The biggest American automakers all but abandoned sedans and coupes in recent years as they rushed to compete in the pickup truck and SUV markets.
Many domestic buyers also shifted toward those bigger vehicles. Still, there’s a market for cars, as Japanese, Korean and German brands sell hundreds of thousands of smaller passenger vehicles in the U.S. annually.
The resilience of the sedan market and concerns that high prices are driving away customers have led some American automakers to reconsider their lineups.
With the average price for a vehicle hovering around $50,000, a compact sedan that starts at about $22,000 is an attractive entry point for buyers, industry experts said.
“It’s all about affordability,” said Orth Hedrick, vice president of product planning for Kia USA. Kia’s K4 compact sedan and its predecessor, the Kia Forte, together were the brand’s second-bestselling vehicle last year, accounting for 140,514 units sold. “It’s just been doing phenomenally well for us. Way over plan, and a lot of it is affordability.”
