Bulgaria September 2018: Border Police order lifts Great Wall up to #3

290 Great Wall H6 have been delivered to the Bulgarian border police.

* See the Top 40 All-brands ranking by clicking on the title *

New car sales in Bulgaria feel the after-shock of a pre-WLTP-filled month of August with September deliveries down 6% year-on-year to 2.439 but a year-to-date tally still firmly in positive at +18.3% to 31.676. Dacia (-1%) climbs up two spots on last month to top the brands ranking with 12.3% share, only five sales above Toyota (+39%) up 3 spots to #2. But the big event this month is the third place of Chinese carmaker Great Wall, up 22-fold on its September 2017 score to hit a stunning third place with 8.9% share. This is Great Wall’s third best performance ever in Bulgaria and its highest ranking and volume since kick-starting local assembly in Bulgaria six years ago when it hit the #2 spot both in October 2012 with 219 sales and 10.5% share and in December 2012 with 283 sales and 10.5% share, missing on a historical #1 ranking for just 7 units.

So why this sudden renaissance of the Chinese carmaker, which had failed to snap a Top 10 monthly finish here since February 2014 – but had climbed back up to #14 last month? The explanation is simple: a border police order of 290 Great Wall H6 that was delivered partly in August but mostly in September. These off-road H6 were delivered under the European Union’s Internal Security Fund project “Support for Migration Pressure at the Bulgarian Foreign Borders”. All cars are equipped with special engine and gearbox protection, metal grilles to protect in wooded areas, All Terrain tyres, will be the first cars in Bulgaria that feature automatic identification of vehicle registration numbers through a high-resolution camera, also including a 10″ tablet and mobile printer enabling penalty orders to be issued on the spot. More (in Bulgarian) here.

Previous month: Bulgaria August 2018: Nissan, VW and Skoda load up on pre-WLTP sales

Previous year: Bulgaria Full Year 2017: Dacia and Renault lead, Kia up 123% to #4

Full September 2018 Top 40 All-brands ranking below.