Best Selling Cars – Matt's blog

Lancia Ypsilon

* See the Top 50 best-selling model and Top 38 All-brands by clicking on the title! *

I told you not to get too excited: after gaining an astounding 21% year-on-year last month, new car sales in Greece are back down to hell but this time the Greek gods are clement and make it fall by just 1% to 5,242 registrations. This brings the year-to-date total to 24,717 units, down 8% on 2012. For the 6th time in the last 12 months, the Toyota Yaris is the most popular model in the country thanks to 389 sales and 7.4%, and this time the VW Polo follows at an excellent 344 units and 6.6% with the Opel Corsa rounding up the podium with 247 sales and 4.4%.

Audi A3

The Nissan Micra makes it 4 small cars in the Top 4 like last month, up 17 spots on April while the VW Golf remains #5. In fact, there are only two compact cars in the Top 30 with the Toyota Auris at #10, the rest are either small or mini cars! Notice also the Ford Fiesta up 5 ranks to #6, the Lancia Ypsilon confirming Greece is its best overseas country, up 7 spots to #13, the Audi A3 up 8 to #15, the Suzuki Alto up 17 to #18, Chevrolet Spark up 29 to #21 and the Seat Leon up from outside the Top 50 to #25… Finally the Mercedes CLA makes its first appearance in the Greek ranking at a shiny 54th position.

Previous post: Greece mid-May 2013: Toyota and VW lead market down 35%

Previous month: 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 May 2013 Top 50 models and Top 38 All-brands Ranking Tables below. Read more…

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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Hyundai i20

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

It seems too good to be true: after years of hell, the Greek new car market is up 21% year-on-year in April to 5,328 registrations, its second time in positive in the last 3 months with last February (+7%). Now let’s not get ahead of ourselves as April 2012 was down 57% on 2011, 65% on 2010, 68% on 2009 and 84% on 2008… so this doesn’t mean the end of the tunnel is here but it is an encouraging enough sign. Year-to-date, total sales now stand at 19,448 units, still down 10% on 2012.

The Toyota Yaris is the most popular model in the country for the 5th time in the last 12 months with 410 sales and 7.7% and is followed this time by the Hyundai i20, up 4 spots on March to #2 at 312 units and 5.9% while the VW Polo is up 7 to round up the podium with 261 sales and 4.9%. Other great performers include the VW Golf very strong at #5 and 3.9%, the Nissan Qashqai up 14 ranks to #6, Peugeot 208 up 7 to #7, Hyundai i30 up 17 to #8, BMW 1 Series up 9 to #18 and the Skoda Rapid solid at #24.

Previous month: Greece March 2013: Fiat Panda takes the lead

One year ago: Greece April 2012: Citroen C3 and Lancia Ypsilon stay afloat

Full April 2013 Top 50 Ranking Table below.

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Fiat Panda

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

After showing a flicker of hope last month (+7%) and at mid-March (+3%), the Greek market is back to hell: at just 4,480 registrations it is down 9% on March 2012 which was itself down 49% year-on-year… The year-to-date total is down 18% on 2012 to 14,120 units. Big news in pole position: the Fiat Panda jumps 12 spots on February to land at #1 with 326 sales and 7.3%, 90% of it being the new generation which would have been #1 by itself anyway. To my knowledge this is the first time the Panda holds the pole position for this generation or the previous one. The Toyota Yaris remains #2 at 272 units and 6.1% and leads year-to-date with 960 sales and 6.8% while the Opel Corsa is down 2 ranks to #3 at 226 units and 5%.

Other great performers this month in Greece include the Nissan Micra still extremely strong at #4 with 196 sales and 4.4%, the VW Golf up 9 spots to #5 at 159 units and 3.9% and the Toyota Auris up 11 to #8. Note the Golf and Auris are two of only 3 compact cars (with the Opel Astra at #7) in the Greek Top 15 this month, all other models are city or small cars… The Skoda Rapid is up 29 ranks to an excellent 18th place and the Mercedes A-Class is up 13 to #21.

Previous post: Greece mid-March 2013: Market up, or is it?

Previous month: Greece February 2013: Nissan Micra at best in almost two years

One year ago: Greece March 2012: Citroen C3 and Audi Q3 shine in weak market

Full March 2013 Top 50 Ranking Table below.

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Toyota Auris

* See the Top 5 best-selling brands by clicking on the title! Many thanks to Bill *

Over the first half of March, new car sales are up an encouraging 3% year-on-year in Greece to 1,610 registrations. Or are they? Off this total, 650 were fleet sales, which means that for the first time in decades, private sales have plunged below 1,000 units halfway through the month which is extremely worrying… Brand-wise, Toyota takes the lead with 202 sales and 12.5% followed by Volkswagen at 169 units and 10.5% and Skoda with 141 sales and 8.8%.

Previous month: Greece February 2013: Nissan Micra at best in almost 2 years

One month ago: Greece mid-February 2013: Opel and Citroen on top

Full mid-March Top 5 brands Ranking Table below.

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Nissan Micra

* See the Top 70 best-selling models by clicking on the title! *

A flicker of hope this month in Greece: thanks to the return of scrappage scheme, the new car market is up a timid 7% on a particularly horrendous month of February 2012 that was at -45%. But year-to-date, sales are still down a depressing 21% on 2012 to 9,640 units. The Opel Corsa jumps back into the #1 spot for the second time in the last 3 months thanks to 238 sales and 5.8%, just above the Toyota Yaris at 220 units and 5.4%, leading year-to-date with 688 sales and 7.1% vs. 636 and 6.6% for the Corsa. The best performer this month is the Nissan Micra, up 23 spots on January to land in third position, its highest ranking in Greece since July 2011…

Kia Rio

In fact, the entire Top 7 most popular models in Greece this month all belong to the supermini category! This is the first time it ever happens. We have the Citroen C3 at #4 followed by the VW Polo, Hyundai i20 and Ford Fiesta, with the Skoda Fabia also at #9. In this context the Opel Astra is the best-selling non-supermini at #8 with 3% share. Notice also the Kia Rio up a huge 41 ranks to #11, the Seat Ibiza up 17 to #12, Skoda Rapid breaking into the Greek Top 50 at #47 and the Peugeot 301 up to #65.

Previous post: Greece mid-February 2013: Opel and Citroen on top

Previous month: Greece January 2013: Toyota Yaris and Hyundai i30 shine

One year ago: Greece February 2012: Toyota Yaris back to #1 in devastated market

Full February 2013 Top 70 Ranking Table below.

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Citroen C3

* See the Top 5 best-selling brands by clicking on the title! Many thanks to Bill *

This may finally be the end of the tunnel for the Greek new car market: thanks to return of scrappage schemes, sales are back in positive over the first half of February: up a very encouraging 16% year-on-year to 1,955 sales. Opel stays in the lead thanks to 216 sales and 11% share but is now followed by Citroen at 211 units and 10.8% while Toyota and Skoda share the third spot with 188 sales and 9.6% each.

Previous post: Greece January 2013: Toyota Yaris and Hyundai i30 shine

One year ago: Greece February 2012: Toyota Yaris back to #1 in devastated market

Full mid-February 2013 Top 5 Ranking Table below.

Read more…

Hyundai i30

* See the Top 80 best-selling models by clicking on the title! *

When we thought it couldn’t get worse for the new car market in Greece, well it does: at 5,529 units in January sales are down 35% on January 2012, which was down 13% on January 2011, itself down 63% on January 2010… At this rate, the market could fall below 40,000 annual units in 2013 for the first time since 1980 and only the third time in the last 40 years… For the 5th time in the last 12 months, the Toyota Yaris dominates the models ranking with an excellent 468 sales and 8.5% share, well above its FY2012 level of 5.8%. 2012′s leader the Opel Corsa is also in great shape at 398 units and 7.2% at #2 while the Opel Astra rounds up the podium at 5.8% and the Citroen C3 shines once again at #4 and 5.4%.

Audi A5

Hyundai manages to place two models inside the Greek Top 10 this month: the i20 is up 3 spots on December to #6 with 145 sales and 2.6% and the i30 is up a massive 16 ranks to #9 at 130 units and 2.4% vs. #53 in FY2012. Notice also the Skoda Citigo up 19 to #27, the Citroen DS3 up to #35 vs. #83 in 2012, the Daihatsu Charade (aka previous gen Toyota Yaris) up to #43, the Opel Mokka at #57, Audi A5 at #67, Fiat 500L at #70 and Skoda Rapid just outside the Top 80 with 9 units sold.

Previous post: Greece mid-January 2013: No end of tunnel yet

Full Year post: Greece Full Year 2012: Citroen C3 takes off in worst market since 1988

Previous month: Greece December 2012: Peugeot 208 on podium, Volvo V40 #7

One year ago: Greece January 2012: Opel Corsa hits highest share ever at 10%

Full January 2013 Top 80 models Ranking Table below.

Read more…

Opel Mokka

* See the Top 5 best-selling brands by clicking on the title! Many thanks to Bill *

New car sales are down 39% year-on-year in Greece over the first half of January to 3,028 registrations – there is no end of the tunnel in sight yet for the Greek market. Only a brands ranking available at mid-month, showing Opel in the lead with almost 15% share followed by Toyota and Volkswagen. Hyundai and Skoda impress at #4 with 8.8% and #5 with 8.3% respectively.

Full mid-January 2013 Top 5 brands Ranking Table below.

Read more…

Citroen C3

* See the Top 100 best-selling models by clicking on the title! *

The freefall continues for new car sales in Greece: after dropping by 17% in 2009, 36% in 2010 and 31% in 2011, it is down 40% this year to 58,476 registrations, the weakest annual result since 1988 and only the third time in the last 30 years the market drops below 60,000 units… Note 41% of these sales went to fleet, so private consumers only bought 34,500 cars. Greece’s record year is 2000 when 290,030 new cars were registered, nearly 5 times more than this year! The Opel Corsa is the most popular model for the 2nd consecutive year and the 3rd overall after 2007 and 2011 with 3,957 sales and 6.8%, down 34%. While it was #1 10 times out of 12 in 2011, the Corsa only ranked #1 4 times this year. Like in 2011 it is followed by the Toyota Yaris, down 28% to 3,390 units and 5.8% and was #1 4 times also.

Lancia Ypsilon

But the success story of the year is without a doubt the Citroen C3, up 100% and 19 spots to a record #3 with 2,490 sales and 4.3%. Before 2012, the 2nd gen C3 had never ranked within the Greek monthly Top 10 but helped by aggressive pricing, it managed to rank #1 for 3 consecutive months between May and July, peaking at a fantastic 8.4% share in June. It was the first time in 13 years that a Citroen ranked #1 in Greece (since July 1999 and the Citroen Saxo), the first time since September 1998 that a Citroen managed to rank #1 for 2 consecutive months and the first time on record a Citroen stayed there 3 months in a row…

All other models in the Top 10 fall heavily, with the Opel Astra and Hyundai i20 faring the ‘best’ at -37%. Further down, the Nissan Qashqai is up 13 spots to #11, the Citroen C4 up 61% and 36 ranks to #16, the Lancia Ypsilon up 463% and 76 spots to #24, making Greece the model’s best performing overseas market, the Kia Rio up to #27, BMW 1 Series up to #29, Suzuki Alto up to #33, Volvo S60 up to #38, Audi Q3 up to #42, Mini Countryman up to #50, Mercedes B-Class up to #52 and Chevrolet Aveo up to #55. The two best-selling newcomers are the VW Up! landing directly at #18 and the Peugeot 208 at #21.

Previous post: Greece December 2012: Peugeot 208 on podium, Volvo V40 #7

Previous year: Greece Full Year 2011: Opel Corsa #1 in weakest market in 22 years

Full Year 2012 Top 100 Ranking Table below.

Read more…