Are Fullsize Vehicles Fading Away?

The parents of Earl Lucas, the lead designer of the 2010 Ford Taurus, takes a moment to pose in front of their fullsize Ford vehicle.

With the midsize car segment, which includes the Chevy Malibu, Hyundai Sonata, Nissan Altima and Toyota Camry, is expanding with larger interiors and more fuel-efficient vehicles, is there a need for such large vehicles like the Dodge Charger, Ford Taurus and Nissan Maxima? According to R. L. Polk, within the past five years the midsize market grew from 13 percent to almost 17 percent of the market, while the large car segment shrunk from about 5 percent to just a little over 2 percent.

Ironically, while the fullsize market sales are shrinking, a new Chevy Impala, Hyundai Azera, Kia Cadenza (which replaces the Amanti) and a Toyota Avalon will be hitting the streets over the next few months. It should be interesting to see if the new designs will reverse sliding sales of large vehicles.