Please excuse the headline (or don’t), but sounding the alarm and issuing the public service announcement is needed. Globally, it was a popular choice from the 60s stemming from an international oil crisis, peaking in the 90s in a widespread way, but now, hatchbacks (or rather performance hatchbacks) are all but dead, a figment of what they once were.
In the North American market, sedans have always been preferred, and while we can acknowledge the inroads certain names have made into the market, have we passed the point of no return? Is there a resurrection on the way with the hatchback, or are we, as a car industry, done with it?
America Does Not Like Hatches…or Does It?
Despite whatever we say, the numbers don’t lie. America does not like the hatch. It’s a market that hasn’t fully grasped the hatch’s attributes, particularly in terms of performance hatches, also known as “Hot Hatches”. We don’t need to delve too deeply into why that is, but what’s strange to wrap your head around is the attraction to crossovers, which are essentially an evolved version of the hatch on a raised suspension profile.
It’s one of those oddities in a market that may or may not make much sense, but even though the raised version tickled fancy, the one closer to ground never did. Was it the foreign Front-Wheel Drive setup versus rear-wheel-drive preferences entrenched into the belief system of American motoring, or perhaps the bootless design that classified it as a little odd? Either way, it’s better to add this preference to the list of conspiracy theories to debunk.
The Numbers Don’t Lie. Or Do They?
In 2024, out of the top 25 cars sold in North America, you’ll have to search long and wide to find a hatchback on the list. In fact, I’ll save you the hassle and tell you that there isn’t one. Not one hatchback on that list. Out of several sales close to 7 million units occupying that list, not one features. And if you must go back in time, you’ll find a common theme throughout the ages.
Across the Atlantic, it paints a different story indeed. Names like the Dacia Sandero, Volkswagen Golf, and Renault Clio each totaled over 200,000 annual sales, which would have placed each one just outside of North America’s top ten, highlighting the gross differences in market demand for the product.
We’ve Come a Long Way Since the Oil Crisis and That Little Car From Great Britain
The Suez Canal crisis sparked a requirement for a car that could carry four people with their luggage and be light on fuel: the concept of the original Mini by Sir Alec Issigonis. Turn the engine diagonally across the front wheels so the rear of the car can be freed up in terms of unneeded space for tunnels to house drive shafts and rear axles. Inadvertently, this set off the motion for hatches from nearly every manufacturer, prompting them to control copy and paste the design and reimagine it in their own way.
The hatchback movement, or rather the “Supermini” movement, grew significantly and remained popular in Europe. All this while the Front-Wheel Drive configuration caught on the state side, but the sedan’s space and configuration were just preferred, keeping the boot. Despite the popularity of the Golf GTI, the badge and other hatchbacks have attempted to step out of the shadow of sedans and SUVs but have struggled to gain widespread attention. I don’t see that changing – Speaking of which.
The One That Redefined It All-The Golf GTI
Ten years after launching the Mini, VW needed a replacement for the aging Beetle. Initially, the Scirocco was selected to be the chosen one, but then a different design emerged. That design is the one that everyone came to love to this day, with a very similar recipe to the Mini with the wheel at every corner, a transversely mounted 4-cylinder motor, but with slightly more power, space, and an extra two doors. There was a clear need, but hatches were built around lightness, agility, and keeping things simple (and affordable), and the world has forced most hatches to become the exact opposite.
The addition of more safety features to make them more compliant and competitive against larger cars has caused them to become heavier, less agile, and more expensive. Here’s the disclaimer if you’re easily grossed out by modernity, you should sit down for the following sentence. A new Golf 8 GTI weighs 3,200 pounds compared to the original Mk1 GTI that weighed 1,786 pounds. Need a glass of water? Even the purists who can afford them have questioned the offering. Was this one of the nails in the coffin?
Death Rattles and a GR Corolla
It’s a sad reality that the North American Market was never allocated the GR Yaris. It was Toyota’s gift to the world, one of the best homologation specials that lived up to every bit of the hype in the initial press releases. I was fortunate to drive a few of them, including a race version, around Zwartkops raceway in Johannesburg with Toyota. This was the ultimate supermini, and yes, there is the Corolla GR that is similar, based on it, it’s just not as omnipotent as the Yaris version.
The GR Yaris, an idea conceived by Akio Toyoda, who was dissatisfied with the status quo of boring cars, took it upon himself to change that. The GR Yaris was the prime example of what could exist if hatches were given a chance. It paints a glum picture of a market that has fallen out of love with the hatch, favoring the hatchback, yet at the same time, there is still the magic of an all-wheel-drive hatch like the GR Corolla, but are these death rattles, or does it, in a way, make cars like the GR Corolla more special?
If Indeed Death Rattles, Then There Be More Tales From the Crypt
Toyota isn’t the only one flogging the dead horse of hatchbacks. Honda’s Civic Type R has caught the attention of purist drivers and kept it, despite its price. Other manufacturers who show signs of support are BMW’s MINI with the Cooper JCW, Volkswagen’s Golf 8R, and the Golf 8 GTI. Surely this is a sign of life and some promise as to the micro influence of performance hatches. Surely, the battle is still worth fighting?
Albeit no hatchback features in the top 25 sales numbers, and to the North American market, they’ve played second fiddle to any of their sedan counterparts and crossover impostors, they have birthed a design ethos with those early days of the Mini and served the rest of the market from those days onward, directly or indirectly.
The world has all but forgotten the era of the super hatch, a time when manufacturers globally spawned them in response to market demand, despite the examples that exist today. But these days, as consumers have become more focused on the “utility” aspect of the SUV, the commercial need for hatches may be wavering.
Instead, despite their popularity in Europe, they’re serving a niche part of the auto market in the rest of the world. Those enthusiasts who have been feeding the demand for them and those who can still afford the hot hatch’s expensive versions are also dwindling. While hot hatches are still setting Nürburgring lap times, flying the marketing flag and being sold at morbid prices to those who can the heavy sticker price, their candle is yet to be snuffed. Long may that be.
