Best Selling Cars – Matt's blog

Toyota Prius C 

* See the Top 15 best-selling models by clicking on the title! *

We are focusing today on the USA’s biggest market, California, up a fantastic 25% year-on-year in 2012 to 1,617,103 registrations, to be compared to +13% in the USA overall. This means that if California was a country, it would be the 10th biggest new car market worldwide, behind Canada (1.68m) and passing South Korea (1.5m) and Italy (1.4m) in the process. 2012 will remain a very important year for the Californian new car market: the year a hybrid car topped the models ranking for the first time. Toyota doesn’t separate sales of the different models in the Prius family in California and as a result the Prius is now the most popular car in the State, up a gargantuan 78% on 2011 to 60,688 sales for an excellent 3.8% market share.

Last year’s leader, the Honda Civic, is down to #2 even though it gains a huge 52% year-on-year to 57,124 units and 3.5%. The Toyota Camry rounds up the podium again with 50,250 sales and 3.1%, up 38% on 2011, while the Honda Accord is down 2 spots to #4 in spite of sales up a very respectable 35% year-on-year to 49,420. Below the Toyota Corolla at #5, the Honda CR-V is up 33% and one rank to #6, meaning the entire Top 6 is composed of Toyotas and Hondas…

In fact, domestic brands only represent 29.7% of overall sales in California vs. 44.5% in the USA overall… There are only two domestic models in the Californian Top 15 this year: the Ford F-Series at #7 with 25,434 units and 1.6% share and the Chevrolet Silverado at #15 with 17,804 units and 1.1%. Notice also the Nissan Altima up 26% to #8 and the Hyundai Sonata up 30% to #9.

Previous post: California (USA) Q4 2012: BMW 3 Series and Mercedes E-Class up

Previous quarter: California (USA) 9 months 2012: 3 Toyotas and 3 Hondas in Top 6!

Full Year 2012 Top 15 models Ranking Table below.

Read more…

BMW 3 Series

* See the Top 20 best-selling models by clicking on the title! *

Every quarter we now have our rendezvous with Californian new car sales, being the biggest market in the USA. Over the last quarter of 2012, the Californian new car market is up a whopping 22% year-on-year to 371,403 registrations vs. 10% growth in the USA as a whole, bringing the Full Year 2012 total to 1,617,103 units, up 13% on 2011. The Toyota Prius family confirms it is now the most popular model in the State, improving its market share to 3.9% thanks to 14,308 sales. The Honda Civic follows at 13,981 units and 3.8% while the Toyota Camry jumps onto the podium at #3 with 12,362 sales and 3.3%.

Mercedes E-Class

In fact, the entire Top 7 best-sellers over Q4 2012 are identical to the Full Year 2012 ranking, but it’s below that things get interesting, with both BMW and Mercedes models making waves. The BMW 3 Series is up to a fantastic 10th spot over the period at 5,159 units and 1.4%, whereas Mercedes manages to place two models within the Californian Top 15! The C-Class is up to #12 with 5,124 sales while the E-Class is up to #14 at 5,028 units, only 135 sales away from the 9th spot…

Previous post: California (USA) 9 months 2012: 3 Toyotas and 3 Hondas in Top 6!

Full Q4 2012 Top 20 Ranking Table below.

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The Toyota Prius is the best-selling car in California

* See the Top 15 best-selling models by clicking on the title! Many thanks to René *

* Discover Each segment’s Top 5 best-sellers by clicking on the title! *

Thanks to a tip from René I can now share with you the best-sellers in California, America’s largest state in terms of population and potentially also of new car sales. We already know the US new car market is on fire in 2012 with registrations up 14.5% year-on-year after 9 months to 10,899,949 units. Well the Californian new car market does even better: it is up a huge 38% year-on-year in September to 165,422 registrations and 26% year-to-date at 1,245,700 – meaning California captures 11% of the US market and is larger than Italy or Australia. Similarly to the Puerto Rican models ranking we explored a few of days ago, the best-selling models in California are Japanese.

Honda Civic

Whereas in the overall US ranking the Ford F-Series is by far the #1 vehicle, in California it only ranks #7 with just 1.5% market share, but is still the favourite US model. This means the Top 6 best-sellers are 100% Japanese! The Toyota Prius is the most popular car in the State with 46,380 sales and 3.7% share, followed by the Honda Civic at 43,143 and 3.5% and the Honda Accord at 39,027 and 3.1%.

The Toyota Tacoma is #11 in California vs. #29 in the overall US ranking

The Toyota Camry, #2 overall in the US, ranks 4th in California at 37,888 units ahead of the Toyota Corolla/Matrix at 29,743 sales, making it 3 Toyotas in the Top 5. With the Honda CR-V at #6 and 22,475 sales, there are 3 Hondas in the Top 6. Below the Ford F-Series, there is one more Japanese model in the Top 10 – the Nissan Altima at #8, one Korean – the Hyundai Sonata at #9 and one German – the VW Jetta at #10, but no American model until the #15 spot (Chevrolet Silverado).

Scion tC

Notice also the Toyota Tacoma at an excellent 11th spot and 2nd best-selling pick-up truck in the state after the F-Series, the BMW 3 Series up to #13 vs. #49 overall and the Mercedes C-Class up to #16 vs. #61. Further down, the Mercedes E-Class sells 11,369 units (or 25% of its overall US sales), the Honda Fit 7,735 (20%), the BMW 5 Series 7,487 (20% also), the Fiat 500 6,336 (19%), the Lexus IS 5,443 (26%), the Scion tC 3,764 (21%) and the Porsche 911 1,515 (23%).

Previous US post: USA 9 months 2012: Discover the Top 277 All-models ranking!

Full 9 months 2012 Top 15 and each segment’s Top 5 Ranking Tables below.

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208 Rolls Royce Ghost were sold in Europe so far in 2012. Picture by gstaranto, all rights reserved.

* See the Top 325 best-selling models by clicking on the title! *

Thanks to Lancia Lover from www.autoweek.nl I can share with you today and for the first time since last April a Top 325 (nearly all) models ranking for Europe over the first 7 months of 2012! Outside the familiar Top 10, the Fiat Panda is up 2 spots compared to the 4 months 2012 ranking to #11 thanks to its outstanding performance in Italy, but is still a good 13,000 units away from a spot in the Top 10 most popular cars in Europe. The Skoda Octavia is stable at #12 while the BMW 3 Series is up 5 ranks to #14 and the VW Tiguan up one to a best-ever #17 vs. #35 in 2011!

VW Up! Picture by L’Argus, all rights reserved.

The Mercedes B-Class is up 6 spots to #30, the Nissan Juke up one to a record #34 and the Opel Zafira up 4 to #39 thanks to the new Zafira Tourer. We welcome two newcomers in the European year-to-date Top 50: the Peugeot 208 is up 62 ranks to #44 with 59,607 sales, making its first appearance in the Europe Top 5 in July before breaking onto the podium in August, and the VW Up! lands at #45 with 59,328 units. Further down, notice the Kia Cee’d up 14 spots to #59, the Audi Q3 up 6 to #63 and the Mercedes M-Class up 15 to #108.

Peugeot 4008

Among other new models for 2012, the Mazda CX-5 and VW Beetle new generation are both up 22 ranks to #136 and #142 respectively, the Dacia Lodgy is up 92 to #163 with 9,200 sales, the Skoda Citigo is up 67 to #168, the Seat Mii up 64 to #185, the Kia Optima up 42 to #233, the Peugeot 4008 up 30 to #251 and the Toyota GT86 up 70 to #257.

Opel Ampera

The Toyota Prius has now a little more room to breathe in the hybrid/electric cars ranking, pointing its bonnet at #138 with 13,552 sales while the Lexus CT is down from #140 over 4 months 2012 to #155 now at 10,520 units. The Opel Ampera is up 7 spots to #221 ahead of the Nissan Leaf down 4 to #231 but passing the Honda Insight, down 18 to #236 while the Toyota Prius+ makes its first appearance in the European ranking at #243 with 1,640 sales, followed by the Honda CR-Z down 14 to #250. Note overall European sales of Chevrolet Volt are unavailable at this stage.

Volvo V40

A few other models show themselves for the first time: the Volvo V40 lands directly at #246 with 1,588 sales, the Chevrolet Camaro ranks #248 with 1,586 units, the Lexus GS is #258 with 1,187 sales, the Lancia Flavia is #286, the Ford B-Max is #298, the Peugeot 301 #314, the Citroen C-Elysee #316, the Dacia Dokker #319 and the Renault Zoe #324 with 11 units sold.

Mercedes CLS in Monaco, August 2012

The second half of the ranking still features a good number of luxury cars totally unaffected by the gloomy European sales context. The Porsche Cayenne is up to #143, the Mercedes CLS at #177, the Porsche Panamera at #201, the Bentley Continental GT/GTC is #261, the Ferrari 458 Italia #262, the Mercedes SLS AMG #271, the Audi R8 #277, the Aston Martin V8/V12 Vantage #283, the Ferrari California #284, the Maserati GranTurismo #290, the Rolls Royce Ghost #299 and the Lamborghini Aventador at #304.

Previous post: Europe August 2012: Peugeot 208 on podium, Audi #2 brand!

Previous detailed YTD post: Europe April 2012: Now available with Top 322 All-models ranking!

Full 7 months 2012 Top 325 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…

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…

The Lamborghini Gallardo ranks #285 in 2010 in Italy

* Now updated with the Top 397 best-selling models: see ‘Read more’ at end of post! *

I am now able to share with you all the detail on the Italian 2010 ranking, all data sourced from Interautonews: an All-Models ranking of all 397 cars that sold at least one unit, plus a ranking I had never seen before: a Top 20 by Regions.

In the All-Models ranking, I (finally) can share with you the official split between Grande Punto (123,454 sales) and Punto (31,882), making the Fiat Panda the actual best-seller at 138,794 units… Notice the Audi A5 at #66 (+62%), the Ferrari California at #229 (+78%), the Maserati Granturismo at #248 (-33%) and the Lamborghini Gallardo at #285 (-35%). The best-selling Chinese model in Italy is the locally-produced DR1 at #113 with 3,153 sales.

The Fiat Multipla is #7 in Piemonte

In the Regions ranking, discover that the key to the Fiat Punto’s #1 spot overall is its strength in high volume-regions, a bit like a presidential election: the Punto wins 10 regions, including Piemonte (Torino), Lazio (Roma) and Lombardia (Milano). It is also #1 in Sardegna. The Fiat Panda wins 9 regions, including Toscana and Sicilia.

The Smart Fortwo is #1 in Southern Tyrol

A curiosity: the Smart Fortwo is the best-selling model in Southern Tyrol with 2,134 sales, ahead of the Ford Fiesta, VW Polo and Golf, the Fiat Punto only ranking 5th. Here’s a region that already buys like Austria!

On the contrary, Piemonte is the kingdom of Fiats: behind the Punto and Panda, the Bravo #6 (vs. #18 overall), the Multipla is #7 with 4,477 sales or 55% of its total sales in the whole of Italy where it is only #56. The Fiat Idea is #13 (vs. #75), the Seicento is #15 (vs. #61), the Croma is #18 (vs. #57) and the Sedici #19 (vs. #50).

Full Year 2010 Top 397 and Top 20 by region below.

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The Porsche Panamera ranks #202 in Europe in 2010

* See ‘Read more’ below for the Top 371 best-selling models! Thanks to Florian for the tip *

Yes, that’s right. I give you sales figures for all cars sold in Europe last year!

Let’s look straight outside the Top 50, already well-known to you, to notice the best newcomers of the year: the Dacia Duster at #73 (54,388 sales) and the Citroen DS3 at #74 (52,987 units). The Jaguar XF is up 22% at #136 with 20,109 sales and the Range Rover Sport up 29% to #141 at 17,935 units.

Not a really good year for the BMW X6 down 10% to #142 and the Audi TT down 11% to #143. The Porsche Cayenne is boosted by its facelift, gaining 33% and 18 spots to #163 while the Porsche Panamera knocks on the Top 200′s door at #202 with 6,606 sales, up 141%.

Rolls-Royce Ghost

The best-selling Lexus in 2010 in Europe is the RX at #179 but the CT will pass it in 2011. The outrageous Mercedes SLS AMG lands in 276th position with 1,601 sales, the Ferrari California is up 45% to 1,375 sales at #288 and the Lamborghini Gallardo is down 28% to 351 sales at #338.

Rolls-Royce places the new Ghost at #339 with 350 sales and the Phantom at #363 and 131 units, while Bentley positions the Continental Flying Spur at #352 with 235 sales. The last model on the list is the Bugatti Veyron with 11 units sold, down 35%.

Bugatti Veyron

There are only 5 Chinese models in the ranking. The DR1 (or Riich M1) is the best-seller at #246 with 3,153 sales, possibly the first time a Chinese model ranks within the European Top 250. The DR5 (or Chery Tiggo) follows at #271 (-29%), then the Great Wall Steed at #302 (+3%), the Great Wall Hover at #322 (+1%) and the Brilliance BS4 at #330 (+130%). Nothing too impressive yet…

See the original Europe Full Year 2010 post with Top 50 here.

Full Year 2010 European Top 371 Ranking Table below.

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