Coupes Making a Comeback

SEE ALSO: All Coupe Specs, Pictures and Prices

Will New Models and New Rivalries Heat up the Market for Sporty Two-Doors?

Special to The Auto Channel
By Jim Koscs, AIADA Contributing Editor

Are coupes making a comeback? Some new models are getting attention, and there’s a lot of buzz around certain upcoming designs. High incentive spending for sport and luxury coupes, however, is a reminder that these two-door models are more susceptible to changes in the economic climate.

Once a mainstay of the domestic makers, coupes are now a relative rarity in Detroit Three showrooms. Meanwhile, a new rivalry has developed in the international midsize segment, with Honda’s fresh Accord coupe going head to head with the Nissan Altima coupe introduced last year. They’ll lose a competitor when Toyota drops the Camry Solara coupe after 2008.

Honda introduced its first Accord coupe 20 years ago, and the new-generation model puts a much sharper focus on upscale performance and luxury than its predecessors. Nissan jumped into the fray last year with the first-ever coupe version of its popular Altima, and it is attracting new and younger customers to the brand.

Two upcoming coupes are generating lots of interest before they even arrive. Hyundai’s rear-drive Genesis coupe, due next spring, is touted as a lower-priced competitor to the Infiniti G37, as well as a more modern alternative to the Ford Mustang. Top engine is a 300+ hp V6. Hyundai will discontinue its front-drive Tiburon sport coupe after this model year, but the company is also considering a front-drive successor to that model.

Showroom Stars
While coupe sales rise and fall, it seems coupe appeal never goes out of style. George Kang, marketing analyst for Edmunds.com, says that coupe models, when done right, still spark interest even if they don’t become sales stars themselves. According to Kang, when Nissan introduced the Altima coupe a year ago, consideration for Altima jumped by 30 percent. And when Audi introduced its A5 coupe last year, it became the primary draw for over 60 percent of Audi showroom traffic. “That is the ‘halo effect’ in action,” Kang said.

At the same time, Kang reports that overall coupe consideration has declined by about 10 percent. “Coupes still can be trendy – hot today, but cool soon after as buyers look to the newest thing,” he says. To maintain “newness,” Kang explains, coupes need more substantial mid-cycle updates than their sedan counterparts. Luxury coupes, he says, are more sensitive to economic trends, because they are often the second, third, and even fourth cars for many buyers.

Still a Star at Four
Toyota essentially invented the import sport coupe with the Celica in 1971, but that model disappeared after 2005 due to slumping sales. It was largely superseded by the company’s own Scion tC model, which offered broader appeal, as well as more performance and practicality, and a lower price.

Coupes have long been associated with “youth” buyers, or at least “younger than sedan” buyers. Here, the Scion tC stands apart. Scion spokesperson Allison Takahashi confirmed that the tC still has the lowest median driver age for all Toyota products, at only 24.

Although just four years old, the tC design is “old” by coupe standards. Yet, even with a 30-percent sales drop compared to 2007 (through April), the tC was still the brand’s second-best seller behind the boxy xB (14,409 vs. 15,890 for xB) and still one of the industry’s top-selling coupes. Through March of this year, the Scion tC had the lowest incentive spending ($131) and fewest days to turn (72) in the coupe category, according to Edmunds.com data.

The tC may be getting some more competition. At the New York Auto Show in March, KIA caused a stir with its KOUP Concept. The front-drive sport coupe’s design recalls some Acura and Audi cues. “We see opportunity here as a large portion of Gen Y is just about to get its drivers’ license and they are a formidable group that values affordable and stylish cars,” says KIA spokesman Alex Fedorak. “KOUP, should it go into production, would be aimed at the entry level portion of the market where price and fuel efficiency are important.” He added that the concept car’s 290-hp turbocharged engine was “under debate.” Also playing in that segment is the Honda Civic coupe, which offers a performance-tuned 197-hp Si model.

New Midsize Coupes Draw Younger Buyers
Manufacturers are doing a better job at differentiating their coupe models from the sedans on which they are based, Kang points out. And that is attracting more buyers.

“Altima Coupe is not just a sedan with two doors removed – it was an all-new, unique product with sporty styling,” says Nissan spokesman Darryll Harrison. The “unique” claim pans out: the Altima coupe is shorter and lower than the sedan, with the hood the only shared body panel. The coupe model accounts for 11 percent of Altima sales and is attracting more younger, single buyers to the brand: 47 percent married vs. 71 percent of Altima sedan buyers, and average age of 41 vs. 47 for the sedan.

Nissan sold 99,037 Altima models through April, an 8.6 percent increase over 2007. That would put coupe sales at about 11,000 for the first four months. Coupe customers like their power, too.  About 40 percent choose the 270-hp 3.5-liter V6 engine over the standard 175-hp 4-cylinder. In contrast, only about 10 percent of Altima sedan buyers go for the V6. (That’s down from the nearly 20 percent Nissan indicated in our report on the midsize car segment last fall.) About five percent of coupe buyers choose the manual transmission, compared to three percent for the sedan.

Nissan product planners’ goal, according to Kang, was to expand the coupe’s appeal beyond the “boy racer” crowd. “They really wanted to fine-tune the car for women, right down to suspension tuning,” he said. “Luxury brands, meanwhile, tend to focus models toward men.”

Honda’s new-generation Accord Coupe made a significant jump in style and performance with the 2008 model. And customers have noticed: According to Honda spokesman Sage Marie, about 15 percent of Accord sales are for the coupe, up from 10 percent for the previous model. As with the Altima, 40 percent of Accord Coupe customers choose the muscular V6 engine, an increase from 30 percent with the previous model. The highest volume coupe model is the top-of-the-line EX-L V6. Demographics are similar to Altima Coupe, as well, with the average age of 42 compared to 48 for the Accord sedan. Motor Trend magazine called the 2008 Honda Accord Coupe “a now bona-fide sport coupe, with the specs to back it up.”

Ups and Downs among Luxury Coupes
Honda’s luxury division, Acura, had had less luck with two-doors, having offered coupes wearing Integra, Legend, CL, and RSX nameplates over the years. All were front-wheel drive models, and in the luxury and performance coupe category, customers do not prefer front-wheel drive.  Acura does not currently offer a coupe model.

BMW, meanwhile, has long enjoyed success in this segment with its 3-Series coupe models. The company reported that 29 percent of its 38,414 3-Series year-to-date sales through April were coupes, for 11,140 sales. And 32 percent of those were equipped with all-wheel drive, a rare feature among coupes.

Nissan’s Infiniti Division has likewise found success with a coupe. Its G37 coupe, introduced last August, is a more powerful redesign of the G35 coupe. Infiniti sold 7,600 of them through April, a whopping 80 percent increase over last year’s G35 coupe model. Infiniti notes that the G37 attracts 83 percent more 20-34 year-old buyers than the sedan does. Sedan buyers’ income, though, skews a bit higher.