[anjan_c2007]

The U.S. car market reported robust sales figures for September 2011.The major gainers were Chrysler, Nissan and GM, all increasing their sales figures by around 20% each. Auto sales were among the economic bright spots for the U.S. economy. The sales were about 10% higher and the industry sold 1,053,761 light vehicles, pushing the seasonally adjusted annual selling rate to 13.1 million.
Of the luxury brands Audi and BMW reported 19% growth each, while Mercedes Benz reported 13% and Jaguar Land Rover 11%.Nissan's Infiniti rose 2% while GM's Cadillac rose 1%. Toyota's Lexus dropped 12 % and Ford's Lincoln and Honda's Acura fell 7% each.
Data Complied from Automotive News
The top 20 best sellers are listed on this Wall Street Journal link:
Auto Sales - Markets Data Center - WSJ.com
The Ford F Series PU remains at no. 1.Honda has three entries in the Top 20 # 7 the CRV, #9 Accord (once the top seller) and # 18 Civic.
The Toyota Camry/Solara features at no. 3 while the Corolla is at no. 12. The Hyundai Sonata is at 10 and Elantra is at 15. The Volkswagen Jetta is at 14. VW was very keen to do well in the US market as its global ambition to become no. 1 cannot be achieved by doing well at China and getting a cold reception at the U.S. that it was traditionally used to after it discontinued the Beetle.
The Chinese market grew by 7.3 % in September to 1.32 million units with discounts being offered by car makers.
Details here:
http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dl...310139878/1131
The scenario in Europe for car sales is quite grim on the contrary.The sluggish economies and the Euro crisis has largely affected new car sales.
In the U.K. car sales fell 0.8 % totaling 332,476 cars.the sales were however considered to be in track by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders who have forecast the 1.92 million for 2011. Incidentally, for 2012 the figures have been revised to a conservative 1.96 million units owing to the grim economic climate.
More here:
http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dl...111009934/1193
The car sales in Spain dipped to their lowest figures in 15 years. Spain sold 55,572 cars. A VAT hike and reduction of government incentives were blamed for the low figures.France did not have good news on this front too where the sales fell 1.4 % to 197,784 cars.The overall scenario is grim and sales are expected to fall. The car scrappage scheme in France ended during late 2010,but drivers could register their cars till March.More on this link:
http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dl...111009991/1193

[anjan_c2007]

The US car market reported a rise in October due to pent-up demand for cars and trucks, although the gains failed to offset concerns that the financial crisis in Europe could derail the industry's slow recovery.
The Ford F-Series PU remains the best selling car with 52,511 units sold.The Chevrolet Silverado PU with 36,656 units comes second, while the Honda Accord moves to the no. 3 position with 22,589 cars sold.No. 4 is the Toyota Camry/Solara with 22,043 while at no. 5 is Nissan Altima with 21838 units.The Dodge Ram is #6 with 21,037 (Sergio Marchionne booster works).
# 7 is the Honda CRV with 19326,
# 8 Ford Escape 19,046
# 9 Hyundai Sonata 18,192 (compare to the TWO units it sold in India during Oct 2011 - petrol power)
# 10 Ford Fusion 18,094
# 11 Chevrolet Equinox 17,248
# 12 Toyota Corolla/ Matrix 16,244
# 13 Honda Civic 16,173
# 14 Chevrolet Cruze 14,295
# 15 GMC Sierra PU 13,362
# 16 Volkswagen Jetta 13,058 (VW has global dreams and the US market is important for them- after the old Betele no car could sell well from VW in the US)
# 17 Hyundai Elantra 13,000
# 18 Honda Pilot 12,466
# 19 Ford Focus 12,386
# 20 Ford Explorer 11,987
(data from motorintelligence)
The Fords, Chevrolets, Hondas, Toyotas and Hyundais dominate. The Tucson from Hyundai is'nt there in the top 20.Mercedes-Benz’s U.S. deliveries jumped 23 percent to 22,637, while the BMW brand’s sales rose 13 percent to 21,873, according to statements by the carmakers.

The Chinese car market grew by 1.42 % as compared to the sales of Oct 2010, but fell by 7.5 % compared to September 2011 sales.Beijing raised the bar on vehicles eligible for fuel-saving subsidies.The sales are expected to remain gloomy for November'11 but December is likely to see a rise as most companies dole out goodies on year end sales.
Regulators raised the bar significantly from October, cutting the number of qualifying models to 49. In June 2010, Beijing started handing out 3,000-yuan subsidies to buyers of fuel-saving cars, with more than 300 models qualifying for the subsidies as of the end of that year.A total of 1.22 million sedans, sport utility vehicles and multipurpose vehicles were sold last month.

In Japan, car sales rose by double-digits last month and South Korean car makers continued their winning ways with double-digit global sales gains.

The U.K. new car market grew 2.6% in October 2011 Apart from the disappearance of Cadillac, Daihatsu, and Dodge (which sold 24 cars in all last October) a very bad decline was reported by Lotus. Down 93%, from 61 sales to just four, Lotus is going nowhere.
On the flip side, Ssangyong sales rose 290%, an increase which translated to only 29 extra sales this year. Lexus was up 82%. Land Rover sales shot up 63%. Hyundai improved by 60% . Honda and Kia both posted 55% gains.
Compared with Ford, Vauxhall, and Volkswagen, in terms of overall volume and outright popularity the other brands fade. Of the three, only Volkswagen has posted a ten-month improvement compared with 2010. Of the three, only Volkswagen failed to post a year-over-year improvement in October.
No luxury automaker competing in the United Kingdom sold more vehicles than BMW last month. BMW sales were down and Audi sales were up.
Honda beat Hyundai and Toyota but the order is reversed if we consider all vehicles registered in the U.K. so far in 2011. Land Rover sold more than 2.6 times more vehicles than Mazda. In the market share chart, Jaguar/Land Rover had a 2.8% pie of the overall UK new vehicle market in October.
There were nearly 135,000 new vehicles sold in the United Kingdom in October 2011. That means Brits bought one new car every time Americans bought 7.6 new cars. Britons have bought approximately 340,000 more new vehicles than Canadians have in the first ten months of 2011. Ford is the best-selling brand in the U.S., the United Kingdom, and Canada. 17.7 of Canada's new car market this year has been owned by the Ford Motor Company. Compare that with 13.8% in the UK and 16.8% in the U.S.

(Source: Reuters,Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News and goodcarbadcar.net)

[volkman10]

"U.S. auto sales during the month November were up on the backs of companies like Chrysler, Volkswagen and Kia, all three of which reported major gains for their respective brands. The Chrysler Group in particular posted positive numbers for all four of its brands, including a spectacular 92.23-percent rise in sales for the Chrysler brand itself. Volkswagen and Kia didn't perform quite as well, but each managed gains of around 40 percent."

November 2011: Black Friday Edition

[anjan_c2007]

The U.K. production figures for November show a 8.5% increase (year to year basis) in the car production figures at 136,111 cars. This was despite a general subdued economic outlook that is taking its toll of the European economy.
The U.K. has a very good export market in Europe and any economic weakness has its impact on the UK's car sales.
Incidentally, the commercial vehicle sales were also up 2.2 % and engine sales up 1.7 %. The U.K. auto industry paints an optimistic picture for 2012 saying the sales will further get a boost in the new year as global manufacturers have committed a $ 4 billion investment here.
Sales wise, the Ford Fiesta is on top ( 6195 units), followed by Vauxhall Corsa (5234 units), then Volkswagen Golf (4924 units), Ford Focus (4910 units),Vauxhall Astra (4518 units),Volkswagen Polo (3306 units),Nissan Qashqai (3274 units),BMW 3 series (2894 units),Mini (2834 units) and lastly Mercedes C Class (2540 units) feature in the Top Ten.

(source motoringspy and Telegraph)

The German market too reported an increase of 4 % to 269,144 units during November 2011(year to year basis).The Top 20 cars saleswise features the Volkswagen Golf/Plus/Jetta followed by the Volkswagen Passat. The Mercedes C Class is at no. 3 again followed by the Volkswagen Polo at no. 4. The Opel Astra is at no. 5. Three slots in the top five are captured by Volkswagen! Surprisingly, the Skoda Octavia is the only model from this car maker's stable to feature at # 17! And we all go ga ga over this brand. The Germans still do not digest the fact that any car marque from the erstwhile Eastern Bloc should be in their garage, despite the company now under the VW reins! I too had seen very very few Skodas in Germany during my visit on the streets.
Mercedes', Fords, Opels, Audis, BMWs are all time favorites and feature in the Top 20. For more details please see this link:

Best Selling Cars – Matt's blog » Germany November 2011: Audi A1 inside Top 20 for the first time

[volkman10]

Top 10 Worst-Selling Vehicles of 2011 in US

10. Subaru Tribeca
MSRP: $30,595
Units Sold: 2,791

9. Mazda Tribute
MSRP: $20,555
Units Sold: 2,696

8. Mercedes-Benz R-Class
MSRP: $52,690
Units Sold: 2,385

7. Suzuki Equator
MSRP: $17,899
Units Sold: 2,127

6. Cadillac Escalade EXT
MSRP: $63,060
Units Sold: 2,036

5. Toyota Land Cruiser
MSRP: $68,920
Units Sold: 1,662

4. Acura ZDX
MSRP: $46,020
Units Sold: 1,564

3. Mitsubishi Lancer Sportback
MSRP: $18,395
Units Sold: 1,548

2. Hyundai Azera
MSRP: $25,495
Units Sold: 1,524

1. Acura RL
MSRP: $47,700
Units Sold: 1,096

These are your top 10 worst-selling vehicles of 2011

[volkman10]

Germany, France Italy car sales fall in January 2012; Slight rise in Spain!

"In January, Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz had the biggest share of the German market with 23.8 percent and 9.1 percent respectively, according to KBA.
German new-car registrations dropped slightly by 0.4 percent to 210,195 in January

In France, new-car registrations fell 21 percent last month compared with January 2011, 147,143 cars were delivered in January

Sales in Italy fell 16.9 percent last month to 137,119 cars delivered.

In Spain, sales rose 2.5 percent to 54,961, delivered."



http://europe.autonews.com/apps/pbcs...120209966/1496

[volkman10]

French new-car orders fall 7% in February. Fiat leads in the downward trend. VW sales continue to rise!

"Fiat suffered the most last month, with orders down 25 percent, while Volkswagen continued to buck the trend with an 8 percent rise in February, according to the publication.
Orders fell 18 percent last month for Renault, 8 percent for Peugeot and 7 percent for Citroen."

http://www.autonews.com/article/2012...#ixzz1pF5mp2c9

[volkman10]

Car sales fall in France, Spain in March. Fiat slide continues!

"Car sales fell in France and Spain in March, with French passenger car volume down 23.5 percent as the market suffered the after-effects of a scrappage scheme. In Spain, the decline was less severe at 4.5 percent.
PSA posted a 33 percent decline to 59,290, while Renault suffered a 30 percent drop to 42,908. Fiat's sales fell 41 percent to 4,588.

Volkswagen group's French new-car sales fell less than its rivals at 11.9 percent to 26,879 as the German automaker won business with aggressive pricing on models such as the Polo subcompact.

For the first quarter, the VW Group's market share rose to almost 14 percent from 11.2 percent a year earlier, while PSA and Renault each shed more than 2 percentage points.

German premium automakers outperformed the French market last month, with BMW brand car sales advancing 1.2 percent to 4,598 and Mercedes-Benz recording a 29 percent gain to sell 4,745 vehicles."

http://europe.autonews.com/apps/pbcs...304029884/1193

[HorsPwr]

Fiat is all set to start publishing its sales figures on a monthly basis — brand by brand and region by region – in its attempt to convince investors globally. The Italian car maker revealed car sales in its home market had slowed down. Among its brands, sales of Fiat autos fell 36% to 24,900, Lancia dropped 29% to 6,490, and Alfa Romeo tumbled 46% to 3,889 in March.

The automaker, criticized in Italy for seemingly losing interest in its home country after acquiring Chrysler Group in the United States, posted sales figures on its website for February. It also published cumulative numbers since January. Such figures had always been available, but anyone interested in them had to dig deep to find the numbers and compile them for analysis. The publication of the numbers should help investors see Fiat as a global–rather than an Italian–company.

Fiat’s stock has been weighed down by its troubles in Europe, even though its sales are doing well in big markets such as Brazil and the United States.

In February, combined sales for Fiat and Chrysler was 324,000 units, up 6.9% from the same month in 2011. The sales include all the brands owned by the automakers such as Jeep and Alfa Romeo. They also include light commercial vehicles. By region, car sales fell 13.6% in Europe, Middle East and Africa, rose 33.8% in North America, and slipped 6.2% in Latin America.

Since January, sales in cars and light commercial vehicles in all markets rose 8.2% to a combined 616,800. But for the Fiat marque, sales in Italy were bleak. The company revealed that nearly 36,000 cars of one kind or another of its various brands were registered in March giving it a 26.03% share of the total, below its benchmark of 30%.

Original Source: The Wall Street Journal. The Source. April 3, 2012.

[anjan_c2007]

Originally Posted by volkman10

Car sales fall in France, Spain in March. Fiat slide continues!

"Car sales fell in France and Spain in March, with French passenger car volume down 23.5 percent as the market suffered the after-effects of a scrappage scheme. In Spain, the decline was less severe at 4.5 percent.
PSA posted a 33 percent decline to 59,290, while Renault suffered a 30 percent drop to 42,908. Fiat's sales fell 41 percent to 4,588.

Volkswagen group's French new-car sales fell less than its rivals at 11.9 percent to 26,879 as the German automaker won business with aggressive pricing on models such as the Polo subcompact.

For the first quarter, the VW Group's market share rose to almost 14 percent from 11.2 percent a year earlier, while PSA and Renault each shed more than 2 percentage points.

German premium automakers outperformed the French market last month, with BMW brand car sales advancing 1.2 percent to 4,598 and Mercedes-Benz recording a 29 percent gain to sell 4,745 vehicles."

http://europe.autonews.com/apps/pbcs...304029884/1193

Volkman, a special thanks to you for continuing with this thread. I was unable to put up updates here and its excellent that you have taken up from where it was left. Do keep on with the good work.

[volkman10]

Chrysler, VW, GM set March sales pace in US market - March

Automakers led by Chrysler, Nissan and General Motors posted higher March sales on Tuesday, with demand for smaller, fuel-efficient models, redesigned vehicles and pickups driving the gains.

Chrysler Group said its U.S. sales rose 34 percent, its fifth straight month with an increase at least that high. At GM, sales climbed 12 percent, with advances at Chevrolet and GMC offsetting declines at Buick and Cadillac. Ford Motor Co. said demand was up 5 percent, and Nissan North America jumped 12.5 percent.
Volkswagen AG said the VW brand's U.S. sales advanced 35 percent in March--the seventh consecutive month sales have climbed by that amount or more.

Chrysler, VW, GM set March sales pace - Autoweek

[anjan_c2007]

I would like to add some information about the US auto sales for the quarter ending March 2012.Nearly all car makers posted the best ever sales figures since 2008. The dark days of crisis seems passe for Detriot.
GM, Ford and Chrysler have posted very good gains and so has Toyota. Volkswagen has commenced manufacture of the Passat at its US assembly line and has reported much better sales. It aims to capture a sizable pie of the market in the US. And this time the Passat has been designed to be US specific and is not just a VW despatched to the US with German specifications for sale.
The US economy has been in a bad shape after the Lehman Brothers crises and the buyers kept on postponing a decision to replace their old cars. Come the first quarter of 2012, many buyers have commenced replacing their aging cars.This signifies that the US economy is picking up.
Another barometer I was going through was the upsurge in demand for pick- up trucks during this quarter. This according to the analysts signifies a drop in the unemployment figures, as most of the self-employed people go for the pick-ups.

[volkman10]

VW announces best ever first quarter sales!

First-quarter deliveries by Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand exceed 1.3 million for first time
10.5 percent increase in period from January to March

Wolfsburg, Germany - The Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand reported significant growth in vehicle deliveries during the first three months of 2012, handing over 1.36 (January – March 2011: 1.23 million; +10.5 percent) million vehicles for the first time in the first quarter of a year. The brand also posted a new delivery record of 536,600 (March 2011: 468,100; +14.6 percent) units for the month of March – thus handing over more than half a million vehicles to customers in a single month for the first time. "Deliveries by the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand increased yet further in March on the back of an already high level.
In the Asia / Pacific region, the brand posted a 13.7 percent rise in deliveries for the period to March, handing over 540,600 (475,500) vehicles to customers. 483,400 (429,500; +12.5 percent) vehicles were delivered on the region's largest single market of China (incl. Hong Kong) during the same period

What crisis in Europe? Volkswagen announces best-ever first quarter sales

[volkman10]

EU shows little signs of recovery!

Italian new-car sales fell 17.9 percent in April from the same month a year ago, the country's Transport Ministry said.

Monthly sales declined to 129,663 vehicles, improving from March when they fell 26.4 percent, as the effects of an auto hauler's strike diminished.

Fiat's market share rose to 31.4 percent in April, up from 26 percent in March 2012.

The decline in France's new-car sales slowed in April, helped by a gain in PSA/Peugeot-Citroen deliveries as Europe's second-biggest car market showed signs of recovery.
French light vehicle registrations dropped 1.3 percent to 200,806 last month, after a 22 percent year-on-year plunge in March, industry association CCFA said on Wednesday.

http://europe.autonews.com/apps/pbcs...305029831/1193

[volkman10]

Audi outsells BMW in April 2012 on China, Germany, U.S. demand

Audi outsold premium car sales leader BMW in April as high demand in China, Germany and the United States boosted vehicle sales.Deliveries of Audi cars and SUVs increased 14.4 percent last month to 125,200, the Volkswagen premium brand said on Wednesday.

BMW brand car sales rose 7.4 percent to 121,476 in April while Mercedes-brand sales grew 3.6 percent to 104,344.

http://www.autonews.com/article/2012...#ixzz1uQan09RA