Chart Of The Day: A Decade Of January Market Share Improvement For Winter's Auto Brands
Subaru and Jeep are consistently two of America’s fast-growing auto brands. Aided by expanding portfolios and clearly understood branding, Jeep volume jumped 41% in 2014; Subaru sales shot up 21%.
Are any two auto brands more easily identified with winter than Subaru and Jeep?
As the U.S. auto industry grew 14% in January 2015, Jeep sales were up 23%; Subaru volume rose 24%. Together, they accounted for 8% of all new vehicle sales in America in the first month of 2015.
Since January may be the most Subaru and Jeep-like month of them all, the accompanying chart showcases their market share improvements in the month of January over the last decade.
Timothy Cain is the founder of GoodCarBadCar.net, which obsesses over the free and frequent publication of U.S. and Canadian auto sales figures.
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My jeep is a blast in the snow, granted it's old and lifted and has work done to it. I haven't shoveled or plowed my driveway all winter long (in CNY) and I've never had an issue. In my experience, subaru drivers tend to be the worst in winter, going far too slow for conditions that aren't that bad.
Fascinating. In yesterday's "what brand has the least number of vehicles you'd buy" question Subaru was roasted over and over again by the B&B. Lots of former owners complaining about oil consumption, head gaskets, bearings, and other fragility wound in the storied brand. I've long believed that the reputation of the live forever Subaru is a big fat myth, but they just keep growing.
Subaru's are reliable. The head gaskets were an issue and the replacement parts were updated. I had a '00 Legacy with a left head gasket leak at about 160k miles. A droplet of coolant would form at the rear of the left head. Not really a catastrophic issue. So I just let it drip. From my experience, the real issue that Subaru has/had is poor dealer service departments and owners that are too cheap to do the necessary preventative maintenance.
I'm glad Subaru and Jeep offer niche vehicles for people who want/need to be able to apply power to all 4 wheels. The problem is this capability comes with extra cost throughout the life of the vehicle. Yesterday the Dallas area experienced its one day of significant snow for the season and lack of more capable cars wasn't the problem. The problem was that 1) the major highways in the Dallas area use elevated lanes that get covered with ice and 2) semi tractor trailer trucks get stuck on the ramps, blocking traffic for everyone. For example, the High Five Interchange. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Five_Interchange I drove home slowly on major surface streets where the snow was melting as fast as it fell. Even the least capable RWD classic muscle car could have made that 30 mph drive and even the most capable Jeep was going to be stuck on the highways when trucks jackknife.