The Cost Of Motoring Should Be Lower

Nissan Sunderland Juke assembly. Robots help keep costs down. 


When comparing the price of appliances today with twenty years ago, you find they have more features yet are cheaper. The reason is because they are made in larger factories with mechanised production lines or cheap labour. Often one factory makes items for many companies, and a different brand name is stuck on the same product as

Selling On Value - Mitsubishi ASX In NZ

The ASX out for a coffee somewhere. Now better value.


Selling with a sharp price is fraught with danger. If you don't sell enough to justify the low price, and all you do is hurt the bottom line. If sales skyrocket, you can make up for the lower price with volume. Of course the opposition will move if it does work. The problem with that is the competitive edge is lost and everyone sells more

Italy Top Four Brands : 1970-79

The Fiat 132 replaced the fine 125, but not quite as good a car.


Moving on from the 60's, things became more fluid as brands passed and were in turn overtaken again. Fiat's Autobianchi fell away through the decade, replaced by French brands and Ford. The top share share fell from 72 to 67% as Fiat lost its total dominance of the market. Renault supplanted Alfa Romeo in second while fourth

A Tale Of Three Sectors: UK Vehicle Manufacturing

The new Qashqai being made in Sunderland, UK.


The UK car industry has more twists in it than an intricate whodunit. The latest trends have been identified at this blog before, but April 2014 confirms it. The car making industry is going well, engine production is flat and commercial vehicle manufacturing is on life support. We can see that in the charts below, thanks to the SMMT for making

Ford Vignale

Would you pay much more than a regular Mondeo? 


Ford is to introduce it's upmarket Vignale sub-brand in 2015. Why are they going to the bother? Let's see if we can find out what it is all about.

Rationale: There is little money to be made in the mass car market. Going upmarket even a little makes a difference to profitability, if you get some reasonable volume of sales.

Execution: Taking

Italy Top Four Brands : 1960-69

The Fiat 500, named after its engine size. Called the Bambina in NZ.


Back in the 1960s, Italy was getting over World War II and starting to prosper. Car sales were rising and just about everyone was buying a Fiat car. I assume import duties made sure that the home brands were the value option.

Below in the chart we see that Fiat had about 3 in every 4 sales for much of the decade. The top

UK Top Four Brands : 2001-2013

The Ford Fiesta shines in the UK, unlike the weather


In the late 90's, Peugeot and Renault got into the top four UK brands. However, it wasn't long before German makes elbowed them out. First VW came in, then BMW. BMW has now given way to Audi. Both Ford and GM Vauxhall has lost market share over the decades and that continued here. The extreme right column is the percentage share the top

Bentley Car Sales By Nation : 2013

New Flying Spur looks amazing


Bentley sales were an impressive 10,120 in 2013. With the arrival of an SUV in 2016, that will mean a larger Bentley company. 140 staff are now being sought already for the new model, which I believe will be an electric hybrid. The increase for 2013 was 19%.



Certainly a class act


The US is the biggest market by some way, especially with a downturn in luxury

Jaguar XK Sales By Nation : 2013

The XKR S looks mean alright.


The XK is coming to its end soon and with no replacement for now at least, then you had better get in now if you want one. Sales are going well in 2014, which suggests some are doing just that.

Several countries missing such as Japan (8th last year) and those in the Middle East. Still, it gives an idea of how this exclusive sports car sells around the world. The

Jaguar XJ Sales By Nation : 2013

The classy XJ. 


The big Jag sells best in Asia, the Middle East and North America. Most areas outside Europe then. I have left Japan at the bottom to show it was 6th best seller in 2012.

The XJ model was up 32% in 2013, a very strong improvement. With 3,000 plus others I'm picking I have underestimated China, but without hard facts I decided to be cautious. Korea is a market missing that

Jaguar F-Type Sales By Nation : 2013

A new model hits the showrooms for Jaguar and makes quite a splash for a convertible. The hardtop has now arrived which will really be the big seller. For those who want to feel the sensations more, a soft top cannot be beaten though.

So sales were not for a full year, were only for the open topped version and are limited with manufacturing restraints as to how many can ultimately be made. About

Range Rover Sales By Nation : 2013

The Range Rover has presence, like no other SUV.


As mentioned elsewhere, the Range Rover is sometimes combined with the Sport model. Below there are two charts, one the Range Rover and the other RR and Sport models combined. Sometimes nations jump from one list to the other, depending on how the sales data was released from year to year.

Of the markets that have 'est' next to them are based

Range Rover Sport Sales By Nation : 2013

Big, Bold and imposing. No not me, the car.


The 'Others' are quite high here because some countries count the Range Rover and Sport models together. They are quite different apart from the name. The new RR Sport model came late in the year so it is 2014 sales that have really taken off.



It like corners too.


The USA is the market for the model, with over a quarter of all sales. It is also

Jaguar XF Sales By Nation : 2013

The Jaguar XFR-S. I like the blue and, of course, its style.


The XF has continued to sell strongly well into it's model cycle, with a 37% increase. I guess that is testament to the quality of design in the first place. With China being such an important market, I included it, not as a wild guess but it is more of an estimate than any other 'est' listed here. Of the others, Australia had a

Land Rover Freelander Sales By Nation : 2013

The Freelander as it looks now...


The Freelander (LR2) is coming to its conclusion. It will be reborn as the Discovery Sport in 2015. Until then it soldiers on as a very capable vehicle, selling in quite good numbers. It looks smart, drives well and goes off road with the usual LR aplomb.



...and how it will look as the Discovery Sport.


Below are sales figures by nation that I have been

Top 16 Models/Brands Belgium: 1990

It may have sold well but I cannot say I am taken by it.


Sixteen is an unusual number but that is how many models exceeded 10,000 sales. Some model names remain but many have been superseded.



The Vectra was quite a good car.

As far as brand sales go, in 2013 VW is still top, Renault 2nd, Peugeot 3rd and Citroen 4th. Premium brands do better now with BMW 5th, Audi 7th and Mercedes 9th.

UK Top Four Brands : 1985-2000

The British loved the Escort.


Having considered the top four makes from 1965-84, we move on to the mid eighties. Ford took over from BL in 1977 and has stayed there since. BL became the Rover Group in 1986 as it tried to regroup. GM's Vauxhall had mixed results but settled down in the late eighties. Nissan enjoyed nine years at fourth until Peugeot - using the Rootes (Hillman) factory to make

Lotus Sales By Country : 2013

The new CEO with the Exige S


The Malaysian owners DRB-Hicom have much potential with this iconic sports car maker, but how to realise that will be the challenge. The Lotus car company just got a new CEO, Jean-Marc Gales (originally from Luxembourg). He was recently CEO of PSA but has worked for other car makers too. Hopefully he has some good ideas to take things forward.

Japan has been the

Aston Martin Sales By Country: 2013

The Aston Martin Vanquish - which means utterly defeat. 


The Aston Martin company is an independant one, not owned by a major car maker like other exclusive marques. Recently it agreed to a component and power plant deal with Mercedes Benz. You just cannot go it alone unless you have a special niche such as Morgan cars does.

Below is a list of countries that I have been able to compile. They

Future Fuel

The way of the future?


Early cars used various fuels but those motivated by petroleum products took control. Once fuel stations were set up cost, convenience and abundant reserves meant no other fuel type could compete. The negatives are inefficiency and pollution. The only thing petroleum still offers is convenience, so where next?

Electric is being pushed in some places as a cost effective