Shopping: Getting Started

Shoppers today are indeed confronted with an incredible selection. At the moment, there are some 44 different brand names and who knows exactly how many different models. One source, the current EPA Mileage Guide, includes nearly 500 models of cars and/or configurations of models that result in separate mileage ratings, plus over 300 similar listings for light trucks, vans and sport utility vehicles.

So just how might one start to narrow so large a field? One way is to look at what other Americans are buying.

Since neither the first nor the second best-selling new vehicle in America is a car, the above list may be a little surprising. In fact, five of the top 10 best sellers are not cars. But by vehicle type, Americans still buy more cars than anything else.

Whereas Americans were once known for their penchant for big cars, today the U.S. new car market is largely defined by mid-size automobiles--cars like the Ford Taurus, Toyota Camry and the Honda Accord. Because this is the largest selling segment, this is where buyers will also find the greatest range of choices.

Everyone domestic and virtually all import makers have mid-size offerings. Because four-door sedans are the most popular bodystyle, they generally form the core of makers' mid-size lineups. But you'll also find mid-size two-doors and station wagons. Prices within the segment start at about $15,000. The averae is about $17,800.

Last year, Ford's Taurus dethroned the perennial sales champ Honda Accord in a narrow 12th-round decision. Currently the Accord languishes behind both Taurus and Camry in sales. For 1994, Honda has a new Accord and the battle will doubtlessly be joined again.

The fact that small cars are the second most popular type of vehicle in the U.S. may be a sign of the times. The category is home to the two other cars on the current top-ten best sellers list: the Chevrolet Cavalier and the For Escort. Among the ranks of small cars you'll find other best sellers like Honda's Civic and GM's Saturn. And it's where Chrysler's new Neon will join the fray when it is introduced in January of 1994 as the first of the 1995 model-year cars. Basic small car prices can start out as how as $8,500 and run upwards of $15,000. The segment average is just over $12,000.

As escalating new car prices leave more and more consumers either unable or unwilling to ante up the price of the average new car, small cars may be shaping up as the ground for tomorrow's pitched battles for overall cars sales supremacy. At the moment, however, a significant portion of the U.S. public is eschewing the notion that personal or family transportation automatically means a car, mid-size, small or otherwise. And this trend has been growing.