Best Selling Cars – Matt's blog

Ferrari 458 Italia. Picture by Bailey Smith Photography, all rights reserved.

* See the Top 235 All-models ranking by clicking on the title! *

I am now able to share with you an exclusive models ranking for Monaco: you won’t find this anywhere else on the web! The Mini is the best-selling model in the Principality with 137 sales and 5.7%, up 41% year-on-year – however note it is unclear how many Countryman this figure includes. The Audi A3 ranks #2 at 91 units and 3.8% with the Smart Fortwo rounding up the podium with 86 sales and 3.6%.

Mini Paceman

The Top 10 is filled with prestige cars: the Porsche Cayenne is up a whopping 55% on 2011 to reach an out-of-this-world 4th place at 79 units and 3.3%, the Porsche 911 is up 38% to #7 and the Bentley Continental up an amazing 61% to break into the Monegasque year-end Top 10 at #9 with 45 sales and 1.9% share…

Audi A3

Notice also the Audi A1 up 64% to #5, Porsche Panamera up 193% to #12, Mercedes M-Class up 175% to #15, Ferrari 458 Italia up 146% to #16, Range Rover Evoque up 200% to #21, Audi A6 up 127% to #24, Audi Q3 up 567% to #33, Lexus RX up 122% to #34, BMW X6 up 33% to #39, the McLaren MP4-12C increasing its sales 4-fold to 12 units at #49 and the Mercedes SLS up 50% to #50…

Porsche Panamera. Picture by Calians Sevan, all rights reserved.

Even though Monaco is nestled within France, French carmakers are not successful in the Principality, with only two models managing to rank within the year-end Top 50: the Peugeot 208 landing directly at #40 and the Renault Megane at #44. This is to be compared with… 33 German models in the Top 50!

Rolls-Royce Ghost. Picture by Tom Stamp Photography, all rights reserved.

Notice also the Porsche Boxster up 450% to #57, the Rolls Royce Ghost up 67% to #59, Bentley Mulsanne up 133% to #73, the Fisker Karma making its first appearance in a Monaco year-end ranking at #103, the Ferrari F12 selling its first 3 units at #130 and the Koenigsegg CCX appearing at #204 with one unit sold.

Previous post (brands): Monaco Full Year 2012: Audi #1, Porsche up 71% to #3

Previous year (brands): Monaco 2011: Now available with Top 50 All-brands ranking!

Previous year (models): Monaco 2011: Now with Top 228 All-models ranking!

If you are buying a new car, Private Fleet have got a great concept.

Full Year 2012 Top 235 All-models Ranking Table below.

Read more…

Porsche Carrera GT. Picture by Raphael Belly, all rights reserved.

* See the Top 50 All-brands ranking by clicking on the title! *

Thanks to a secret admirer of BSCB, I can share with you an exclusive all-brands ranking for the Principality of Monaco, one of the richest countries in the world. The all-models ranking will follow soon. BSCB is the only place online to give you detailed sales info about Monaco, always a fascinating market to follow as prestige brands are at their world best here. New car sales are down slightly in 2012 to 2,402 registrations (-5% on 2011), but far from the drama in neighbouring France (-14%) and Italy (-19%)…

After a 2011 ranking biased by the royal wedding that put BMW at #1, 2012 is back to ‘normal’ in the Principality. Well that is, if you consider Audi, Mercedes and Porsche being the most popular carmakers a normal situation. #2 halfway through the year, Audi benefits from a very strong 2nd half to take the lead with 373 sales and 15.5% share.

Audi R8. Picture by Loic Parent, all rights reserved.

Mercedes follows suit with sales up 3% also to 315 units and 13.1%. But the best performance in the Top 10 is delivered by Porsche, up a massive 71% and 3 spots to climb onto the year-end podium thanks to 193 sales and 8% share… BMW comes back to earth, down 55% and 3 ranks to #4, while Volkswagen at #5 (+8%) and Mini at #6 (-2%) both fall back one spot. Land Rover (+7%) and Fiat (-23%) round up the Top 10.

Ferrari Enzo. Picture by Willem Rodenburg, all rights reserved.

Outstanding performance of Ferrari, up a formidable 27% year-on-year to land in 11th place at 62 units and 2.6%, by far its best result in the world. Ferrari now outsells all French manufacturers, with Renault at #12, Peugeot at #13 and Citroen at #14. This is an amazing feat as Monaco is nestled within France and culturally considered as part of the country, with the Monaco soccer team evolving in the French championship for example. However none of the 3 French carmakers have a dealership in Monaco, which makes it harder for them to compete here.

Bentley Muslanne. Picture by kaboem, all rights reserved.

Among the brands doing extremely well in Monaco this year, a large majority belong to the prestige segment. Bentley is up a whopping 63% year-on-year and 4 spots to #16 with 52 sales and 2.2%, just below Ford and double the score of Nissan and Kia… Rolls-Royce is also up 63% to #28, McLaren up a huge 300% to #30 with 12 units sold and Lamborghini up 125% to #33 at 9 sales. Fisker (4 units) and Koenigsegg (one) are new in the ranking.

Previous post (brands): Monaco 6 months 2012: Mercedes, Audi and… Porsche on Top!

Previous post (models): Monaco 6 months 2012: Porsche Cayenne, 911 and Panamera in Top 10

Previous year (brands): Monaco 2011: Now available with Top 50 All-brands ranking!

Previous year (models): Monaco 2011: Now with Top 228 All-models ranking!

Full Year 2012 Top 50 All-brands Ranking Table below.

Read more…

Porsche Panamera. Picture by ninoscy, all rights reserved.

* See the Top 193 All-models ranking by clicking on the title! *

After sharing with you yesterday the Top 50 All-brands ranking in Monaco over the first 6 months of 2012, I can now unveil an exclusive Top 193 All-models ranking in the Principalty, and exclusive it is! You can still see my original post about Monaco here, the 2011 Top 50 brands post here and the 2011 Top 228 All-models ranking here…

Mini WRC. Picture by bigblogg, all rights reserved.

If last year the ‘true’ first place (below the Royal Wedding BMW 7 Series) was a very close race, in 2012 it is a little more spread with the podium composed of posh small cars. The Mini takes control with 69 sales and an excellent 5.4% share, up from 3.8% in 2011. It is followed by the Smart Fortwo at 57 units and 4.4% and the Audi A3 at 47 sales and 3.7%. Now the posh minis are out of the way, let’s talk business…

Porsche 911.  Picture by Raphael Belly, all rights reserved.

Porsche confirms it is now the third most popular brand in the country by placing no less than 3 models in the Top 10! Only in Monaco… The Porsche Cayenne pulls an astounding 4th place thanks to 41 sales for a 3.2% market share, up from #9 and 2% in 2011, the Porsche 911 ranks #8 with 28 units and 2.2%, up from #10 and 1.7% and the Porsche Panamera delivers a spectacular 9th position with 25 sales and 1.9% share, up from #39 and 0.6% last year…

Bentley Continental GT. Picture by OJ, all rights reserved.

But wait there’s more: now that Bentley is the #13 brand in Monaco, it is logical (if not totally surreal) to see the Bentley Continental ranking at a cool #6 with 29 sales and 2.3% share. And also logically (why not?), it’s the more expensive Continental GTC version, starting at US$235,000, that sells the most with 16 units, vs. 10 for the GT and 3 for the Flying Spur… So even without the Flying Spur, the Continental GT/GTC alone would rank #9…

 Ferrari FF. Picture by Jan L, all rights reserved.

And below, the amazement continues. The Ferrari 458 Italia is up from #43 in 2011 to #13 with 19 sales and 1.5%, triple its 2011 market share, while the Ferrari California up to #42 and the Ferrari FF up to #47.

McLaren MP4 12C. Picture by Raphael Belly, all rights reserved.

Now get this: the McLaren MP4 12C is up to a unheard of 39th place with 9 units sold for a 0.7% market share, same as the Ford Fiesta and Toyota Yaris and more than the Renault Scenic, Nissan Qashqai or Fiat Panda… Interestingly, while Mercedes is now the best-selling brand in the country, its sales are spread across many models and as a consequence the best-selling Merc, the A-Class, is ‘only’ #11, followed by the B-Class at #12.

Fisker Karma in Monaco, August 2012

Among the newcomers in the ranking, we welcome the Fisker Karma at #67 with 4 sales, the Chevrolet Camaro and the Citroen DS5 both with 2 units sold, and the Koenigsegg CCX, Nissan Leaf and… Lada Niva with one sale each.

US$550,000 Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupe in Monaco, August 2012.

Even though Monaco is nested within France, there are no Citroen, Peugeot or Renault dealerships in the country and as a result French models generally deliver very shy performances. Case in point: there are none in the Top 30 and only 4 of them in the Top 50 over the first 6 months of 2012, with the Renault Megane the best-seller at #34, followed by the all-new Peugeot 208 at #40, the Renault Scenic at #44 and the Citroen C4 at #49.

Renault Twizy

In fact, if it wasn’t counted as a quadricycle, the Renault Twizy would top French models by far, with 16 units sold this year – which would place it at #17 along with cars like the Audi A4, Mercedes C-Class and Range Rover Sport…

Last one for the road… Bugatti Veyron. Picture by Reivax-autos, all rights reserved.

Previous post: Monaco 6 months 2012: Mercedes, Audi and… Porsche on Top!

Previous year (models): Monaco 2011: Now with Top 228 All-models ranking!

Previous year (brands): Monaco 2011: Now available with Top 50 All-brands ranking!

More pictures and Full 6 months 2012 Top 193 Ranking Table below.

Read more…

Mercedes SLS AMG. Picture by Fiorano, all rights reserved.

* See the Top 50 All-brands Ranking by clicking on the title! *

* Correction: Fisker sold 4 Karma in Monaco over the period, making it the #43 brand *

Thanks to a secret admirer of BSCB once again I can share with you exclusive sales figures for the Principalty of Monaco, the world’s richest country… Plus given I was there today I will also share a few pics I got! You can see my original post about Monaco here and the 2011 Top 50 brands post here. A full models ranking will come shortly…

Porsche 911 GT3 RS. Picture by Martin Vincent, all rights reserved.

The Monegasque car market is very healthy in 2012 at 1,286 registrations, roughly the same level year-on-year while neighbouring France and Italy are down 8% and 20% respectively. After a 2011 ranking biased by the royal wedding that put BMW at #1, the brands ranking is back to normal in Monaco in 2012. Well. ‘Normal’ is probably not the right word.

Mercedes and Monaco flag, August 2012. Picture by my dear Dad.

Mercedes edges out traditional leader Audi over the period for just two sales with 173 units and 13.5% share vs. 171 and 13.3% for Audi, but the most striking event is the third position of Porsche with no less than 100 sales for a massive 7.8% market share! This is by far the brand’s best performance anywhere in the world, and places Porsche just ahead of Volkswagen, #4 at 94 units…

I want that one… (Ferrari California, picture taken by my dear Dad)

In fact, this year the only brands that perform greatly are luxury ones. Land Rover is up one spot vs. 2011 to #9 with 45 sales and 3.5%, but the best is yet to come: Ferrari passes Fiat and Ford to rank at an exceptional 11th place with 36 units sold for an out-of-this-world 2.8% market share…

Bentley Continental (a Swiss one) in Monaco, August 2012

…while Bentley is up 7 ranks to #13 and sells more cars in Monaco in 6 months in 2012 than it did during the entire year 2011: 33 units for a 2.6% market share compared to 1.3% in 2011. McLaren goes from 3 sales in the Full Year 2011 to 9 over the first 6 months 2012, from #40 brand to #24, ahead of Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Opel, Subaru, Jeep or Mitsubishi…

Actually, I’ll just go with that one please! (Lamborghini Aventador)

Among other luxury brands, Maserati is down one spot to #27, Aston Martin down 4 to #28, Rolls Royce down one to #32 but up to 0.5% share, Jaguar down 4 to #36, Lamborghini down 4 to #38 while Bugatti disappears from the ranking altogether.

Fisker Karma in Monaco, August 2012

Another big event over the period in Monaco is the arrival of Fisker in the brands ranking, directly at #43 (along with Jaguar and Jeep) with 4 units of its Karma already sold. And while visiting the Principalty today I spotted two shining new Fisker Karma in the Ferrari dealership…

Koenigsegg CCX. Picture by E82W, all rights reserved.

Finally, notice Koenigsegg making its very first appearance in Monaco at #43 with one unit sold in the Principalty over the first 6 months of 2012.

Full 6 months 2012 Top 50 Ranking Table below.

Read more…

Bentley Mulsanne. Picture by Vincent De Vries, all rights reserved.

* See the Top 228 best-selling models by clicking on the title! *

After an initial introduction to the Monegasque car market 10 days ago and a Top 50 brands ranking last week, thanks to a secret admirer of Best Selling Cars Blog I am now able to share with you for the very first time on the web the list of the Top 228 best-selling models in Monaco!

Mini and Ferrari California. Picture by Petar Gachevski, all rights reserved.

The Monegasque models ranking is unique in the world: it is a mix of posh minis, small enough to be parked anywhere in the city-country, extravagant SUVs and classy sedans with (nearly) no Frenchies in sight – a paradox as Monaco is nested within France…

Ferrari 458 Italia. Picture by Reivax, all rights reserved. 

The top of the ranking is biased by the one-off registration of 200 BMW 7 Series for the Royal Wedding in order to display Monaco license plates for the occasion, with all models returned to BMW after the festivities. This means the BMW 7 Series is #1 in Monaco in 2011 with 212 sales and 8.4% share. But the ‘real’ best-sellers are below and the race was extremely close: the Audi A3 is #2 overall with 98 units and 3.8%, followed by the Mini at 97 and the Audi A4 at 96!

Ferrari 612 Scaglietta & Fiat 500. Picture by Julien Rubicondo, all rights reserved.

There are a few other prestigious cars in the 2011 Monegasque Top 30, but the most impressive is clearly the Bentley Continental at an amazing 20th place thanks to 28 sales for a 1.1% market share… Notice also the Range Rover at #16, the Mercedes S-Class at #22, the Range Rover Sport at #25 and the Mercedes SLK at #30. Only one French model manages to claw its way into the Top 30: the Renault Clio at #29. Only the Peugeot 207 (#35) and Renault Twingo (#40) manage to break into the Top 40.

Aston Martin Cygnet. Picture by Piolew, all rights reserved.

Further down, the Mercedes CLS is #36, the Porsche Panamera #39, Aston Martin Vantage #42, Ferrari 458 Italia #43, BMW X6 #46, Ferrari California #47, Ferrari FF #58, Mercedes SLS #76, Ferrari 599 GTO #80, Rolls-Royce Ghost #92, Aston Martin Cygnet #121, Bentley Mulsanne #125, McLaren MP4 12C #135 and the Bugatti Veyron is #147.

Previous post: Monaco 2011: Now available with Top 50 brands!

Original post: Monaco 2011: Royal Wedding puts BMW #1, Ferrari more popular than Peugeot and Citroen

Full Year 2011 Top 228 Ranking Table below.

Read more…

Mercedes SLS 6.3 AMG. Picture by Damdusud, all rights reserved.

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

Building on my original post about Monaco, I am now able to share with you much more than just a podium and no less than the 50 best-selling brands in the Principality in 2011, in other words absolutely all brands sold there last year!

2 x McLaren MP4 12C. Picture by Raphael Belly, all rights reserved.

Quick reminder: the market is up 13% in 2011 to 2,524 registrations et BMW takes the lead with 15.1% of the market, partly thanks to 200 units registered by Prince Albert for his Royal Wedding. Leader in 2010, Audi is down to #2 with a stable share at 14.1% thanks to 356 sales and is followed by Mercedes at 12.2%.

Porsche Carrera GT. Picture by Alex Penfold, all rights reserved.

Volkswagen is stable at #4 and 6.1% just one unit above Mini very strong at +38% year-on-year thanks to the Countryman. Porsche reaches most probably its highest ranking in the world at #6 but is down 26% and one spot on 2010 to 113 sales and 4.3% share. Land Rover breaks into the Top 10 thanks to the Evoque at 73 units and 2.9%, up 46% on 2010.

Bentley Mulsanne. Picture by Raphael Belly, all rights reserved.

It was the title of my original post on Monaco and it is confirmed: with 49 sales and in spite of a 14% fall vs. 2010, Ferrari ranks #12 and sells more cars than Peugeot (48) and Citroen (43) even though Monaco is virtually in France… As expected, a number of prestigious brands find their way high up the ranking: Bentley ranks within the Top 20 most popular manufacturers with 32 units and 1.3% share, up 19%…

Maserati GranCabrio. Picture by Kristof Farkas, all rights reserved.

…Aston Martin is up a massive 29% to #24 with 22 sales, Maserati ranks #26 (-35%), Rolls-Royce is #31 (at a worrying -58%), Jaguar is #32 (-43%). Finally, notice two brands of supercars reappearing in the ranking this year: McLaren sells 3 units and Bugatti 2.

Stay tuned for a full models ranking shortly!

Previous post: Monaco 2011: Royal wedding puts BMW #1, Ferrari more popular than Peugeot and Citroen

Full 2011 Top 50 Ranking Table below.

Read more…

Ferrari 599. Picture by Yannick Van As, all rights reserved.

* See the Top 3 best-selling brands and many more pictures by clicking on the title! *

Thanks to Frederic and Gilles from blogautomobile.fr, I can add one more European Principality to the countries covered on BestSellingCarsBlog: Monaco! Yes, all supercars lovers will know that the Place du Casino in Monaco is probably the best place in the world to see that super rare Lamborghini/Bugatti/Koenigsegg/Pagani that was produced at just 3 units…and now I can share with you which cars sell best there!

Lamborghini Murcielago x2. Picture by Raphael Belly, all rights reserved.

At just 1.98 square km, Monaco is the second smallest country in the world after the Vatican and counts 35,800 cars for 35,986 inhabitants or 0.995 car per inhabitant, by far the highest ratio in the world… Crisis? What crisis? In 2011 new car sales in Monaco are up 13% on 2010 and 19% on 2009 to 2,524 registrations…

The armada of Royal Wedding BMW ActiveHybrid 7 Series 

2011 was a special year for the principality with the Royal Wedding of Prince Albert. For the occasion, no less than 200 BMW ActiveHybrid 7 Series were registered, taking sales of the German manufacturer to 381 and 15.1% market share, up 135% on 2010 and enough to make it the best-selling brand in the country. Lexus was also involved as the official car of the wedding.

Lexus LS460h

The #2 brand in Monaco in 2011 is Audi with 356 sales and 14% share followed by Mercedes at 306 units and 12%… Even though it is located in the French Riviera and bordered by France on each side, it is interesting to notice that neither Renault, Peugeot or Citroen have a dealership in Monaco… As a result in 2011 Ferrari sold more cars in Monaco than Citroen or Peugeot! (I am trying to source the exact figures for you).

Ferrari Monaco – aptly named…

Lastly, anectotally from Gilles it seems like the Mini Countryman and Range Rover Evoque have had a very promising start in the Principality.

Full 2011 Top 3 Ranking Table and more pictures of Monaco supercars below.

Read more…