Best Selling Cars – Matt's blog

Opel Astra Sports Tourer

* See the Top 10 best-selling models by clicking on the title! *

Italians car buyers are some of the last in the world with the Swedish and Slovak to continue their love affair with Station Wagons (SW): most models in the Large segment are sold almost exclusively through that format. This is why there is a regular update about Italian SW sales on BSCB. However 2012 has been a tough year for SW in Italy. Pulled down by a 37% drop in December (vs. -22% for the overall market), sales are down 30% over the Full Year 2012 at 107,304 units vs. -20% for the Italian market, meaning the SW share has gone down from 8.7% in 2011 to 7.6% this year.

Ford Focus

Thanks to a solid performance in December (#1 at 611 units), the Opel Astra ends up being the best-selling Station Wagon in the country for the second year running with 11,506 sales, in spite of a 39% drop on 2011. The Ford Focus led the way for most of the year thanks to the arrival of the new generation but gets pipped out by the Astra at the last minute. It sells 11,490 units for an ok 17% year-on-year drop and increases its SW rate from 50% in 2011 to 60% this year.

The Audi A4 and VW Passat continue to be the Station Wagon kings, with unbelievable SW rates: in December only 62 A4 out of 598 sold were sedans, and only 46 out of 419 Passats… Over the Full Year, the A4 edges out the Passat at the last minute here too, with 9,211 sales (-31%) vs. 9,144 (-29%). The Peugeot 508 makes its first appearance in a Year-end ranking at #6 and 5,403 units for a robust 80% SW rate. Notice also the BMW 3 Series (#3 in December!) down just 14% this year.

Previous month: Italy Station Wagons November 2012: BMW 3 Series up to #5

Previous year: Italy Station Wagons Full Year 2011: Opel Astra passes Ford Focus

Full Year and December 2012 Top 10 Ranking Tables below.

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Fiat 500L

* NOW UPDATED with actuals for the Top 50 best-selling models and brands! See title *

No improvement in sight for new car sales in Italy: down 20% year-on-year both in November to 107,269 registrations and year-to-date at 1,322,153 units. After breaking the 10% market share barrier for the first time in 23 years last month, the Fiat Panda stays at very high levels in November, selling 10,280 units for a 9.6% share and reinforcing its 2012 leadership at 110,978 sales and 8.4%. Reversely the Fiat Punto is stuck at lowest-ever levels: at 5,201 units and 4.8%, its 4th ever month below 5% share after last October (4.7%), last August (4.6%) and September 2008 (4.7%).

Ford B-Max

The Ford Fiesta stays #3 but drops to 3% share, ahead of the Lancia Ypsilon (+2), Fiat 500 (-1), Peugeot 208 (-1) and VW Polo (+1). The Nissan Qashqai spends its 2nd month in a row in the Top 10, up 2 spots on October to #8 with 2,328 sales and 2.2%, equalling its highest share ever in the country also reached in January 2009. But the biggest event by far this month in Italy is the arrival in the Top 10 of the Fiat 500L, up a huge 40 spots on October to land directly at #9 with 2,115 units and 2%.

Fiat Idea

If confirmed across Europe, the 500L could be the success story Fiat had been needing to get its finances back in order… It could be a case of the ‘right car at the right time’ for the Italian car manufacturer. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves (yet) but Fiat’s previous incursion into the mini MPV segment, the Fiat Idea, never did better than #11 in June 2005… So the Fiat 500L has already outperformed the Idea only a couple of months into its launch.

Land Rover sales are up 19% year-on-year in Italy this month.

Further down, the BMW 3 Series confirms its great shape, up one further spot to #22, the Mercedes A-Class is up 13 to #23 thanks to the new generation now widely available, the Ford B-Max lands at a world-best #26 with 956 sales and 0.9%, the BMW X3 stays really solid at #35 while the BMW X1 is up to #46. There is now also a Top 45 All-brands ranking available! The only car makers to progress this month are Peugeot at #5 (+6%), Kia at #16 (+10%), Land Rover at #23 (+19%), Jaguar at #32 (+17%), Infiniti at #38 (+50%) and Lamborghini at #43 (+50%)…

Previous post: Italy: 1956-2011 More detailed Historical Data available! 

Previous month: Italy October 2012: Fiat Panda above 10% for first time since 1989

One year ago: Italy November 2011: Fiat Panda gets stronger

Full November 2012 Top 50 models and Top 45 brands Ranking Tables below.

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BMW 3 Series Touring

* See the Top 10 best-selling models by clicking on the title! *

The Italians are one of the last consumers in the world with the Swedish and Slovak to continue to love Station Wagons (SW), with most models in the Large segment selling almost exclusively as Station Wagons. This is why there is a monthly update about Italian SW sales on BSCB. In a market down 20% overall, SW sales in November are down 27% year-on-year to 8,345 units, bringing the SW market share down to 7.8% from 8.6% a year ago. The Opel Astra is back in pole position thanks to 869 sales this month but stays #2 year-to-date behind the Ford Focus at 10,892 units vs. 11,094.

Very strong over the past few months, the Audi A4 and VW Passat are solid again in November and both sell 751 units for an out-of-this-world 91% Station Wagon ratio. The BMW 3 Series, now with the new generation available in Touring configuration, is up to a brilliant 5th place with 570 sales and 54% SW ratio vs. 39% year-to-date. Notice also the Volvo V60 back in the Top 10 at #10.

Previous month: Italy Station Wagons October 2012: VW Passat holds onto #1 spot

One year ago: Italy Station Wagons November 2011: Renault Megane #2

Full November 2012 Top 10 Ranking Table below.

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Fiat 600

* Click on the title for the direct links to 41 Italy Historical Data posts! *

FURTHER UPDATE: Thanks to Marc, instead of a Top 10 there is now a Top 50 models for 1997 and 1999 and a Top 100 for 1998, 2000 and 2001! Did you know the Lancia Lybra ranked #18 in 2000, the first generation Fiat Palio was #20 in 2000 or the Fiat Multipla #20 in 2001? Now you do…

Lancia Lybra

Thanks to Andrea, Max, Miguel and STAC I am now able to share with you detailed Historical Data for Italy for the last 56 years! For most years a models ranking is available, making Italy one of the most complete countries on BSCB! The Fiat 600 was king from 1956 to 1963 before the Fiat 500 took the relay from 1964 to 1971…

Fiat 128

…the Fiat 128 had its turn for two short years in 1972 and 1973, then the Fiat 127 led the market from 1974 to 1982. Witness also the solid careers of the small Fiat 850 and 126 or the larger 1500, 124 and 131, the success of the Alfa Romeo Giulia and Alfasud, and the Autobianchi Bianchina and Primula…

Fiat 131 Mirafiori Special

Discover also the strength of the Fiat Ritmo at over 200,000 annual sales for two years (1981-1982), the thundering arrival of the Fiat Uno in 1983 and its 1986 peak of 433,700 sales and 23.8% market share! See the consistency of the Fiat Panda, peaking at 11% share in 1982 and 223,410 sales in 1989…

Fiat Uno

…and the instant success of the 1988 Fiat Tipo, reaching almost 14% share in December that year! Experience the exotic arrival on the podium of – shock, horror! – foreign models: the Renault 5 in 1985 and the VW Golf in 1986…

Fiat Punto

The Fiat Punto took the lead in November 1993 at launch. Starting just under 20% share, four generations of the model, including the Grande Punto from 2005 onwards, helped keep the Punto nameplate on top of Italian sales for 18 consecutive years!

Fiat Panda

However the Fiat Panda 2, launched in 2003, has been gearing up all through its career to reach 8% share in 2009, and the Panda 3, unveiled in 2011, takes the title of best-selling model in Italy in 2012 for the first time in the nameplate’s 32 year career!

Click on ‘Read more’ below for the direct links to these 41 Historical posts.

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Fiat Panda

* NOW UPDATED with actuals for the Top 50 best-selling models: click on title to see! *

The new car market in Italy is down 12% year-on-year in October to 117,840 registrations, bringing the year-to-date total to 1,214,405 units, down 20% on 2011. And it’s a very eventful month indeed for the Italian models ranking. The Fiat Panda manages to pass the almighty 10% market share milestone potentially for the first time for the Panda nameplate since 1989. It’s a level the previous generation Panda never managed to reach, its best monthly share being 8.8% in April and May 2009. At 12,185 sales and 10.3% it delivers its 2nd best volume in the last 12 months after last May and the highest share of any model in Italy since December 2007 when the Fiat Punto hit 10.5%.

And as the Fiat Panda hits record highs, the Fiat Punto is at record lows with 5,496 units and 4.7%. This is the nameplate’s 2nd lowest ever market share in the country after the 4.6% it hit last August, and only the third time in the nameplate’s 19 year history that it falls below 5% share with September 2008 (4.7%). In October twice as many new Pandas found a buyer as Puntos for the first time ever in Italy.

Peugeot 208. Picture by Quattroruote.it

Other big event: the Peugeot 208 breaks into the Italian Top 5 for the first time at #5 with 3,683 units and 3.1%, only one below the Fiat 500! The last time a new nameplate broke into the Top 5 in Italy was in December 2009 when the… Peugeot 207 ranked #5 after 45 months of presence in Italy, while the 208 has done it after just 7 months. Note also that the Peugeot 207 never managed to pass the 3% market share threshold in Italy, with its best share being 2.7% in July 2009. So yes, we can already say that the Peugeot 208 is more successful than the 207 in Italy.

Nissan Qashqai

At #10 with 2,358 sales and 2%, the Nissan Qashqai is back within the Italian Top 10 for the first time since July 2011 and the 8th time overall. The Qashqai’s bests in Italy are still #7, 3,448 sales and 2.2% in January 2009. Other great performers this month include the Mercedes B-Class up to #17, the Nissan Juke up 16 spots to a record #18, the Toyota Aygo up 11 to #21, the BMW 3 Series up 8 to #23, the Citroen C3 Picasso up to a best-ever #25, the Audi Q3 up 24 to #26 and the Dacia Sandero up to #34. Notice also the Fiat 500L down 24 to #49.

Previous post: Italy: 1956-2011 Historical Data now available!

Previous month: Italy September 2012: Fiat 500L up to #25

One year ago: Italy October 2011: Lancia Ypsilon continues to shine

Full October 2012 Top 50 Ranking Table below.

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Only 5% of VW Passat sold in Italy in October were not Station Wagons…

* See the Top 10 best-selling models by clicking on the title! *

The Italians are one of the last  consumers in the world with the Swedish and Slovak to continue to love Station Wagons (SW). This is why there is a monthly update about Italian SW sales here, but this could come to an end soon because the love story is fizzling out: in a market down 12% overall, SW sales in October are down 31% year-on-year to 8,143 units, bringing the SW market share down to 6.9% from 8.8% a year ago.

Mercedes C-Class

Last month the VW Passat managed to top the SW ranking for the first time in at least 2 years, and it October it does it again with a much larger margin! It sells 880 units for an out-0f-this-world 95% Station Wagon ratio and is now #3 year-to-date with 8,009 sales and 90%. The Audi A4 stays #2 at 717 units and 88% but is passed by the Passat year-to-date at #4 and 7,919 sales. 2011′s #1, the Opel Astra, is up one spot to #3 at 674 units while 2012′s leader so far the Ford Focus is down to #4 with 598 sales. Notice also the Opel Insignia back up to #7 and the Mercedes C-Class up to #8.

Previous month: Italy Station Wagons September 2012: VW Passat on top

One year ago: Italy Station Wagons October 2011: VW Passat up to #2

Full October 2012 Top 10 Ranking Table below.

Read more…

Fiat 500L

* NOW UPDATED with actuals for the Top 50 best-selling models! Click on title to see *

Italian new car sales fall deeper into recession in September, down 25% year-on-year to 110,346 registrations, bringing the year-to-date total to 1,096,408 units, down 20% on 2011. The podium is 100% Fiat for the 4th time in the last 5 months: the Fiat Panda ranks #1 for the 9th consecutive month with 9,216 sales and 8.4% share, ahead of the Fiat Punto at 6,999 units and 6.3%, its highest share since last April, and the Fiat 500 with 3,544 sales and 3.2%.

VW Up!

The Lancia Ypsilon is back up to #4 thanks to 3,356 units and 3%, making the Top 4 100% Italian, like in the 2012 year-to-date ranking. If this stays the same until the end of the year it will be the first time it happens since 2000 when the Fiat Punto led the way ahead of the Fiat Seicento, Lancia Y and Fiat Panda… Below the Ford Fiesta and VW Golf each dropping two spots to fall back to their 2012 year-to-date positions at #5 and #6, the Peugeot 208 confirms it is now a long-term Top 10 model in Italy, ranking #7 with a best-ever 2.6% market share.

BMW X3

But the biggest performers are to be found lower in the ranking… The Nissan Micra is up 16 ranks to #17 with 1,331 sales and 1.2%, the Mercedes B-Class is up 5 to #22 at 1,107 units and 1%, the VW Up! gains 22 spots on August to reach its highest ever ranking in Italy at #23 thanks to 995 sales and 0.9%, the BMW X3 is up a spectacular 38 ranks to a best-ever #24 at 957 units and 0.9%. Last but not least, the Fiat 500L breaks into the Italian Top 50 and Top 25 at once for its first full month of sales in its native country, landing directly at #25 with 938 sales and 0.9%.

Previous month: Italy August 2012: Lowest August since 1962, Fiat Panda at highest in 30 years

One year ago: Italy September 2011: Lancia Ypsilon stays on podium

Full September 2012 Top 50 Ranking Table below.

Read more…

VW Passat Variant

* See the Top 10 best-selling models by clicking on the title! *

Italian consumers are one of the last in the world with the Swedish and Slovak to continue to be in love with Station Wagons (SW), which is the reason why there is a monthly update about SW sales in Italy on BSCB. However over the last few months their popularity has gone down drastically: in a market down 25% overall, station wagon sales in Italy in September are down 42% year-on-year to 7,907 units, bringing the SW market share down to 7.2% from 9.2% a year ago. Complete reshuffle in the ranking this month: for the first time in at least 2 years, the VW Passat takes the lead with 839 Station Wagons sold out of a total 891 sales this month, giving it a record SW ratio of 94%.

The Audi A4 stays #2 with 804 units and an out-of-this-world 90% SW ratio, followed by the Ford Focus at 759 sales and 62% (still #1 year-to-date at 9,862 units) and the Opel Astra at 692 sales and 50%. Notice also the Volvo V50 up one spot to #6, the BMW 3 Series up 3 to #7 and the Audi A6 very solid at #9.

Previous month: Italy Station Wagons August 2012: Opel Astra back in control

One year ago: Italy Station Wagons September 2011: VW Passat on podium

Full September 2012 Top 10 Ranking Table below.

Read more…

The Fiat 600 was #1 in 1962, the last time Italy August sales were so low.

* NOW UPDATED with actuals for the Top 50 best-selling models: click on title to see *

The new car sales situation is getting critical in Italy, and with the price of petrol above 2 euros per litre in the first half of the month, sales are down 20% year-on-year in August to 56,868 units – the worst August score since the 49,766 registered in August 1962, exactly 50 years ago… This is also the worst monthly figure since December 1967 when 48,974 new vehicles were registered.

The Fiat Panda is at its highest since 1982

In this dark context, the Fiat Panda continues to kick goals, hitting 8.8% market share thanks to 5,011 sales, equalling the 8.8% the previous generation reached in April and May 2009 and the highest Panda nameplate’s market share in Italy since the first generation’s very first years in 1981 and 1982 when the model was flirting with 10% of the market – albeit at that time not enough to be in pole position.

The Fiat Punto is at its lowest ever in Italy

Illustrating the radical structural change the Italian car market is undergoing at the moment, the Fiat Punto on the other hand is down to its lowest ever market share in Italy at 4.6% and 2,639 units, only the second time in the nameplate’s 18 year history that it falls below 5% share with September 2008 (4.7%). The gap between the Panda and the Punto, at 4.2 percentage points (meaning the Panda is currently selling almost at double the rate of the Punto) is the highest it’s ever been.

Fiat Freemont

The Ford Fiesta is back on the podium for the first time since last March with 1,959 sales and 3.4%, followed by the VW Golf up 2 spots to #4 and at its highest since last March also. Below the Fiat 500 (-2) and Lancia Ypsilon (-1) we find the Peugeot 208, confirming its newly acquired Top 10 status in 7th place with 1,465 units and a record 2.6% share. The Nissan Qashqai resists at an excellent 11th position while the Fiat Freemont (in actual fact a rebadged Dodge Journey) lodges its highest ever ranking at #13 thanks to 849 sales and a best-ever 1.5% share.

Fiat 500 L

Further down, notice the Audi Q3 also hitting its highest ever position at #24 and breaking the 1% market share barrier for the first time, the Kia Rio up 10 ranks to #28, the Fiat Sedici up to #30, the Kia Sportage up 2 to #31 vs. #63 year-to-date, the Opel Zafira up 5 to #35, the  the Ford Ka up 10 to #39 and the Range Rover Evoque ranking within the Top 40 for the 2nd consecutive month at #40. Finally, the Fiat 500 L makes its very first appearance in the ranking with 96 units sold this month.

Previous post: Italy August 2012: Fiat Panda still a rare sight – Photo Report

Previous month: Italy July 2012: Fiat Panda, Peugeot 208 and Range Rover Evoque impress

One year ago: Italy August 2011: Lancia Ypsilon on podium for the first time in 5 years

Full August 2012 Top 50 Ranking Table below.

Read more…

Opel Astra

* See the Top 10 best-selling models by clicking on the title! *

Italy is one of the last countries in the world with Sweden and Slovakia where Station Wagons (SW) have remained highly popular which is why there is a monthly update about it on BSCB. However over the last few months their popularity has gone down drastically: in a market down 20% overall, station wagon sales in Italy in August are down 38% year-on-year to 4,159 units, bringing the SW market share down to 7.3% down from 9.4% a year ago. Passed by the Audi A4 and VW Passat last month, the Opel Astra is back in pole position in August with 497 sales however with a SW ratio down to 56%.

The Audi A4 is down to a still fantastic 2nd place with 373 units and 88% SW ratio, ahead of the Ford Focus up one spot to #3 but still #1 year-to-date with 9,097 sales and 61% SW ratio. Other great performers this month include the Renault Megane up to #4 and 72%, the BMW 5 Series up to #6 and 72% also and the Volvo V50 back inside the Top 10 at #7.

Previous month: Italy Station Wagons July 2012: Audi A4 in pole position

One year ago: Italy Station Wagon August 2011: Audi A4 up to 2nd place

Full August 2012 Top 10 Ranking Table below.

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