Singapore Full Year 2016: Vezel parallel imports push Honda to #1

The Honda Vezel is the best-selling new vehicle in Singapore this year. 

* See the Top 55 All-brands and Top 10 models by clicking on the title *

Consult 10 years worth of Singapore Historical Data here

Lower rates for Certificates of Entitlement (COE) – in essence the permit to drive your car in the country – once again push the Singaporean market forward: after a 99% surge in 2015, 2016 is up another 52% to 87.504 units. Parallel imports account for 22.7% of the market or 19.888 units, their second highest share below the record 23.8% hit back in 2008 when total registrations were 97.348. Lightning strikes the brands ranking: after two consecutive years of domination, Toyota is toppled off its throne by Honda despite following the market with sales up 52% to 18.492. That’s meagre compared to Honda soaring 144% to 19.349 units and 22.1% share vs. 13.7% a year ago. One culprit: the Honda Vezel that sold 9.966 units this year – all of them being parallel imports (PIs). This means the Vezel accounted for 50% of all PIs sold in the country this year and 11.4% of the total market.

The Honda Shuttle ranks third among parallel imports in 2016.

Mazda drops one percentage point market share to 8.1% but gains two spots to rank #3 for the year as Nissan (+26%) and Mercedes (+19%) fare worse. Opel (+282%), Ssangyong (+283%), Mitsubishi (+163%), Suzuki (+93%), Subaru (+74%) and Chevrolet (+73%) are among the other great performers in the brands ranking. Back to the models ranking where the Toyota Corolla Altis, once ultra-dominant, ranks 2nd with less than half the sales of the Vezel. The Corolla however holds onto the annual volume record with 10.910 registrations back in 2006. The Toyota Harrier, Honda Shuttle and Toyota Sienta are the next most successful PIs, all lodging four-digit sales figures for 2016.

Previous year: Singapore Full Year 2015: Lower COE has market double year-on-year

Two years ago: Singapore Full Year 2014: Toyota Corolla new best-seller

Full Year and December 2016 Top 55 All-brands and Top 10 models vs. Full Year 2015 figures below.