In 2016, midsize cars outsold compacts by 24,000 units, but that lead was surpassed in 2017. In the first six months of this year, compacts have outsold midsize cars by 115,000 vehicles. The disparity can be attributed to the continual downturn of the midsize car relative to the stable flow of compacts, but what's feeding that stability at a time where every buyer seems to be gravitating towards an SUV are ex midsize car owners, some of which are moving downwards and buying compact cars rather than going with the flow and purchasing an SUV. There are a few guesses as to why that's happening, and one of them is that some consumers are on tighter budgets and must cut costs.