Best Selling Cars – Matt's blog

The small cars doing well again, it’s really nice to see Vauxhall up near the top as they have some very good cars and Ford on a bit of a revival considering how much they were struggling a few years ago.

Ford are really good cars though, I’ve had all the range Ford Focus and i’ve never had any bother with any of them.

I had a Astra for a little while, and had nothing but bother with fuses blowing all the time.

Thanks Ed. That is good news as I wish Dacia well in the UK.

Just read, dacia had issues with delivery in Feb. In fcat, there are close to 5000 pre-orders for duster and sandero. All in all, 5 mths wait apparently.

Why does Proton still bother? Surely a matter of time until they pull out. I know Dacia is new, but I still would have hoped for much more than 33 cars in the Uk, even in February. As for MG…

Clio IV and Dacia have appeared only a few weeks ago on UK shores, we have to give them a chance lol! + Captur is getting a lot of interest on Renaults Facebook page….Anyway, the UK top 10 is one of the most depressing imo, ugly Focus in first, bland Corsa in third….

Renault’s not having a good time and hasn’t done really since 2007. Dacia it’s just a question of waiting. I look forward to the March sales.

@coolcat
The Dacia brand only launched a few months ago. Like Skoda, Hyundai and Kia before it, I think its sales will grow strongly over the coming months.

The same goes for Clio IV. After a long wait, finally a Renault with some Va Va … Voom!

Ford could very well suffer for stopping vehicle manufacturing in the UK (their biggest European Market), maybe us British are being patriotic (for a change) or is it that some very good cars are made here?. Nice to see Peugeot doing well with the 208, I find it strange that the Mercedes C Class is outselling the BMW 3 Series, it would be good to see the Clio IV in the top ten, I really like the way it looks, it makes some other cars in its class look plain and dull.

February is always the quietest month of the year, whereas March (start of new ’13′ year registration) is historically the busiest sales wise. Let’s see what that does for the big players.
Vauxhall and Nissan are obviously doing something right with 40+% year to date. Of the other volume manufacturers based in Britain, Honda, Land-Rover/Jaguar are all showing strong performances, though Toyota and Mini less so. As for Ford … well since January this year, they only build engines in the UK. Aston Martin’s ytd rise can probably be attributed to the reinstatement of bankers bonuses in January! Bentley sadly, on the slide!
As for Lotus and MG, one word … WOEFUL!
Is it a ‘Brits being patriotic’ thing? The common factor is that the majority of manufacturers showing really strong growth all have a manufacturing presence in the country.

Ian :The Clio IV has only just come on to the British market ( we always seem to get new models after the rest of Europe, maybe it is because we drive on the left), so far it has had very good reviews, it will be interesting to see what happens in March when the new registration comes out.

Thanks a lot for these explanations, Ian.

@Ed
Dacia only sold 33 new cars here in February, probably because the UK car buying public are shallow and so obsessed with brand image etc. It’s a shame people are so shallow because for the money they aren’t bad cars. Good to see Skoda continuing to outsell Fiat and Renault and Mazda etc, and retain 14th position. I think March and April sales onwards will rocket further now the new Octavia is here.

where is the duster and sandero? also, without clio, renault sales are down – something is not right.

The Clio IV has only just come on to the British market ( we always seem to get new models after the rest of Europe, maybe it is because we drive on the left), so far it has had very good reviews, it will be interesting to see what happens in March when the new registration comes out, I agree the Qashqai just keeps on going, it is now ahead of the Golf for the year so far. Hyundai are doing very well, but Volkswagen seem to be suffering, the Up! does not seem to be very successful, at least in the UK, the Skoda and Seat versions are quite a lot cheaper, maybe the magic of the VW badge is fading a little.

Fiesta-sales might be down a little bit because of the facelift.

Qashqai is a phenomenon – this model is not new at all, but suddenly it is overtaking and overtaking. Seems to be the right model at the right time.

VW Golf is ahead of the Astra again – I ask myself if this will be going on. Last year Astra was in front. VW-brand-sales are minus at the moment – Miguel will be happy.

Nissan is the strongest asian brand and ahead of french carmakers.

Renault continues to down… What about “Clio IV effect” ?

Strange

Renault continues to down… What about “Clio IV effect” ?