Sports car sales increased by 3900 units over 2012, largely on the back of the hugely successful Toyota 86 and Subaru BRZ that notched up 6706 and 1411 sales respectively in their first full year on-sale.
They helped mark 18 per cent growth for the segment, taking figures to 25,337 overall in the class for 2013.
Originally launched in June 2012, the rear-wheel-drive 86′s efforts have knocked 2012′s class winner, the Hyundai Veloster (3928, down 4.4 per cent), into second place with the South Korean hatchback’s growth falling four per cent from last year.
One of three Mercedes-Benz‘s to make it into the Top 10, the soon-to-be-replaced Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe claimed third spot with 2043 units, despite being down 12.5 per cent, while the BRZ nabbed fourth, just ahead of the Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupe/Convertible (1114, up 7.7 per cent) and BMW 1 Series Coupe/Convertible (1070, down 22.7 per cent) – the latter set to be replaced by the all-new BMW 2 Series come March.
Seemingly oddly categorised, the Volkswagen Beetle (799) took out seventh spot according to VFACTS, followed by the Audi A5 (689, down 27.0 per cent), BMW 3 Series Coupe/Convertible (738, down 3.5 per cent) – soon to be replaced by the all-new 3 Series Sedan and 4 Series Coupe – and the Mercedes-Benz SLK-Class (521, down 25.7 per cent).
Awaiting its model refresh due in the second quarter of 2014, the Renault Sport Megane missed the best-of list by the narrowest of margins, managing to shift 520 units for the year, down 4.6 per cent.
Porsche 911 led the way in the lofty ‘Sports >$200K’ segment with 276 sales (up 20 per cent), complementing the big rise by Boxster (249 sales, up 58.6 per cent) and Cayman (179 sales, up 496.7 per cent) in the ‘Sports >80K’ segment to help the brand achieve 785 sales overall in 2013, a 52.1 per cent rise.
Just behind 911 was the BMW 6 Series (240 sales, up 8.1 per cent) and Mercedes-Benz SL-Class (155 units, a 150 per cent rise). Maserati recorded 134 sales last year (up 8.1 per cent), while Ferrari cracked triple digits with 106 (up 8.2 per cent), ahead of Lamborghini (38, up 2.7 per cent) and McLaren (26 sold, up 13 per cent).
