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Ireland November 2011: Army order boosts Mitsubishi Pajero sales

December 6th, 2011 Leave a comment Go to comments

Mitsubishi Pajero

* Click on the title for the November Top 20 & 2011 YTD Top 50 best-selling models! *

Thanks to Guillaume and his very clever research I am now able to confirm that the reason why the Mitsubishi Pajero jumped into the Irish Top 10 this month is because of a special order from the Irish Army! Many thanks Guillaume!

After having started at 20,899 registrations in January, Irish car sales are down to 735 units in November (-50% year-on-year). This is a tradition in Ireland where sales tend to be very heavily biased towards the first half of the year. You can see this trend and the evolution through the year of the Irish car market in 2010 and 2011 by clicking on ‘Read more’ at the end of the post.

What this means is the November models ranking is not wildly relevant as it is off a tiny base. The VW Polo snatches the pole position thanks to 81 sales and an unusual 11% market share and is followed by the Opel Astra at 7.8% and the Toyota Yaris at 4.5%. Notice the Mitsubishi Pajero at an exceptional 6th place with 23 units sold, which is 64% of its total sales for the year!

What it also means is you are pretty much looking at the final 2011 models ranking because December will only bring very minor tweaks. After a one year interruption in 2010 the Ford Focus will reclaim its traditional best-seller title in Ireland and for the moment it stands at 4,203 sales and 4.7%, with the VW Golf coming 2nd with 3,944 units and 4.5% and the Toyota Avensis rounding up the podium with 3,515 sales and 4% share.

Previous month: Ireland October 2011 Toyota Avensis leads weak market

Full November 2011 Top 20 and year-to-date Top 50 Ranking Tables below.

Ireland January to November 2010 and 2011 evolution:

Ireland November 2011:

Pos Model Nov % Oct 2011 % Pos 2010
1 VW Polo 81 11.0% 3 2,059 2.3% 15 10
2 Opel Astra 57 7.8% 12 2,033 2.3% 16 12
3 Toyota Yaris 33 4.5% 14 2,297 2.6% 10 8
4 Ford Focus 23 3.1% 7 4,203 4.7% 1 3
5 Toyota Avensis 23 3.1% 1 3,515 4.0% 3 6
6 Mitsubishi Pajero 23 3.1%  - 36 0.0% 151 n/a
7 BMW 3-Series 21 2.9% 15 623 0.7% 36 36
8 VW Golf 20 2.7% 8 3,944 4.5% 2 2
9 VW Passat 19 2.6% 4 3,475 3.9% 4 14
10 Skoda Octavia 17 2.3% 18 2,132 2.4% 12 9
11 Opel Insignia 16 2.2% 2 2,087 2.4% 14 13
12 Skoda Yeti 14 1.9% 97 460 0.5% 44 46
13 Nissan Qashqai 13 1.8% 32 2,601 2.9% 7 5
14 Audi A6 11 1.5% 20 636 0.7% 35 48
15 Suzuki SX4 11 1.5% 47 233 0.3% 76 67
16 Toyota Corolla 10 1.4% 19 2,577 2.9% 8 11
17 Toyota Auris 10 1.4% 10 2,106 2.4% 13 17
18 Ford Mondeo 10 1.4% 23 1,630 1.8% 20 15
19 Kia Rio 10 1.4% 11 732 0.8% 30 32
20 Peugeot 3008 10 1.4% 115 640 0.7% 34 26

Ireland 11 months 2011:

Pos Model 2011 % Pos 2010
1 Ford Focus 4,203 4.7% 1 3
2 VW Golf 3,944 4.5% 2 2
3 Toyota Avensis 3,515 4.0% 3 6
4 VW Passat 3,475 3.9% 4 14
5 Renault Fluence 3,013 3.4% 5 19
6 Ford Fiesta 2,937 3.3% 6 4
7 Nissan Qashqai 2,601 2.9% 7 5
8 Toyota Corolla 2,577 2.9% 8 11
9 Renault Megane 2,529 2.9% 9 1
10 Toyota Yaris 2,297 2.6% 10 8
11 Renault Clio 2,259 2.6% 11 7
12 Skoda Octavia 2,132 2.4% 12 9
13 Toyota Auris 2,106 2.4% 13 17
14 Opel Insignia 2,087 2.4% 14 13
15 VW Polo 2,059 2.3% 15 10
16 Opel Astra 2,033 2.3% 16 12
17 BMW 5-Series 1,965 2.2% 17 20
18 Nissan Micra 1,721 1.9% 18 24
19 Opel Corsa 1,676 1.9% 19 16
20 Ford Mondeo 1,630 1.8% 20 15
21 Hyundai ix35 1,393 1.6% 21 49
22 Nissan Juke 1,371 1.5% 22 133
23 Audi A4 1,227 1.4% 23 21
24 Mercedes E Class 1,170 1.3% 24 18
25 Seat Ibiza 1,164 1.3% 25 27
26 Skoda Fabia 995 1.1% 26 28
27 Skoda Superb 945 1.1% 27 25
28 Ford C-Max 805 0.9% 28 88
29 Mazda3 797 0.9% 29 22
30 Kia Rio 732 0.8% 30 32
31 Kia Cee’d 674 0.8% 31 29
32 Hyundai i30 656 0.7% 32 30
33 Peugeot 207 645 0.7% 33 30
34 Peugeot 3008 640 0.7% 34 26
35 Audi A6 636 0.7% 35 48
36 BMW 3-Series 623 0.7% 36 36
37 Kia Sportage 602 0.7% 37 97
38 Peugeot 308 535 0.6% 38 35
39 Mercedes C Class 503 0.6% 39 44
40 Hyundai i20 479 0.5% 40 34
41 Hyundai ix20 468 0.5% 41 234
42 VW Jetta 464 0.5% 42 23
43 Renault Scenic 462 0.5% 43 43
44 Skoda Yeti 460 0.5% 44 46
45 Honda Civic 453 0.5% 45 37
46 Audi A3 434 0.5% 46 42
47 Mazda6 424 0.5% 47 43
48 Audi A1 418 0.5% 48  -
49 Volvo S40 405 0.5% 49 52
50 Hyundai Santa Fe 398 0.4% 50 65

Source: SIMI, www.beepbeep.ie

Categories: Ireland
  1. Guillaume
    December 6th, 2011 at 21:52 | #1
    Reply | Quote

    Hi Matt,

    I got you a picture:
    http://www.armyrecognition.com/images/stories/europe/ireland/wheeled_vehicle/mitsubishi_pajero/pictures/Mitsubishi_Pajero_light_multirole_vehicle_Ireland_Irish_army_001.jpg

    I couldn’t find any article confirming that, but had a look at the beepbeep.ie site, and using the search engine, you can see that all 23 Pajeros were registered in Dublin (all police/gov/army vehicule have dublin plates) and if one of them is silver, 22 are green! And if you go on mistubishi Ireland configurator, green is not available. So it’s defo a special order, and most likely to be for the army.

    • matgasnier
      December 6th, 2011 at 22:17 | #2
      Reply | Quote

      Guillaume this is amazing! Very very clever of you to figure out this info and thank you very much for sharing this and the pic with me.
      I have updated my Irish post just now :-)
      Thanks again
      Matt

  2. Guillaume
    December 5th, 2011 at 10:20 | #3
    Reply | Quote

    Interesting enough, Pajero only comes as a van version here (SWB 2 seater), so if your numbers are passenger sales only, that could mean some special order… And I’m thinking maybe the Army as they have LWB ones (basic like the one pictured, but in dark mate green).

    • matgasnier
      December 5th, 2011 at 10:26 | #4
      Reply | Quote

      This is great info Guillaume thanks very much!
      Will try and find a picture of an Army Pajero….
      Funny what happens when the car market is small, special orders like this possible one have a huge effect on the models ranking… Happened twice in Croatia this year because of rental car and taxi orders and it happens regularly in New Zealand and Iceland because of rental car orders…
      Thanks again for your insight.
      cheers
      Matt

  1. December 12th, 2011 at 01:56 | #1
    Best Selling Cars – Matt's blog » Ireland November 2011: Army … « Service manual