Belgium October 2010: Golf #1, Sandero #14

The Belgian car market is up a healthy 10% in October with 43,570 registrations. Like in Germany, Volkswagen pulls a 1-2 this month with the Golf/Jetta #1 at 3.8% followed by the Polo at 3%. The French influence is also being felt in Belgium with the Renault Clio, Megane/Fluence and…

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Tunisia 9 months 2010: Symbol clear leader

Renault Symbol Controlled by annual import quotas, the Tunisian market is nevertheless growing a whopping 76% over 2009 with around 35,300 registrations in the first 9 months of 2010. Like in neighbouring Algeria, the Renault Symbol is the best-selling car here, with 6,867 units sold and a massive 19.5% market share.…

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Syria 2010: Cerato Forte and Elantra fight it out

Syrian consumers have chosen: they are into Korean cars, and nothing else - well, nearly nothing else. Hyundai Elantras can be seen literally on every street corner, which means the model must have been securing at least 10% of the market since its launch in 2006. Another Korean model which…

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Malta 2010: Toyota Yaris should be on top

Toyota Yaris The Maltese car market is influenced by neighbours Greece and Italy and, in all likeliness, should be led by the Toyota Yaris. The other models that could step onto the podium in Malta are the Hyundai Getz, Fiat Grande Punto and Peugeot 207. Nissan Juke The previous generations…

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Romania October 2010: 3 Dacias in Top 4!

The Romanian market is starting to recover from a catastrophic start in 2010 (-85% in January vs. '09!): October is at +9% with 8,281 sales, with the Year-to-date figure still down 27% with 70,629 registrations. No surprises on top: the Dacia Logan is king with 27.7% of the market, very…

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Iran 2010: Peugeot 405 should top the market

Saipa Tiba Iran is the biggest car market in the Middle-East with an estimated 1 million+ cars sold each year. Two main manufacturers share the market: Iran Khodro (IKCO) and Saipa. Saipa has launched the new Tiba, destined to become the brand's biggest seller: 15,000 units were built in 2009…

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Yemen 2010: Hilux and Yaris Sedan in command

Toyota Yaris in Yemeni street There are no official car sales figures available for Yemen, so I relied on observation of the main Yemeni cities' streets through YouTube videos. They show that in all likeliness, the Toyota Hilux is the best-selling vehicle in Yemen, followed by the Toyota Yaris Sedan.…

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Lebanon January-September 2010: Koreans up 87%!

The Lebanese car market is doing well in 2010 with 25,565 cars sold in the first 9 months, a 5% increase on '09. Japanese cars account for 39.2% of total sales (down 15%), Korean cars for 30.8% (up 87%!) and European 23.3%. The Association of Automobile Importers in Lebanon released…

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Oman: Toyota ahead

Observation of the streets of Muscat through YouTube videos, show clearly enough that the Toyota Yaris sedan dominates the Omani car market, ahead of the Toyota Corolla. Other successful models are the Hyundai Elantra, Kia Cerato, Toyota Land Cruiser and Kia Picanto. Please get in touch if you have any…

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United Arab Emirates: Land Cruiser an icon

The latest official data I could get my hands on dates back to 2003 and was limited to Abu Dhabi. The Toyota Land Cruiser was leading the way then ahead of the Toyota Corolla, Nissan Sunny, Nissan Patrol and Mitsubishi Lancer. Observation in Abu Dhabi and Dubai during my last…

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Canada October 2010: F-Series & Caravan post strong growths

Thanks to our friend Bart D at www.autoweek.nl, and www.autonews.com, we finally have up-to-date figures for the Canadian market, in reasonably good shape in 2010 at +1% in October (123,310 sales) and +7% Year-to-date with 1,330,658 registrations. The Ford F-Series is very impressive in #1 with a 24% growth over '09 at…

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Cambodia: Camry potential best-seller

* Click on the title for many more street scenes! * Based on observation of the streets of Phnom Penh through YouTube videos, the Toyota Camry is in all likeliness the best-selling car in Cambodia, and could have been so for many years given the number of different generations still…

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