| What better way to finish one month and start a new one than going through our traditional World Roundup? None, I know. Enough of the world? That's fine, I knew some of you would feel that way, and I've prepared something else: you can check out new car sales data for 176 additional countries and territories on my blog. Go on, you know you want to! Now if you want to know what happened worldwide in the magical world of car sales, jump in!
Before we start, may I interest you in the two photo reports I lovingly uploaded in the last week: Italy ("It's a Fiat 500-mania") and Monaco ("Millions on display"). Yes I am in this part of the world right now, lucky me! Let's begin by an overview of the main worldwide markets: again a fascinating contrast this month: on one hand we have the two biggest car markets going gangbusters: China is up 10% on July 2012 to 1.52 million units and the USA is up 14% to 1.31 million… On the other hand, markets that normally display explosive growth are in recession: Brazil, India and Russia are all down 8%! Add to this Japan (ex-Kei cars) down 13% and it makes for a pretty sad picture. In Europe, we are getting mixed signals. While most of the continent is still wobbly, the market as a whole delivers its 2nd year-on-year growth in the last 2 years, up an encouraging 5% this month but still down by the same amount year-to-date. Illustrating this, Germany is back up 2%, the UK posts its 17th consecutive month of year-on-year growth at +13% and Spain seems to be coughing its way out of depression, registering the largest year-on-year increase for a month of July since 1999 at +15%. Most analysts however (my good old self included) don't see Europe getting back to sustainable growth before 2016 at the earliest. But will the European new car market ever grow back? I wrote an article on this subject here. Now onto the heroes that made the worldwide headlines in July, and I have been generous this month, awarding 6 accolades!
1. Some good news for Chinese-Swedish manufacturer Volvo: the V40 tops a country's sales charts for the first time since the model was launched on year ago, and surprise surprise, it's not Sweden but the Netherlands where its low emission versions benefit from a preferential price that boosted its sales in the country to 1,616 units for an excellent 5.3% market share. Given the Dutch market is much bigger than the Swedish one (244,000 units vs. 147,000 so far in 2013), this is indeed a good operation Volvo.
2. The 2nd heroes of the month are the General Motors pick-up trucks: now that the new generation of both models is starting to be available across the USA, the Chevrolet Silverado is up 45% year-on-year in July to 42,080 sales at #2 overall while the GMC Sierra is up an even more impressive 49% to 16,582 units at #19.
3. Would Chinese consumers be finally reconciling themselves with their own cars? This month the Great Wall Haval H6 is up a fantastic 12 ranks on June at home to land at a record 7th place. This is the first time since April 2011 that a Chinese model ranks within the Chinese Top 10, and the best ranking for a local since January 2011! Its little brother the Great Wall Haval M4 is also making waves this month: beating both its ranking (#23) and volume records.
4. The Skoda Rapid reaches a new milestone at home in the Czech Republic, breaking its ranking, volume and market share records all at once to rank #2 for the first time at 1,059 units and 7.3% share. However as we have studied last month, this doesn't result in Skoda improving its market share (29.3% in July vs. 29.4% year-to-date) which could mean the Rapid is a cannibal… Note the Rapid also breaks into the Top 10 in Israel (#10) and Croatia (#6) for the first time this month.
5. This month sees the birth of a new popular nameplate for Honda: the Crider, positioned between the Civic and the Accord in the Japanese manufacturer's range and for now exclusive to China, shines very bright for its first full month in market, selling 10,357 units and already the brand's best-selling passenger car in the country!
6. The Peugeot 301, the French carmaker's first attempt at a – relatively – low-cost product (although it still denies the 301 is low-cost), manages to break into the Top 20 in the land of Dacia, Romania, and is up to a fantastic 4th place in Egypt while maintaining itself on the Algerian podium at #2. Could the last two announce the rebirth of Peugeot in Africa? Why the French lost this continent is one of the 10 things I don't understand…
Email me at matt@bestsellingcarsblog.com for an in-depth analysis of any of the the markets mentioned in this article. In other news, the Hyundai ix35 lands on the Austrian podium for the first time ever, the Chevrolet Spin is starting to carve itself a nice spot in Japan-obzessed Indonesia, up to a record #13, the Dacia Sandero is on the French podium for only the second time ever, the first for this generation, while the Duster ranks 4th overall for the 5th time in Russia where it is sold as a Renault.
In Italy, while the Top 5 is 100% Italian for only the 2nd time in 16 years, the Fiat 500L ranks #4, above its lil sis the 500 for only the 2nd time after last March, it is also #1 in Serbia where it is produced and #10 in Slovenia.
Star of the month in June, the Renault Captur delivers another very impressive month at #5 in France while its archenemy the Peugeot 2008 breaks into the French Top 10 for the first time at #10, as expected last month.
The Mercedes E-Class continues its impressive progression in Germany, now up to #5 which is its highest ranking in the country since October 2010, the Fiat Palio above the Uno in Brazil for only the third time in the last 3 years, the Fiat 500 is up to #3 in Hungary, the Ford Ecosport is now in Indian Top 10 while the Peugeot 208 breaks into both the Swedish and Argentinean Top 10 for the first time, and thanks to the new generation of the model and in a climate of uncertainty for local manufacturers after Ford announced it would stop local production by 2016, the Holden Commodore climbs back to #4 in Australia, its highest ranking there in 16 months.
A few changes of guard this month: Selling 5,590 units more than the Prius this month, the Toyota Aqua reclaims the year-to-date top spot in Japan, the Hyundai Grandeur takes the lead in South Korea where the race to the 2013 #1 spot is the tightest it has ever been, the Honda Civic reclaims the #1 passenger car spot in Canada year-to-date, passing the Hyundai Elantra, the Toyota Hiace is now above the BMW 5 Series in pole position in Hong Kong (China) and in Mexico the VW Clasico (a facelifted 1990s VW Bora) ends 19 months of reign of the Chevrolet Aveo, but remains #2 year-to-date.
Among recent launches, at #22 the Opel Adam is now the brand's best-seller with private buyers in Germany. Handicapped in France where its registration has been temporarily blocked (this has since been cancelled), the Mercedes CLA delivers its best performance worldwide in… Turkey where it ranks #37! That's all for this month! Hope you enjoyed. If you want more info, just email me at matt@bestsellingcarsblog.com for an in-depth analysis of any of the the markets mentioned in this article. Here is the full last 12 months' worth of World roundups: World June 2013 Roundup: Renault Captur surprises, Skoda Rapid cannibalises World May 2013 Roundup: Europeans buy more local World April 2013 Roundup: Toyota RAV4 means business World March 2013 Roundup: Don't take this the wrong way, but… World February 2013 Roundup: Nissan Qashqai pumps up the jam World January 2013 Roundup: Low-cost range brings Renault back World Full Year 2012 Roundup: Last Year's Top 5 highlights World December 2012 Roundup: Has the Chinese invasion started? World November 2012 Roundup: When Hyundai cracked Brazil World October 2012 Roundup: China, Japan and Austria in focus World September 2012 Roundup: Ford Focus shines in China World August 2012 Roundup: Subaru XV topples almighty Golf in Switzerland World July 2012 Roundup: Geely CK writes history in Ukraine Sources: all usual sources for each country mentioned. Matt Gasnier, based in Sydney, Australia, runs a blog named Best Selling Cars Blog, dedicated to counting cars all over the world. from The Truth About Cars http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com | |||
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Sunday, September 1, 2013
Best Selling Cars Around The Globe: World July 2013 Roundup: Volvo V40 and GMC Sierra get their place in the sun
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