Many automotive sectors have rebounded since the great global recession of the last decade, but the convertible isn’t one of them.
Sales of drop-tops have slid dramatically since 2007, according to Automotive News Europe, forcing a consolidation in roof suppliers. But it’s also a sign the whole category could be under threat.
Once seen as a profitable niche, convertible sales have gone from a 5.4 percent of market share in Europe in the first half 2007, to just 3.3 percent so far this year. In the U.S., the category has shed players like the Chrysler 200 Convertible, Pontiac G6 and Volvo C70, without adding many new ones. And the Volkswagen Eos is about to be dropped without a replacement.
Automakers may have determined expensive panoramic roofs and niche crossovers are a more profitable way of courting style-conscious buyers instead of significantly re-engineering cars to become drop-tops – especially in the case of four-seat folding hardtop category that was all the rage just a decade ago.
The only upcoming entrant, at least in the U.S., looks to be the Buick Cascada, which has been sold as an Opel/Vauxhall in Europe for the last couple years. But it doesn’t look like it’ll recoup the volume of sales left by the void of a shrinking market.
By Zac Estrada
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