Home > Singapore > Singapore August 2012: Toyota #1 but BMW leads year-to-date

Singapore August 2012: Toyota #1 but BMW leads year-to-date

September 13th, 2012 Leave a comment Go to comments

Singapore is the only country in the world where BMW is the #1 brand

* See the Top 40 All-brands Ranking by clicking on the title! Thanks to Michael *

For Singapore so far only brands rankings have been accessible but the market is unique enough to warrant a full article on here… 1,956 new vehicles were sold in the country in August, the weakest month of 2012 so far and bringing the year-to-date total to 18,957. Last year BMW ended 9 years of Toyota domination to brilliantly lead the manufacturers ranking, and it looks like the premium German brand could reiterate this feat in 2012…

Toyota/Lexus is #1 in Singapore in August

After being passed by Mercedes over the first Quarter of 2012, BMW lodged a couple of amazing months, securing 22% of the Singaporean market in May and 20.6% in June. As a result, it is back to #1 year-to-date after 8 months in 2012 with 3,240 units sold for a 17.4% market share, even though it falls to #4 in August at 12.8%. Toyota (including Lexus) takes the lead this month thanks to 332 units and 17% share but is still a distant #3 year-to-date at 2,817 sales and 14.9%, below Mercedes at 3,028 units and 16%.

Maserati GranTurismo

The reason why the Singaporean market is dominated by such premium brands lies in the Certificates of Entitlement, a government program meaning Singapore residents have to bid for the right to buy a motor vehicle, with the number of certificates deliberately restricted. In August 2012 COEs prices were down slightly but still at a mind-boggling S$68,000 for cars of/under 1,600cc and S$80,191 for cars over 1,600cc, roughly the same as the car price itself. Only the very rich can afford to buy a new car in Singapore these days…

And this is reflected all through the manufacturers ranking, with Porsche up to #10, Jaguar at #14, Maserati at #21, Ferrari at #23, Bentley at #26, McLaren at an amazing 28th place with 6 units sold in August, Rolls Royce at #30, Lamborghini at #34 and Aston Martin at #36.

Opel Astra GTC

Another very interesting development this month in Singapore is the resurgence of Opel, selling 29 units in August alone compared to 15 over the first 7 months of the year. This is due to a very strong marketing push by new Opel dealer The Alpine Group which has invested in a spanking new S$25 million showroom, cable TV commercials and LED billboards in prime locations such as Orchard Road and Shenton Way.

Previous post: Singapore April 2012: Toyota reclaims leadership

Previous year: Singapore 2011: BMW ends almost a decade of Toyota domination

Full August and 8 months 2012 All-Brands Ranking Table below.

Singapore August 2012:

Pos Brand August % 8m 2012 % Pos 2011
1 Toyota 332 17.0% 2,817 14.9% 3 3
2 Mercedes 318 16.3% 3,028 16.0% 2 2
3 Volkswagen 261 13.3% 2,213 11.7% 4 4
4 BMW 251 12.8% 3,240 17.1% 1 1
5 Hyundai 102 5.2% 905 4.8% 6 6
6 Audi 88 4.5% 1,158 6.1% 5 5
7 Nissan 73 3.7% 516 2.7% 8 10
8 Peugeot 59 3.0% 376 2.0% 11 13
9 Volvo 55 2.8% 688 3.6% 7 9
10 Porsche 46 2.4% 368 1.9% 12 12
11 Honda 42 2.1% 382 2.0% 10 8
12 Land Rover 32 1.6% 273 1.4% 14 21
13 Ford 30 1.5% 237 1.3% 17 20
14 Jaguar 29 1.5% 273 1.4% 15 14
15 Opel 29 1.5% 44 0.2% 28 n/a
16 Citroen 27 1.4% 262 1.4% 16 16
17 Kia 23 1.2% 514 2.7% 9 7
18 Chevrolet 22 1.1% 327 1.7% 13 11
19 Mazda 19 1.0% 229 1.2% 18 18
20 Mini 15 0.8% 194 1.0% 19 15
21 Maserati 13 0.7% 60 0.3% 23 n/a
22 Renault 10 0.5% 82 0.4% 22 19
23 Ferrari 10 0.5% 58 0.3% 24 25
24 Infiniti 8 0.4% 46 0.2% 26 n/a
25 Subaru 7 0.4% 107 0.6% 21 22
26 Bentley 6 0.3% 44 0.2% 29 n/a
27 Alfa Romeo 6 0.3% 31 0.2% 34 n/a
28 McLaren 6 0.3% 26 0.1% 35 n/a
29 Skoda 5 0.3% 40 0.2% 31 n/a
30 Rolls Royce 5 0.3% 38 0.2% 32 n/a
31 Suzuki 4 0.2% 112 0.6% 20 17
32 Saab 3 0.2% 14 0.1% 38 n/a
33 Mitsubishi 2 0.1% 47 0.2% 25 23
34 Lamborghini 2 0.1% 44 0.2% 30 31
35 Jeep 2 0.1% 15 0.1% 37 n/a
36 Aston Martin 2 0.1% 12 0.1% 39 n/a
37 Chery 2 0.1% 5 0.0% 42 n/a
38 Chrysler 2 0.1% 5 0.0% 43 n/a
39 Proton 1 0.1% 45 0.2% 27 n/a
40 Daihatsu 1 0.1% 31 0.2% 33 n/a
41 Fiat 1 0.1% 22 0.1% 36 n/a
42 Lotus 0 0.0% 8 0.0% 40 n/a
43 Perodua 0 0.0% 7 0.0% 41 n/a

Source: Land Transport Authority, many thanks to Michael for sharing the data!

Categories: Singapore
  1. No comments yet.
  1. No trackbacks yet.