle sales through September of this year) and compact car owners are among the most brand-loyal.

"Ford and GM made a strategic decision to prioritize profit at the expense of market share," said Edmunds Executive Director of Insights Jessica Caldwell. "While this may set them up better in the long run so they have the cash they need to fund electrification and autonomy, there's no question that decision is giving their competitors an edge now."

The brand loyalty of former Cruze and Focus owners has been steadily declining in the last three years. The percentage of Focus owners trading in their vehicle and buying another Ford has declined from 40% in 2016 to 33% through September of this year. The drop in brand loyalty is more pronounced among former Cruze owners: 45% elected to trade in their Cruze for another Chevrolet vehicle so far this year, compared to 57% in 2016.

Many former Cruze and Focus owners are going into direct competitive equivalents such as the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla, but other brands are proving attractive as well. The number of Focus and Cruze owners trading their vehicles in and buying a small Jeep (Compass or Renegade), Hyundai Kona or Elantra, Kia Forte or Subaru Crosstrek have all risen in the last three years.

However, a decent share of former Cruze and Focus owners are doing exactly what GM and Ford are hoping they do ― move into one of their SUVs. So far this year, 21% of Cruze owners who traded in their vehicle bought a Chevrolet SUV, and 18% of Focus owners traded in their car for a Ford SUV. But the buyers who are choosing to move up to an SUV are those with extra cash to spend, as small SUVs can cost between $4,000 and $8,000 more than buying another small car. As the average price of a new car now hovers in record territory, Edmunds analysts note rising costs puts continued pressure on younger and more price-sensitive buyers.

"The catch is, if Ford and GM don't have affordable options for shoppers who are buying their first or second new car, it could be much harder to win them over later," Caldwell noted. "Catching consumers early and keeping them in the family has been a basic tenet of automotive brand strategy for decades. But it feels like we're in the midst of a transformative time for the industry where automakers are being forced to rethink everything. Time will tell if it will end up the right call in the long run."

To read the full report, visit the Edmunds Industry Center.