World July 2012 Roundup: Geely CK writes history in Ukraine

The Geely CK is the first Chinese model to rank #1 in an export market.

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With most July data now out, it’s time for our much awaited monthly rendezvous with the World roundup, now in its 5th instalment. While in June the spotlight was on Asia with the Ford Focus #1 in China and the new gen Hyundai Santa Fe #1 at home in South Korea, this month we are in Europe where the main three significant car sales events happened. First and this will remain a very important milestone for the car industry as a whole, a Chinese model manages to rank #1 in an export market for the very first time: it is the Geely CK and it happened in Ukraine.

Peugeot 208

The second big event in July in Europe is the first place of the Peugeot 208 at home in France in spite of difficult conditions for Peugeot with 7,115 sales and 4.8% share just as the 4th generation of its archenemy the Renault Clio was unveiled. The 208 also breaks into the European Top 10 for the first time in July at #5.

Subaru XV

For the third model under the spotlight this month we have a brand that hasn’t really made itself noticed lately: Subaru, with its new XV clearly hitting the mark in Europe: it is up to a record #9 in Norway with 263 sales and 2.2% share and to an even better 4th spot in Switzerland with 418 units and 1.7% share. These are by far the best rankings the XV has achieved so far anywhere in the world.

Nissan Qashqai

3 years after its facelift and as the new generation is scheduled to arrive within the next 12 months, the Nissan Qashqai just doesn’t stop impressing and continues to improve on already fantastic sales performances, #1 in Spain for the third time ever in what ended up being the worst July on record there, #1 in Finland for only the second time ever, up to a best-ever #14 in France and to a record 6th place in Europe, possibly the highest ever ranking of any Japanese model in the region…

Toyota Corolla Axio

Without making a lot of noise, Toyota has launched the 11th generation of the world best-seller Corolla locally a couple of months ago, and sales figures now reflect the change: the Corolla is up 4 spots on June and 114% year-on-year to #4 with 13,404 sales in Japan. This is the Corolla’s highest monthly volume in the country since March 2010 when it sold 14,416 units and its 2nd highest in the last 4 years (it sold 14,546 in July 2008).

Renault Duster

The Renault/Dacia Duster confirms its hit status in emerging markets with a great first month of sales in India at 1,194 sales. The French-Romanian SUV has received over 12,000 bookings so far in the sub-continent and thanks to its arrival, Renault sold as many cars in India in July alone as it did in the previous 3 months combined… The Duster also progresses in Russia at an estimated #11 with 5,000 sales, ranks #9 in Argentina where the Sandero is #2, and #7 in France, its best score since last November.

Renault also welcomes good news from Ireland where the Fluence is #1 for the 2nd time ever, from Slovenia where the Scenic leads the way for the first time and from its native France where the Dacia Lodgy breaks into the Top 20 for the first time at a promising #17.

Mercedes C-Class

It’s an excellent month for Mercedes: the C-Class hits its highest ever ranking in the UK by far at #7, with its previous best being #10 in December 2005 and November 2011, while the B-Class reaches its best ever position and market share in Germany at #5 with 2.3%, with its previous bests being #6 last May and 2.2% in August 2006… This in addition to the news that over 40,000 orders for the new gen A-Class have been received, prompting Merceded to hire Finnish assembler Valmet to help keep up with demand.

Previous World Roundups:

World June 2012 Roundup: Hyundai Santa Fe and Ford Focus shine

World May 2012 Roundup: GM and Toyota Etios make headlines

World April 2012 Roundup: Maruti Swift and Mazda CX-5 impress

World March 2012 Roundup: Toyota Prius breaks a leg

Read the rest of the World July 2012 Roundup by clicking on ‘Read more’ below including highlights from China, the USA, the Middle-East, Australia, the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Brazil, Italy, India, Mexico, Sweden, Slovakia, Greece, Russia and South Africa.