Several manufacturers have been reporting an actual slight increase in sedan segment vehicle sales for 2020 and 2021 so far. In previous years, sedan sales were on a sharp decline and many manufacturers were actually axing their sedan line up. So what changed?
Well in the past two years, Electric Vehicle (EV) technology and AWD have been pivotal for the sedan. Tesla Motors has been pushing their Model S, an EV with AWD, with excellent sales volume. Chevrolet, Toyota, Nissan and Mazda have also been heavily pushing sedans that are EVs. The market and consumers have responded and are buying them in droves.
But interestingly enough, it’s the combination of both that is pushing the sedan. Case in point, Toyot has been offering the Prius hybrid for a while now. In 2019, they offered it as AWD variant and reported that 68% of Priuses sold were AWD. In 2020, that number jumped to 70.5%.
There is no doubt the market is literally demanding EVs and consumers are willing to drop their trucks and SUVs, which have led the sales for a sedan that has AWD and is an EV. Manufacturers are more excited to offer sedans as EV and AWD in order to drive the costs of EV technology down and to be able to offer an EV at a competitive rate. An SUV or truck that is an EV would cost substantially more.
So yeah, EV tech and AWD has saved the sedan for now. But as soon as the technology allows it, the market will want EVs that are SUVs and trucks, and the sedan will see sales diminish again.
