Best Selling Cars – Matt's blog

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China became the largest automotive market in the world in 2009 while the US fell into recession. However since then, Chinese sales slowed from the strong double-digit growth of 2009 and 2010. This slowdown is about to be over, according to Ryan Cui, an analyst with LMC Automotive, who told China Daily passenger vehicle sales will rebound to 10.5% growth this year and a stable increase will continue in the next 4 to 5 years. Even more telling, LMC doesn’t foresee any chance of a decline, which is confirmed by Lin Huaibin from IHS Automotive who said that a falling market “is impossible” unless the nation’s economic fundamentals change.

Volkswagen unveiled the Cross Blue Coupe at the Shanghai Motor Show this year…

There are two explanations for this return to explosive growth.

First, even after a decade of extremely strong sales, still only about 67 of every 1,000 people in China now have a car. This is to be compared to 600 cars per thousand people in many European countries and 800 per thousand in America. According to Bertel Schmidt from The Truth About Cars, China’s car growth is directly connected to the economy and most car sales still are in cash, so Chinese consumers tend to save when darker clouds appear on the economic horizon. As business picks up in China, car sales should follow.

…while Ford unveiled the Escort concept at the same Show.

Second, the main foreign manufacturers present in China are ramping up production at unprecedented levels, adding over 3 million annual vehicles over the next 2 to 3 years! For example, by 2015 Volkswagen will have no less than 12 vehicle plants in China and Ford will have doubled its annual capacity to 1.2 million… See the detail by manufacturer below.

Full article below.

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M-Org

With skyrocketing fuel costs and a weak economy, many individuals around the world are searching for ways to save money. For the solo rider, purchasing a motorcycle has become a popular choice for saving on gas. Boasting of up to 90 miles per gallon, scooters and motorcycles are able to save on fuel costs. In recent years, a new motorcycle goes above and beyond typical eco-friendly bikes. Dubbed the Organic Bike, this motorcycle combines the thrill of riding with an environmentally stable design. Get yourself some cheap bike insurance to cover your motorbike at www.ExpressInsurance.co.uk.

Organic Bike: Designed by the Russian, Michael Smolyanov, the Organic Bike’s official name is M-Org. It was designed to combine the concepts of organic gardening with teeth-rattling horsepower. This exceptional bike looks like something out of a superhero movie, but drives like a dream. Smolyanov produced a bike that was both green in color and green in design. It is comprised of completely organic materials and boasts of a larger-than-life style. Since the steering components and suspension are made of entirely organic materials, the bike is far lighter than it appears. This helps to make it efficient on gas mileage and easier for smaller riders to handle.

Frog eBike

The Frog eBike: Another technologically innovative bike is the Frog eBike by Kin Soek Hwang. It combines the latest electric concepts with efficiency. This bike contains an electric engine and mono-shock suspension on its rear wheel. Designed to be environmentally friendly, the bike has an electric motor placed near its back tire while the battery it uses is under the chassis. Based off of the Yamaha FZ750, the bike is not going to be ridden any time soon. This fully recyclable design is currently display at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art as a symbol of innovation and technology.

Yamaha EC-Miu

A Bike to watch out for: In upcoming years, the eco-friendly bike to look out for is the EC-Miu Electric Concept. Designed by Yamaha, this bike is intended to be the first fully electric bike ever manufactured. Yamaha has been working on this project as an effort to show the efficiency of an e-bike. To enhance stability, the bike is outfitted with two wheels in bike instead of just one. The concept originated as a way to make motorcycles friendlier to women. Each component of the bike was created to emphasize safety and ergonomics. Once the bike is in production, it can be charged at G-Stations. For the techies out there, the EC-Miu Electric Concept will be outfitted with Wi-Fi capability. Riders will be able to look up directions and navigate from any location using their smartphone.

From eco-friendly designs to organic structures, motorcycles are quickly becoming one of the best ways to support the environment. These new design concepts are easy on the eye and boast of significant cost savings on gas. For new riders, the technological features on the motorcycles can help lower car insurance and make the bikes easier to handle. With designs spanning the globe, the new pinnacle of the motorcycle world is sure to be an international one.

Toyota RAV4

* See the Top 50 best-selling models by clicking on the title! *

With Spring, new car sales flourish again in Iceland: over the first 17 days of May, no less than 739 new vehicles found a buyer in the country which is more than during the entire month of April (634)! No surprise in pole position: the Skoda Octavia reigns supreme with 83 sales and almost 10% market share, reinforcing its year-to-date leadership at 247 units and 9.5%. The Toyota Yaris is also back to its YTD position at #2 with 58 sales and 7.8%, adding up to 154 units and 5.3% in 2013 so far. Another excellent result for the new generation Toyota RAV4, hopping onto the podium at #3 with 48 sales and 6.5% and now #4 year-to-date vs. #24 in 2012.

The Toyota Land Cruiser 150 is up a whopping 30 spots compared to April to #4 at 45 units and 6.1%, the Kia Sportage is up 11 to #5, Toyota Auris up 19 to #6, Kia Rio up 6 to #7 and the Skoda Superb is up a massive 45 ranks to #8 with 23 sales and 3.1%. Other great performers over the period include the Hyundai i10 up 35 spots to #11, Ford Transit Connect up to #17, Toyota Aygo up 57 to #18 and the Nissan Note up 78 to #19.

Previous month: Iceland April 2013: Skoda Octavia and Chevrolet Spark dominate

Previous year: Iceland Full Year 2012: Toyota Yaris #1 for the first time since 2008

Full mid-May 2013 Top 50 Ranking Table below.

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Skoda Rapid

* See the Top 10 best-selling models and brands by clicking on the title! *

The Macedonian new car market continues to struggle: down 20% year-on-year in April to 298 registrations which brings the year-to-date total to 1,266 units, down 10% on 2012. Last month Macedonia became the first country in the world where the Skoda Rapid managed to grab the top spot, and it confirms in April but this time getting rid of the VW Golf to be alone in pole position with 25 sales and an improved 8.4% market share.

The Rapid is #3 year-to-date at 67 units and 5.3% behind the Golf at 89 sales and 7% and the Skoda Yeti at 159 and 12.6% solely thanks to deliveries to the Ministry of Interior back in January. Notice also the Ford Fiesta up 4 spot on March to #3, the Ford Focus up to #4 and now #10 year-to-date and the Chevrolet Spark (#8), Seat Leon (#9) and Toyota Auris (#10) making their appearance in the Macedonian Top 10.

Previous month: Macedonia March 2013: Skoda Rapid in the lead!

Previous year: Macedonia Full Year 2012: VW Golf and Opel Astra on top

Full April 2013 Top 10 models and brands Ranking Tables below.

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Toyota Auris

* See the Top 10 best-selling brands by clicking on the title! Many thanks to Bill *

Can the Greek market dive further down? It seems it can: after hiving us a flicker of hope last month with a 21% year-on-year gain, over the first half of May, new car sales are down 35% year-on-year to just 1,082 registrations, however 48% or 519 of these are fleet sales so Greek consumers have actually only bought 563 new cars over the period! Toyota leads the way with 12% share ahead of Volkswagen at 11.6% and Opel at 8.3%. Notice Fiat up to #6 and Suzuki up to #9.

Previous post: Greece April 2013: Hyundai i20 #2 in market up 21%!

One year ago: Greece May 2012: A Citroen leads for the first time since July 1999

Full mid-May 2013 Top 10 brands Ranking Table below.

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The Audi A3 is in the Top 10 for the first time since the nameplate launched in 1996.

* See the Top 10 best-selling models and brands by clicking on the title! *

Whereas recession has now spread across most of Europe, April new car sales in the region are unexpectedly up year-on-year for the first time since… August 2011 (!) at +2% to 1,086,501 registrations. Year-to-date, the market is still down 7% on 2012 at 4,190,447 units. According to Bloomberg, the Euro zone economy is forecast to stagnate in the 3 months through June and return to growth in the third quarter, so this might signal the start of a revival of the car market, especially as governments are starting to implement measures to boost sales. However, Autonews says there is no reason to rejoice as April sales were flattered by two extra days in many European markets after Easter holidays fell in March, with last year’s weak April also helping the year-on-year comparison. So this may not be the end of the tunnel after all.

Renault Clio sales are up 29% in April in Europe

Now taking full advantage of its new generation, the VW Golf is up a magnificent 18% year-on-year this month to dominate the ranking once again with 43,175 sales but is still down 2% year-to-date at 155,542 units. Outstanding month for the Renault Clio, also boosted by the new generation #1 in France, up a massive 29% to rank #2 for the second time in the last 3 months and on the podium for the 4th time in the last 6 months with 26,352 sales. The Clio is now also up to #2 year-to-date at 101,691 units vs. 101,282 for the Ford Fiesta, down to #5 in April. The VW Polo and Peugeot 208 are both back up 4 spots on March to #3 and #4 respectively.

Audi also placed the A4 in the European Top 10, last time in August 2012.

But the big event this month is the arrival of the Audi A3 in the monthly European Top 10 for the very first time since the nameplate’s original launch 17 years ago in 1996! The premium hatch is up to #9 with 16,787 sales (ahead of the Opel Astra!), up a whopping 45% year-on-year, with its year-to-date total now reaching 49,908 units, up 9% on 2012, and this is as the sedan version has not launched yet… As a reminder let’s note the A3 finished 2012 at #24 in the European ranking. It is the second Audi model to manage to break into the European monthly Top 10 after the A4 did so for the first time in July 2008, then peaking at an out-of-this-world #2 in August 2008 and clocking up a total of 6 Top 10 finishes, the last one being August 2012.

Can the Mercedes A-Class break into the European monthly Top 10 this year?

Audi therefore becomes the first premium brand to have ever placed two models in the European Top 10. BMW has one so far: the 3 Series which made its first appearance within the Top 10 back in July 1999 (However my monthly records are incomplete for that period so it may have been earlier) and peaked at #6 in December 2006. Mercedes has not yet managed to bring one of its models into the Top 10, at least in the last 30 years as the ‘Strich 8′ may have done so in 1974-1975 and the W123 in 1977-82 but sales figures are unavailable (please let me know if you have them!). The all-new A-Class, hailed as the brand’s most successful launch ever, may break new ground and do so in the coming months…

Dacia sales are up 20% in Western Europe so far in 2013.

The arrival of the A3 in the European Top 10 is another illustration of the ‘premium or low-cost‘ trend we have seen apply to European car sales over the last few years. In fact in 2013 year-to-date, Dacia (+20%) and Mercedes (+4%) are two of only a few carmakers to gain ground so far. BMW is stable and Audi down just 2% but up 9% to #6 in April…

Previous month: Europe March 2013: Nissan Qashqai and BMW 3 Series strike again

One year ago: Europe April 2012: BMW 3 Series in Top 10 for the first time since 2008

Full April 2013 Top 10 models and brands Ranking Tables below.

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Chery MVM315

* See the Top 15 most produced local models by clicking on the title! *

As is the tradition for Iran only production data is available, however this is a good indication of car sales in the country as high import duties limit sales of imported vehicles. April 2013 roughly corresponds to Farvardin, the first month of the year 1392 in the Persian calendar. Traditionally the weakest month of the year, this year Farvardin production data tests new lows: down a horrendous 60% year-on-year to just 22,513 units, only a few units more than the sales of the Saipa Pride one year ago…now down 53% to just under 10,000 units at 9,998 – the first time the Pride falls below 10,000 monthly units produced since the creation of BestSellingCarsBlog.

Being a very weak month, the models ranking is a lot more volatile: we have the Renault Tondar 90 (aka Dacia Logan) up to a brilliant 2nd place thanks to 2,204 units produced (-57%) followed by the Peugeot 405 at 1,653 (-77%). Exceptional performance of the Chery MVM315 (aka Fulwin 2/Bonus) up to #4 with 1,627 units, while the Chery MVM350 (aka A5) is up to #5 at 1,095 units (+61%). The Saipa Tiba is up 96% year-on-year to #7 and we welcome a new model in the ranking, the Saipa X100 which is a combination of the Saipa 111, 131, 132 and 141 at #11 with 430 sales.

Previous month: Iran March 2013: Iran Khodro Runna continues to progress

One year ago: Iran April 2012: Peugeot withdraws, Renault wins

Full Farvardin 1392/April 2013 Top 15 Ranking Table below.

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Toyota Corolla XI (Japanese version): still ahead worldwide.

* See the Top 200 best-selling models by clicking on the title! Many thanks to Austin *

Now that we have gone through the worldwide February ranking in detail, the year-to-date updates designed to extract longer-term trends are back! Like in 2012 the Toyota Corolla takes the lead over the Ford Focus, but just: 164,463 sales vs. 161,998… Note the Corolla figure includes the 9th, 10th and 11th generations but not the Corolla hatch/Auris while the Focus figure includes the 2nd and 3rd generation, both in hatch, sedan and station wagon formats. The Hyundai Elantra is also faithful to its 2012 third position over the period thanks to 141,061 units sold while the Ford F-Series is up one spot to #4 and the VW Passat up 2 to #5.

The Renault Clio/Symbol is #26 worldwide so far in 2013 vs. #33 in 2012.

Boosted by an out-of-this-world third place in February, the Wuling Hongguang is now #6 year-to-date in 2013 with 111,861 sales which is already one third of its total sales for 2012 when it ranked #57 worldwide… The VW Polo/Vento is up 3 ranks compared to 2012 at #8, the VW Jetta and Suzuki Swift/DZire are both up 6 to #13 and #14 respectively, the VW Lavida is up a whopping 61 spots to #20 solely thanks to its #1 passenger car ranking in China, the Chevrolet Silverado is up 7 to #21, Nissan Sentra/Sylphy/Pulsar/Tsuru up 30 to #25 and the Renault Clio/Symbol is up 7 to #26.

The Hyundai Santa Fe is up from #90 in 2012 to #54 so far in 2013

Further down, notice the ChangAn Minibus up 33 ranks on its Full Year 2012 ranking to #31, the Ford Fusion/Mondeo up 36 to #32, Wuling Rongguang up 8 to #34, Kia Forte/Cerato/K3 up 9 to #36, Nissan Altima/Teana/Maxima up 13 to #38, Renault Duster up 17 to #44, Toyota Prius C up 10 to #48, Hyundai Santa Fe up 26 to #54, Honda NBOX up 30 to #64, Peugeot 208 up 24 to a still shy #66, BYD F3 up 54 to #72, Ford Explorer up 30 to #76 and the Nissan Note up a huge 95 spots to #79.

Previous post: World February 2013: Wuling Hongguang up to #3!

Discover the Top 1000 best-selling cars in the world in 2012 here

Full 2 months 2013 Top 200 models Ranking Table below.

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Hyundai HB20S

* See the Top 150 best-selling models and Top 20 brands by clicking on the title! More data shortly *

A very healthy first half of May for new car sales in Brazil, up 6% to 155,653 registrations which brings the year-to-date total to 1,259,979 units, up 8% on 2012. While the Brazilian models ranking is traditionally extremely stable to the point of being borderline boring, this year we have events every second week! If the VW Gol unsurprisingly stays on top with 10,586 sales and 6.8%, 4 Fiats follow for potentially the first time ever in the country… The Uno is back in great shape at 10,073 units and 6.5% (vs. 5.7% year-to-date), the Palio is #3 with 8,326 sales and 5.3%, the Strada is up 2 spots on April to #4 at 5,766 units and 3.7% and the Siena is up 3 to #5 with 5,612 sales and 3.6%. An extraordinary performance from Fiat indeed.

Fiat Strada

A far as the two superstar newcomers, roles are reversed this month: the Chevrolet Onix is back up 3 spots to #6 at 5,362 units and 3.4%, however still below its year-to-date level of 3.5%, while its sedan version the Prisma is up 2 ranks to #15 with 2,794 sales and 1.8%. The Hyundai HB20 was tickling the Fiat Palio for 4th position a couple of months back, it is now down to #9 at 4,831 units but its sedan version the HB20S is up 37 spots to #22 with 2,104 sales and 1.4%. Notice also the Peugeot 208 up 12 ranks to #33.

Previous post: Brazil April 2013: Hyundai HB20 all set, now HB20S lands

One year ago: Brazil mid-May 2013: Chevrolet Celta #3, Montana at best-ever

Full mid-May 2013 Top 150 models and Top 20 brands Ranking Tables below.

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Citroen C3 Picasso

* See the Top 10 best-selling models and brands by clicking on the title! *

More bad news for the new car market in France: after 13 days May is down 20% year-on-year to 34,868 registrations even though May 2012 was already down 16% on the previous year… No sign of recovery yet, that’s for sure. In this depressed context, the Peugeot 208 is by far the most popular model over the period with 2,588 sales and 7.4% vs. 1,461 and 4.2% for the Renault Clio IV however as we have seen in the last few months this is no guarantee that the 208 will finish the month in the lead. The Peugeot 3008 climbs onto the podium potentially for the first time ever which is rather odd given the facelifted version will be on sale shortly.

Dacia Sandero

In fact it’s not just the 3008 but the entire models ranking that undergoes a facelift: the Citroen C4 is up to an exceptional 4th place thanks to 921 sales and 2.6% share, up 15% year-on-year, the Dacia Sandero is up 53% to #5 at 868 units and 2.5%, the VW Golf 7 shines at #6 with 865 sales and 2.5% and the Nissan Qashqai impresses at #9 and 804 units but the best performer over the period is without contest the Citroen C3 Picasso up a whopping 125% year-on-year to #8 with 833 sales and 2.3%, to my knowledge its first time within the French Top 10 and in the process passing the Citroen C3 (#10) for the very first time…

Previous month: France April 2013: 3 units separate Renault Clio IV and Peugeot 208!

One year ago: France May 2012: Podium 100% Renault for the first time in 14 years

Full 1-13 May 2013 Top 10 models and brands Ranking Tables below.

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