World June 2013 Roundup: Renault Captur surprises, Skoda Rapid cannibalises

August 1, 2013
Matt Gasnier

The Renault Captur caught everyone (including me) by surprise this month.

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Contact me at matt@bestsellingcarsblog.com if you require an in-depth analysis of any of the car markets mentioned in this article.

At last the much anticipated Worldwide June 2013 Roundup is here! First a bit of update on a few new regions now covered on BSCB thanks to SMMT: we now have Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and England as monthly updates to give us more insight into what British consumers buy… There is also a brand new Photo Album about Iraq, a booming new car market, thanks to Khaled, and 2005-2012 historical data about Saudi Arabia. Secondly an overview of the largest markets with again very different behaviours on display this month: China (+12%) and the USA (+9%) are on fire once again whereas Japan (-11%), Brazil (-12%), Germany (-5%) and Russia (-10%) are having a bit of a meltdown…

Before we go any further, you can also check out a thorough halfyear 2013 summary for the Top 20 markets in the world here.

Now let’s get right into it. The Renault Captur is the hero of the month. It catches everyone by surprise in France: whereas it had not appeared in a single intermediary Top 10 all through June, it shoots up 9 spots on May to land at a spectacular 4th position thanks to 5,381 sales and 2.8% share. Its archenemy the Peugeot 2008 is up to #11 and should break into the French Top 10 next month. The Captur is also #14 in Portugal, #27 in Italy and #39 in Austria while the Peugeot 2008 ranks #18 in Portugal and #43 in Austria.

The Renault Clio is now #2 in Europe so far in 2013, below only the VW Golf.

The Captur’s supermini sister the Renault Clio is also under the spotlight this month with the 4th generation now in full gear. It is up 32% year-on-year in Europe to rank #2 both in June and year-to-date below just the VW Golf. In detail, this translate into being back to #1 in France, up a whopping 158% year-on-year to land in pole position in Portugal, up to a mammoth 12% market share in Slovenia, to #2 in Spain, in Denmark, #3 in the Netherlands, #5 and best-selling foreigner in Italy, #6 in Turkey,

Is the Skoda Rapid’s success obtained at the detriment of the Octavia?

One year ago, the Skoda Rapid launched at home in Czech Republic. But it has not helped Skoda gain market share at home (it actually declined), which could mean it has almost entirely cannibalised the rest of the range. We can see different behaviours of the Rapid and Octavia this month: the Octavia leads with a huge 6.9% share in Hungary, is back up to #2 in Romania while the 3rd generation single-handedly ranks #2 in Slovakia. On the other hand, the Skoda Rapid is up to #2 in Ukraine where it completely annihilated the Octavia down to #83 (it was #1 over the full year 2012!), up to #12 in Israel (Skoda’s best-seller there) and #15 in Kazakhstan.

Nissan Dayz