Image: 顔なし

Even though you may remember the US version of the Suzuki Swift as the nerd-chic Geo Metro or Pontiac Firefly, the rest of the world currently thinks about the car as that sweet looking subcompact owned by the family down the street. This current incarnation was released in Japan and Europe in 2004, and as reported by ABG, recently passed the 1 million sale mark.

The car started out in Japan, but quickly moved to Europe, where it is built in Hungary, and recently to the UK, where sales are strong. Judging by Suzuki’s advertising push in the US recently, combined with the high price of gas and the resurgence of compact cars, I really wonder if we’ll see this car on our side of the pond any time soon.

If you liked this post, sign up for out RSS Feed for automatic updates.

Coupled with GM’s news that the company will be closing plants and scaling back SUV production, the word that the F150 is finally not the country’s best-selling vehicle seems to put the final nail in the coffin of American gas guzzling. Sure, there are still tons of F150s selling (a lot of them to people who don’t really need them), but this change represents one of the biggest swings in the US auto market recently.

The numbers tell the whole story. Here are May’s top five selling vehicles:

1. Honda Civic – 53,299
2. Toyota Corolla – 52,826
3. Toyota Camry – 51,291
4. Honda Accord – 43,728
5. Ford F-150 – 42,973

Overall, most of the automakers were way down in sales, except for Nissan and Honda, with Honda posting an increase of 11%. Strong sales of traditional economy cars show that people are not just trying to save money on gas, but are buying less expensive, less powerful cars in order to cope with an economic slowdown.

So what does all this really mean? It’s hard to say. On the one hand, the Prius is the most searched for new car on cars.com, but hybrid sales are also slumping. It seems that buyers know about the fuel economy possibilities with hybrids like the Prius, but are getting scared off by the price premium and moving towards either no car or a small car like the Civic or Corolla.

The real question now is, will it stick?

If you liked this post, sign up for out RSS Feed for automatic updates.