Versa sedan sales numbers (Canada vs. U.S.), sedan cancellation

[MetroMPG]

Nissan has announced that poor sales have led to the cancellation of the Versa sedan, to be replaced by the Micra hatchback in Canada.

In the U.S., the Versa nameplate regularly tops subcompact sales charts, month after month. American buyers apparently love small, cheap sedans. So just how bad were the Canadian numbers compared to the U.S.?

The challenge is sorting the wheat from the chaff: Nissan doesn't separate sedans from hatchbacks in their monthly published sales figures for the Versa nameplate. But there was a window of time between the end of sales of the last generation Versa hatchback and the introduction of the new Versa Note hatchback where the charts should reveal "pure Versa sedan" sales.

Let's look at that period...



The previous version Versa hatchback ended sales with the 2012 model year (Wiki). So let's work on the assumption that inventory was depleted by the end of 2012. (Safe bet, since the 2012's were actually available in 2011.)



The Versa Note was introduced in mid-June, 2013. So let's use the assumption that July was the first full month of sales.

That leaves the first half of 2013, Jan through June, as our "Versa sedan" window. Let's look at the numbers, from GoodCarBadCar.net:

2013	Versa sedan sales, U.S.	Versa sedan sales, Canada
Jan	10,270	521
Feb	13,100	661
Mar	15,917	742
Apr	7155	773
May	8614	973
Jun	8705	915
Total	63,761	4585

Going strictly on a 10:1 population ratio between the two countries, you can see Canada's lagging interest in the 3-box Versa.

Then factor in that Canadians usually buy small cars at a higher per capita rate than Americans (5:1 isn't unusual), and the picture becomes even worse. (E.G. our perennial best-selling car is the Civic sedan; in the U.S. it's the Camry or Accord.)

Au revoir, Versa sedan. Bienvenue, Micra!