Cyprus Car Sales : 1998-2003

Cyprus is a small island state in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, divided into a Greek and Turkish side. I presume car sales are for the whole island. Sales are not large in number and there are many brands. Things change rapidly here as you will see. They tend to in smaller markets.

VW was top in the year 2000 but fell to 5th in 2001. Mitsubishi dropped from 2nd in 1999 to 8th in 2000 and for

Porsche Production By Model : 1991/2 - 2014

Porsche is an iconic sports car brand that had to change. It was hard to survive on just sports cars so branched out into SUVs. Some wondered if that would dilute the brand but it didn't and made the company much more profitable. It became part of the VW Group around 2010.

One problem I had with the data was the production figures from 1991/92 to 2009/10 cover July to June. The 2010 figure

USA Car/Light Truck Sales By Brand : 2010-14

The empire strikes back could have been the title of this article. Well, maybe overstated but US car makers took the fight to the Asian competition and did OK. Toyota was top in 2009, but went straight back to third in 2010. Hyundai's market share fell from 5.1% in 2011 to 4.4% in 2014, so that assault was blunted.

Therefore, a small victory for the US Big Three as they rationalised their

Canada Car/Light Truck Sales By Brand : 2010-14

Honda moved 66,000 Civics in 2014 


Overall sales went on an upward trend since the poor sales of 2009. Ford managed to see off the Toyota challenge to pull away at the top. Honda managed a good few years and now outsell Chevrolet. Ram was spun off from Dodge and even managed to outsell its once parent brand. Both Chrysler and Jeep improved their sales for a strong result for the combined

Bentley Production By Model : 1998-2014

Bentley was founded in 1919 by W.O. Bentley. It was bought by Rolls Royce in 1931 after it went into receivership due to the financial crisis at the time. In 1980, Rolls Royce Motors (including Bentley)  was bought by Vickers. The neglected Bentley marque was then revitalised and by 1991, Bentley and Rolls Royce sales were about 50:50.

In 1997, Vickers decided to sell and BMW was the front

UK Top 20 Models : 1980-84

The roomy, stylish and frugal Maestro, but reliability was not the best


The tittle is almost right, 1980 is a Top 14. Any Top 10 placing is highlighted in brown. The data is as accurate as I can get it but if anyone can assist with 1980, just let me know.

There were many changes in this five year period. The Cortina became the Sierra and the latter didn't do as well. The Vauxhall Chevette

Renault Group Car/LCV Global Production By Model : 2010-14

The final in a series that covered Renault Group production plants now covers the global total for each model. It includes Renault, Dacia and Samsung brands.

The first thing I noticed was the consistency of the yearly totals. The Renault Group hasn't kept pace with worldwide increases, but with a poorly performing Europe (which Renault is heavily reliant) and no production in a booming China

USA Car/Light Truck Sales By Nameplate : 2005-09

America had fallen in love...with the Camry. Is it that good?


The economic downturn of the late 90's really hurt car sales Stateside. Out of that carnage, Toyota became the top nameplate. Nissan passed Dodge while Hyundai and Kia saw off GMC and Jeep. Pontiac fell from 7th to 18th over the decade, while Chrysler went from 7th in 2007 to 19th in 2009! From the year 2000 Buick went from 11th to

Mexico Car/Light Truck Sales By Brand : 2010-04

Top seller in Mexico in 2014 was the Chevrolet Aveo


With sales continuing to improve, most brands had volumes growing nicely. Nissan took the chance to consolidate the top spot. Its share of 25.7% is the highest for the market leader since 1999, when GM took 26.3%. There were far fewer brands available back then too.

Amazingly Hyundai only arrived in 2014 and Kia was not even around (it

UK Top 20 Models : 1975-79

I decided to include the Top 20 as I had consistent data for each year. The first sales figures column is how the best 20 finished in 1979. Any models below were also all Top 20 finishers between 1975-78. If sales didn't make the Top 20, then the sales figure square is blank.

Looking at the Top 10 first. Seven US brands and three UK ones made up the best selling models. Ford had five of them,

Canada Car/Light Truck Sales By Nameplate : 2005-09

Nearly 37,000 Ford Escape SUVs found homes in Canada in 2009


Nothing moves that quickly in the Canadian car market but trends are there to be found. For example Ford fell badly from 2000 to 2015, then came back as can be seen here. Toyota had a steady increase throughout the decade to come in second. Chevrolet climbed out of a slump from 2003 to 2005, but then slip badly down to 2009. In fact

Renault Group Car/LCV Production By Plant For Africa/Mid East : 2010-14

Some say Logan, some say Symbol


In the final regional view in the series (a summary to come) we take in Africa and the Middle East. Not a huge part of Renault's production, but growing quickly. It has gone from 3.4% of the total to 11.6% in the five years covered here. Morocco went from three to four models, but the gain is in the volume of each model.

Due to the political situation in Iran,

Lamborghini Production By Model : 2010-14

The Huracán (for the uninitiated)


Lamborghini has only been making cars since the mid-1960's. It's had numerous owners as is often the case with this sort of small, exotic car maker. Making a business case for low volume cars is not easy in this day and age. It is now owned by VW and and is a subsidiary of the Audi marque and going very well.

The Huracán coupé is doing very well,

Winners & Losers : 2016

The competitors will be chasing Toyota, not VW 


The calendar year is about finished for 2015 so which car makers can look back with satisfaction and which ones will not? Divided into nations or regions for compactness, here we go:

USA: GM, Ford and Chrysler were all pretty neutral although Jeep did well. Tesla will be happy with progress being made so let's give them a win.

Germany: The

UK Top 10 Models : 1970-74

The best Cortina (IMO), the Mk III. It was hugely popular in NZ too


Imports were increasing their presence but still all the Top 10 models were either UK (green) or US (blue) owned. From 1963 to 1971, the 1100/1300 range had been the best seller (except for 1967). In 1972 that run came to an end. In fact that was the last year that a UK model was number one. From that year to 2015, a Ford has

USA Car/Light Truck Sales By Nameplate : 2000-04

The Ford Taurus. Was it just bull?

This was a testing time for US brands due to pressure from Asia. Ford started the decade well ahead in the sales by nameplate stakes, but quickly slipped. The Ford Taurus Model went from 382,000 in 2000 to 248,000 in 2004 or 134,000 less in those years. The Toyota Camry through the same period held its sales volumes so Ford was feeling the heat from Japanese

Mexico Car/Light Truck Sales By Brand : 2005-09

Mazda arrived in Mexico with a bang


From a country with a few brands selling to in a short time a proliferation of makes available. It was quite a change due to an opening up the market. Many Mexicans are not happy about what took place but that is usual because there will be people who's livelihood was affected negatively by the new competition.

For the car buyer and even the car industry,

UK Top 10 Models : 1965-69

Things were very different back in the late 60's in the UK. All the top 10 and in fact nearly all cars sold were built domestically. Green represents local brands and blue US owned. That said Hillman was taken over by Chrysler in 1967 so could be either colour and still be correct.



The BMC 1100


BMC: The Austin/Morris 1100/1300 range was top selling model in all but 1967, when the Ford

Canada Car/Light Truck Sales By Nameplate : 2000-04

Unlike the Canada 1995-99 compilation, this time it's nameplates. It gives more detail but a longer list to sift through. Overall a fairer way to do it.

The first thing I notice about a list like this is the poor showing of European brands (coloured pale blue). VW sales fell badly while the market held up. It's share slumped from 2.8 to 2.9% in this period. The top 10 was dominated by US and

Renault Group Car/LCV Production By Plant For America : 2010-14

The Renault Sandero has proved popular on the region


Renault's manufacturing presence in the Americas is limited to the southern region where they sell. About 12% of total production at Renault Plants was in this region in 2010, climbing to just over 19% in 2014, but slipping back to under 15% for 2015. Economic conditions, especially in Brazil was the reason for the lower 2015 figure of

Mexico Car/Light Truck Sales By Brand : 2000-04

The Nissan Tsuru was a no frills budget model. Over 68,000 were sold in 2004


Sales were building and new brands were arriving in numbers. It was assisted by trade liberalisation as best I can tell. GM was now under pressure from an improving Nissan, while VW and Honda were holding sales but losing their share of the market.

The way new brands quickly established themselves with healthy sales

Canada Car/Light Truck Sales By Brand : 1995-99

This list is a bit unfair because the US brands include all nameplates while some Japanese ones have their premium marque separate. However, I decided to keep as much detail in the chart as I could.

GM was miles in front, while Ford and Chrysler were neck and neck for second and third. The profusion of salmon colour is not to promote Canada's fishing industry but is testament to the way

Renault Group Car/LCV Production By Plant For Asia : 2010-14

The largest production model in Korea


Renault only has any manufacturing presence in Asia due to its purchase of Samsung in the year 2000 which is the Korean component, and the alliance with Nissan who makes cars in India for Renault.

First up the Korean operation, which is a Renault Group facility. With a capacity of something like 300,000 cars, it has of late been well short of that.

Mexico Car/Light Truck Sales By Brand : 1995-99

Back in the 1990's Mexico was a very different market. It was protected by duties and only a few brands made cars there. Nissan was top dog in 1995 as it had been at least back to 1992 when my records run out. However, it was hunted down by GM and had to be content with 2nd. VW, Ford and Chrysler rounded out the top 5 and after that there wasn't much. They had 99% of sales in 1995 and 96% in

Renault Group Car/LCV Production By Plant For Europe : 2010-14

I have to take my hat off to Renault. While many car makers retain data for their company like they are guarding the crown jewels, Renault allows access. In fact, no one is more generous in this regard. Does it hurt the company to be so open? Of course not, their competitors could get the data themselves. All that secrecy does is reduce exposure.

That said, it took more time than I wished in

Ecuador Vehicle Sales By Brand : 2010-14

A Chevrolet negotiating a leafy street in Quito


Sales are remarkably stable for this five year period. So too are Chevrolet registrations, as it continues to dominate the market with about 45% share. Kia at least increased it's percentage of sales but sister brand Hyundai fell by more, from 13% to under 9% from 2010 to 2014.

European brands have work to do. Only Renault can squeeze into the

Bulgaria Car/LCV Sales By Brand : 2005-09

The Toyota Yaris suitably painted in battleship grey. They still sold well


Sales bounced around in Bulgaria at this time. Mind you that is how things seem to be in this nation. Sales had been around 10,000 earlier in the decade and here they were at 57,000 in 2008. That sort of increase usually doesn't last and the economic downturn took effect in 2009. As bad as that fall was, up until and

Ecuador Vehicle Sales By Brand : 2005-09

In markets such as this protection through import duty means that a handful of brands do well and the rest make up the numbers. Chevrolet made up over 40% of the sales in the years shown below. There are many brands on the market but most in tiny numbers.









Rk
Make
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009



1
GM
37,594
39,855
36,174
47,519
40,185



2

Samsung Production By Model : 2000-14

Samsung is a very large and successful Korean conglomerate which diversified into cars, commencing production in 1998. Almost immediately sales were hit by the Asian financial crisis and by the year 2000 it became part of the Renault Group with Samsung retaining a minority share.

The first model was the SM5, basically a Nissan Maxima. The next car was the SM3 in 2002, again a Nissan based

Netherlands Car Sales By Brand : 2010-14

The current Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV


After a few years where sales rebounded from a poor 2009, things ended up back at the same level by 2014. Micro cars continued to swell the 'other' figure, VW made it ten years at number one and Toyota may have been 2nd in '10 but ended up 7th by '14.

Further down Volvo used the five years wisely, going from 15th to 5th. It's success is based around

Dacia Production By Model : 2000-14

The 1300...


In 1968 Dacia started making the Renault 8 under licence as the Dacia 1100. Until 1972 about 37,500 were made. In 1969 the 1300 model was added (Renault 12) and in total nearly 2 million were produced. The Nova was a local model, a small 5 door liftback that was released in 1995. Later it became the SupeRNova and in turn the Solenza but I stick to the Nova name in the production

Netherlands Car Sales By Brand : 2005-09

Over 8,000 Prius were sold in 2009 in the Netherlands


Big changes occurred here. An economic downturn had sales falling. Opel had been the biggest selling brand since the 1970's but lost that in 2005 and ended up 5th by 2009. Toyota increased its share from 6.1% in 2004 to 9.7% in 2009. Renault dropped from 10% in '04 to 6.1% in '09. Audi was 19th best seller in 2000 but ended up 9th.

Bulgaria Car/LCV Sales By Brand : 2000-04

The Daewoo Lanos 


The data is as accurate as I can get it but at least it gives an idea as to what has happened there. Chevrolet started in a strong position but fell away. Whether the change of ownership to GM from Daewoo in 2001 had an impact or not I'm not sure. It was certainly tight at the top in 2004.

Toyota went from 8th to 1st in five years, while Ford fell from 3rd to 6th. Overall a

Netherlands Car Sales By Brand : 2000-04

The Peugeot 307 racked up over 25,000 sales in 2003


Clearly the Netherland's economy was in a period of readjustment in the 1990's. Through this time car sales were sliding down and GM Opel was doing it tough, as was VW. Opel's lead evaporated as Renault and Peugeot held their sales and gained market share in the process. It's amazing how some car brands slumped and other didn't at all, even

Bulgaria Car/LCV Sales By Brand : 1995-99

The capital city Sofia


Data for countries like Bulgaria isn't that easy to find. Some years ago it was easier and below are sales for both cars and light commercial vehicles, which explains a few of the unusual names. It's not a large car market as the country is not that financially well endowed.

Lada started the period well ahead but fell away to end up 13th. Daewoo ended up the most

Mauritius Car Sales By Brand : 2010-14

Toyota Mauritius in a celebratory mood


In the Indian Ocean lies the Republic of Mauritius. sales data is not that easy to come by but can be found with some effort. 2012 is missing a small amount of data, hence the higher 'Others'. Kia came roaring to the front over this period but was nearly pegged back by Toyota in 2014. Nissan too is going well but with sales on the up, good news stories

Netherlands Car Sales By Brand : 1995-99

Over 17,5000 of the Opel Corsa model were sold in 1999


Car sales were on a roll in the Netherlands and hit an all time peak in 1999. Unfortunately for GM Opel, it wasn't maintaining its share of the pie and was in danger of losing its long held lead. VW was breathing down its neck and 30,000 Golf sales were instrumental in that. Renault had now passed Ford. Generally Japanese brands had grown

Netherlands Car Sales By Brand : 1990-94

Over 40,000 Opel Astras were sold in the Netherlands in 1992


In the Netherlands the economy took a dive in 1993 and car sales dropped 100,000 units. By 1994 GM Opel retained its long standing lead by some margin but Ford slipped to third and only just held off Renault. Three Japanese brands ended this period in the top 10 which was a good time for them. Further down Kia was just starting its

Netherlands Car Sales By Brand : 1985-89

Nearly 17,400 Ford Sierras were sold here in 1987


GM and Ford were well ahead of everyone else, surprising for a market without a local brand to latch on to.
Opel had nearly 18% share in 1985, but slipped below 14% in 1989. Was this a trend that would continue? Time would tell. The Japanese brands did well, with Nissan 5th for three years to 1989. Peugeot was 10th in 1985 by then jumped to

Netherlands Car Sales By Brand : 1980-84

The Opel Kadet 


Car sales were quite stable in this period despite economic reforms going on. A poor 1981 highlights that but as badly as it could have been. Two U.S. car companies were comfortably on top at this time. I would have liked to separate VW and Audi but couldn't for all the years so combined them for consistency (nearly 6,000 Audi car sales in 1984). I did the same for Peugeot and

Belgium Car Sales By Brand : 2010-14

The frugal and environmentally friendly 'Blue Motion' VW


In the last of the series, sales have slipped a bit and VW cheated..er, I mean made their way to the top. The two PSA brands have made the next spots their own. BMW has done well to get so high, with Audi and Mercedes not far behind. GM Opel and especially Ford have given up on chasing volume and that is the result, less sales but maybe

Belgium Car Sales By Brand : 2005-09

Renault ended up on top, thanks to cars such as the Clio


Sales were strong but took a dip in 2009 with another economic hiccup. As expected for a nation that doesn't have a local brand to identify with, the top area is congested with no brand having a clear lead. The French trio ended up 1-2-3 after VW had led for three years previously.

Kia had a tremendous run from obscurity while Škoda

EEC Sales By Brand : 1967-69

The Fiat 125


Before the days of the Internet, information was put on paper and often impossible to be accessed by everyday people. The information superhighway offers so much potential today for the exchange of information. The negative is that some don't want us to have it and for a variety of reasons.

It may have some commercial value. Perhaps there is concern that the information will be

Belgium Car Sales By Brand : 2000-04

Sales were strong through this period, top makes exceeding 50,000 per annum. VW fell from top to 4th, with Renault and Peugeot dog fighting over the vacated position. Toyota was the only Asian brand that could better 12th in 2004.

MINI and smart arrived during this time while MG Rover was about to call time. Fiat managed to half its sales during the half a decade under review. As usual the

Mature Market Vehicle Production : Spain

SEAT cars are still made, but now owned by VW


Spain is the 9th largest car market in the world and second largest in Europe. The country has a long history with car production, since 1953 when SEAT and Renault both started to make cars there. In the 1960's Citroën, Chrysler and BMC (Authi) opened plants. The 1970's saw the end of Authi but Ford came along.

In the 1980's GM and VW joined car

Belgium Car Sales By Brand : 1995-99

Economics improved toward the end of this period and sales took off and Belgians like buying new cars. VW strengthened its position as did the two PSA marques. Others such as Nissan had a poor few years, so the usual ups and downs of any market.







Rk
Make
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999


1
VW
48,889
54,530
54,781
56,281
64,148


2
Renault
39,642
43,724

Premium Production By Marque : 2010-14

Recently Audi's CEO Rupert Stadler when asked about newcomers to the mid-sized premium segment responded “Who is Alfa Romeo?” That got me thinking. Apart of the rudeness and disrespect of the comment, is a small selling marque of no importance to the bigger companies?

Well Alfa Romeo has only 1% of the production so it is for now nothing more than a blip on the radar. However, things can change

Car Production In Germany By Brand : 2000-09

This was the first time since WW II that numerically there was a drop through a decade. Production did hit a record in 2007 but the economic downturn hit and volumes suffered. Premium production was 41% in 1999 but had quickly reached 50% by 2006. Mainstream models are affected more by economic depressions but also the high cost of making cars in Germany was sending some production elsewhere.

Belgium Car Sales By Brand : 1990-94

The Renault Clio arrived in 1990 


As best as I can I put together this list. Any input welcome. Car sales were going well until the recession which hurt the car market in 1993 and 94. Opel started the period ahead but lost out to VW and then Renault. Lada had a rough time but further down Rover seemed unconcerned and was on a roll.

European brands did well as expected with the U.S. European

Italy Car Sales Fiat vs The Rest : 1955-59

The Fiat 1100 came out in 1953 and an attractive car for its day.


I managed to find sales figures for Fiat from way back in the mists of time. Well, the late 50's at least. The Italian market was protected from imports and the Fiat brand reigned supreme. In 1955 it held a staggering 92% of the total sales! I suppose the locals were just happy to afford a car at all after the ravages of war in

Car Production In Germany By Brand : 1990-99

The Focus came out late this decade made at Saarlouis, Saarland


The early 1990's were marked by a recession, noted in the production chart below. Mainstream car production numbers didn't change during this period, while toward the end of the decade premium cars were hitting 40% of the total cars made in Germany. Ford went from 3rd largest German car producer to 6th over this time.

All

Sharing Pick-Up Trucks

Car makers need to be working more together but there needs to be a fair amount of differentiation in appearance if not mechanically. When a vehicle simply has a new grille, then maybe not enough was done. Of course, the more that is done to distance the two, the greater the cost.

Mitsubishi is preparing a pick-up truck for Fiat for late 2016 release. Fiat will be sold mainly in Europe and Latin

Car Production In Germany By Brand : 1980-89

The Audi 90. Clean lines but it looks so 80's


An extra million cars were added to the production numbers for the nine years from 1980 to 1989. Premium brands made up 20% in 1971 but climbed during that decade. For the 80's it was consistently around the third mark. BMW and Audi were closing in on Mercedes but all three were buoyant. Not so for Porsche, whose production slumped in 1988. The

Fiat Spider Mk II

The Fiat looks more conservative than the Mazda


Fiat has a poor range of cars in my opinion. It doesn't have a lot of money to play with either as much of that is going to revive Alfa Romeo. It needs more models and it has landed one courtesy of Mazda, the Fiat Spyder. It was going to be an Alfa model but the decision was made for it to be a Fiat, including a sportier Abarth version later as

Car Production In Germany By Brand : 1970-79

1.7 million Opel Kadets were made from 1973-79. A nice, simple car 


Production volume continued its steady incline in Germany, despite the the oil crisis that hit mid-decade. VW continued as the mainstay of the volume, although it went from 46% of the total in 1969 to 33% by 1979. Both GM Opel and Ford had solid gains too. However, while Mercedes and BMW were doing nicely, Audi was stuck in

Citroën Car/LCV Production By Model : 2014

The C-Elysee going well for Citroën


Citroën grew numerically 2% for 2014. The two big improvers were the C4 and C-Elysee both adding 50-60,000 more units. I included the DS range with other Citroën models as to me they are still very similar and yet to establish themselves as a stand alone premium range. That will take years. I noticed the van range has held up better for the chevron brand

Peugeot Car/LCV Production By Model : 2014

Peugeot managed a 3% increase in production for the year. Most models were produced in lower numbers as the salmon colour below would indicate. The green models went up, in particular the 308 and 2008 which added 50,000 and 129,000 units respectively. The yellow colouring at the bottom is for models no longer made.

The numbers below include both passenger cars and light commercial vehicles. '

Car Production In Germany By Brand : 1965-69

An advanced car for its day that was a flop on the sales front


Production continued it's upward trend in Germany through the late 1960's. VW was accounting for half of the volume and GM Opel not far off a quarter. Ford managed to produce less units surprisingly. Mercedes was increasing consistently and NSU released the technically advanced Ro 80 model in 1967. Sales were poor, as was its

Is VW's Desire To Compensate Cynical?

VW is refusing to compensate European customers the way it is for the US and Canada. They say the compensation is for the North American region only. Someone at VW needs to do their homework. A newsreader in New Zealand who's husband bought a Škoda said they got a letter saying they would be getting compensation, larger than the US amount but consistent with exchange rate differences. Mind you

Car Production In Germany By Brand : 1960-64

The 1960's was a time of increased prosperity in the Western World, especially Europe as it shook off the effects of war. So how was German car production back then? Let's see.

Borgward Group: Making cars under the Goliath, Borgward, Hansa and Lloyd brands, it got into financial trouble and folded. Many of the engineers went to BMW.

Porsche: A small sports car maker at this time, volume was

Euro Sales By Brand : Jan-Oct 2015

The chart below is ranked according to sales for October. The green is for gain in market share for either October or Year To Date. Sales for October slowed to +2.7%, compared for the YTD figure of +8.2%. The UK was down slightly after many months of gains.

VW had a small drop in sales but the fall out from the scandal would have had marginal effect. The largest brand to be up both for the month

Mature Market Vehicle Production : Germany

The VW 1500 Variant. I had a dinky car of the saloon model


Germany has held up well for a mature market. It has local brands so that helps keeping production from moving elsewhere. Of late being tied to the Euro is a huge benefit too. While many bemoan bailing out Greece, I feel that Germany gets more back when it comes to exporting cars. If Germany still had the Mark it would be much higher

JLR's Refocus From 2015

It's been a case of 'pedal to the metal' for Jaguar


JLR has been going at frenetic pace by motor industry standards. It is a capital hungry business and to grow quickly costs a lot. In Jaguar's case it only had three models, two of which were small volume. The XF was the only one that you could call a large selling model and in its segment it is not a big fish. So how was Jaguar going to

Are Alfa Romeo Volume Predictions Realistic?

The CEO of FCA Sergio Marchionne is keener than most to postulate on future car sales for brands within his car organisation. He predicted that Maserati would reach 50,000 sales by 2015, but it looks like that will be more like 35,000 and 2016 will be the year for the 50k mark to be reached. The Ghibli model's sales haven't held up in 2015 as hoped. New models can do that.

So seeing as Alfa

Range Rover Evoque Convertible

Nissan did the Murano CrossCabriolet and it bombed. The soft top market isn't what it was. Perhaps worry of too much sun on the skin is part of the reason. Maybe they are just not what people want anymore. So why is Land Rover doing one? Because it is drop dead gorgeous. I love style, I like to think I have an eye for it. Mind you I think anyone would appreciate how it looks.

What I like is

Jaguar NZ "Actual Reality" Prank!

This is amazing. I just want to know why I didn't manage to get in on the action....

VW Group Cheating : What We Learn So Far

Of course the whole debacle has been unfolding and becoming clearer with each startling revelation. So this isn't a definitive conclusion. Too much water is still to pass under the bridge. However, now that a full month of sales have been assessed, what can we learn so far?

1) The VW brand has been hit the worst. Škoda, Audi and now Porsche are involved but the VW Group name is more obviously

Mature Market Vehicle Production : UK

Some great cars from Austin back in the 1960's


The UK car manufacturing industry has had had its ups and downs and ups. In the 1950's it emerged as a successful industry, went into decline in the 1970s', had a brief gain from the late 1980's, slipped a little and making a small comeback at this point. Below is what I mean.









Year
Vehicle
Car
CV
% CV



1950

Nice Guys Get Washed Away

The truth is that life today looks refined but behind the facade it is a jungle. As the saying goes "Civilisation is a thin veneer". Outwardly everything looks honourable but behind the scenes deals are done and then made to look innocent.

The downside to all this is in most cases cheating pays. Playing by the rules gives you a good conscience but if your opponent isn't, then you are at a

Car/LCV Sales Russia By Brand : 2010-14

Sales rebounded after 2009 quite well but now the Ukrainian fiasco has had a depressing effect on sales for 2015. In this final in the short series, Lada remained on top but with an ever decreasing share. That reduced from 27 to 17% in this period. I read somewhere that in 2014 that Lada on accounted for just 4% of car sales in Moscow. It must be really popular in rural areas. The economic

Shifting Buying Patterns In New Zealand 2014-15

Comparing the first nine months of 2014 to 2015 (Jan-Sep) shows a trend that is probably fairly common around the world. Below there are four categories, cars, SUVs, pick-up trucks and MPVs and small buses - the latter I assume is mainly vans with seats.



NZ's number one selling car, the Corolla


Cars: There is no surprise that the car is the largest segment but losing share. The 4-door is

Now Porsche Engine Implicated!

A new accusation from the US Environmental Protection Agency that the 3 litre diesel engine fitted to the 2014 Volkswagen Touareg, the 2015 Porsche Cayenne, and the 2016 Audi A6 Quattro, A7 Quattro, A8, A8L, and Q5 has also been rigged. VW has denied the latest allegation about the engine, developed by Audi.

VW is sure this is incorrect but if proven to be true, shows how difficult it is to

How Are VW Sales In October 2015?

I will keep this article up to date as I can when sales come in. It will compare 2015 with 2014.

So far these are the markets I have. The first percentage figure is comparing VW sales for 2015 and 2014. The figure in brackets is total market comparison. So for Austria as an example VW sales are up 3% for October 2015 against October 2014. The total market was down 7% in October. Therefore

Car/LCV Sales Russia By Brand : 2005-09

What a five year period here! Sales skyrocketed then imploded. The Russian car market was spoken of as becoming Europe's largest, passing Germany. However things didn't go that way and the economic downturn hit Russia badly.

The market itself saw Lada go from over half of all sales to less than a quarter by 2009. New Chinese brands appeared with varying degrees of success. It really did have

Car/LCV Sales Russia By Brand : 2001-04

Sales data for Russia today is quite accessible but go back to this time and it is not so much. In fact prior to 2001, I don't have much at all. There are many readers from Russia that come to this blog so if anyone from that region can let me know where I can find older sales statistics, please drop me an email rdc1234@gmail.com.

Lada was totally dominant back then with Western makes just

Have Some Fun

I recall some years back doing some work for a company that had a boss from Germany. I noticed the staff at the company seemed a bit fearful of him because he could get very angry if things were not done his way. The following comparison is between what I saw of this man and VW.

I wasn't an employee but in my work there I made a decision that got him angry and he really yelled at me. A short

Mature Market Vehicle Production : Japan

Japan is seen as an industrial miracle of post war years. They set about systematically improving their products and searching for markets to sell in. They cooperated in a way the west would think was uncompetitive. It worked and Japan became a leading car making country.

As volumes reached numbers that could lead to a consumer backlash overseas, they set up factories to avoid that. If

Car Sales France By Brand : 2010-14

The Nissan Qashqai has sold well in France


The car market in France has been subdues for the last few years. Seeing as the big three French car makers rely so heavily on local support, it has hit them. Added to that they have collectively slipped just below 50% of total sales. Renault had 40% of sales in 1980, 30% in 1994 and now under 20%. That has been a common pattern for many top selling

Denmark Car Sales By Brand : 1985-89

The Opel Kadet was part of the successful GM range at the time

I am unsure why car sales fell so much in in Denmark during the late 1980's  but I assume it was because of government intervention in the form of taxes. This would have helped the balance of payments which is something that Denmark always has to wrestle with. If I am correct, then the high taxation of cars worked.

GM Opel led for

Mature Market Vehicle Production : Italy

The 127 model, when Fiat made desirable, fun cars


Italy is known for design and flair. It has injected these qualities into its cars, well most of the time. No one always gets it right. Looking at the Italian car industry is a lesson in how to do things and and how not do them as well.

As Europe picked itself up from the horrendous events of mid-century, car making was soon a major part of

The Giant Awakens From A Nap

The Camry is such a conservative car, I fell asleep looking at it. 
Toyota can do better


Toyota was driven to be number one and achieved that for the first time in 2008. For 2011, GM temporarily took the mantle back when Toyota faced some challenging problems. Toyota then took it back but realised it had become distracted by the goal to be at the top. Reliability for one thing suffered and

Car Sales France By Brand : 2005-09

Dacia is finding its way nicely around France


French brands still dominate but there was a drop in their share from 58 to 54%, still an amazing amount. Ford and GM took different directions as Ford had a strong run but not Opel. Toyota had a roller coaster ride as it went up but fell back to where it started. Fiat clawed back what it had been losing in recent times, while French owned Dacia

Mature Market Vehicle Production : Australia

A fair dinkum ute, for anyone who hasn't seen one


Figures vary with sources so what is exact data is unknown. However, what I have is close and gives an accurate picture. It shows how the industry has gone down. The volumes were good by 1960 standards but didn't kick on. It was based around large cars which were suited to a big country. Some factors then went against it.

First, exports were

Car Sales France By Brand : 2000-04

The 2004 Citroën Xsara Picasso


Sales were very consistent through this period, with the 2 million mark being passed in each year. The top three French brands held just under 60% of all sales, which was very high. VW had a poor run at this time and perhaps it needed help with it diesel engines but help was on its way (tongue in cheek). Fiat had a poor few years as did Rover which was running

Mature Market Vehicle Production : Belgium

The Volvo XC60 is made in Belgium


Belgium is a nation that has no car brands of its own but still a sizable industry...well it did. The chart below shows that over a million vehicles were often assembled in a year. However, with the departure of SEAT, VW and GM, volumes weren't the same. Ford has now left too, meaning that for 2015 only Volvo and Audi cars will still be made there. Some

Jaguar Sales By Nation: Jan-Sep 2015 (Exclusive)

Jaguar is about to grow rapidly in sales. The XE is arriving in a dealer near you or will soon. The new XF is at hand as is the all new F-Pace crossover. Things are moving swiftly. I all of that the UK is having a strong run of sales, now accounting for about 30% of sales, although sales fall off at the end of the year in Britain so the final 2015 result will be a bit lower than that.

The US is

Car Sales France By Brand : 1995-99

Toyota had a good period in France


Through this period, the three French brands maintained a strong share of the market, for the period a combined 59, 56, 56, 57 and 57%. Below them VW established itself in 4th, overtaking the two US makes. Mercedes Benz did well too, getting into the top 10. Toyota had a great period but not so Nissan. MG Rover was now in decline but Land Rover and Jaguar

Car Sales France By Brand : 1990-94

Rover cars went well in France at the time.


The economy at this time was struggling and car sales reflected that. Despite Renault sale dropping, it did manage to gain market share, while Peugeot was slipping. Fortunes varied between brands. VW had a poor run while Rover was doing remarkably well. Nissan increased by about 50% but Toyota slipped slightly. Mazda lost over half its sales during

Mature Market Vehicle Production : Canada

228,000 Rav4 trucks were made in Canada during 2014


Many within Canada believe the domestic car industry will be lost. Recently Toyota decided to move Corolla production to Mexico and replace it with a higher value vehicle. The fact that Toyota will continue manufacturing pacifies no one. What they don't get is that higher priced cars can be made in Western nations and be profitable. So has

Mature Western Nations & Car Making

Historically, most cars were made and sold in what we would call the Western world. Sales have more recently been down in this area of the world while the growth has been elsewhere. Car production is moving that way too. What are some reasons?

Wage costs are lower in non-Western lands. Mainstream cars are price sensitive, especially small ones. Lower remuneration helps the bottom line. Even

Car Sales France By Brand : 1985-89

The Renault Clio on a rainy day. Sold really well 


Sales grew storngly in France through this period. Both Renault and Peugeot had slight market gains but Citroën was down and Talbot went altogether. Some makes did really well while others didn't seem to benefit from the buying spree. All the Japanese brands struggled to make headway.

One brand I noticed was Ebro, a Spanish company that made

VW Passat vs Mazda 6

Head to head comparisons are popular. I know when I see one in a magazine or web page I like to find out who won. The thing is that it is just an opinion and not necessarily an unbiased one either. We are all prone to that and car testers are as much as the average motorist, if not more. They may feel the pressure that a negative review will bring from a car company.



The swooping styling is

Car Sales France By Brand : 1980-84

In the early 1980's sales were growing in france, until 1984 when they hit a speed bump. This was due to government introducing measures to curb increasing external debt. Car sales dropped nearly 13% that year, although Renault did worse with a 23% fall. Reggie had 40.5% share in 1980 but only 31% in 1984. On the other hand, Peugeot had lifted its slice of the pie from 15.7% to 18.1% in the

Car Sales France By Brand (Local) : 1974-79

The Simca/Chrysler/Talbot Horizon  


I would have liked to add more brands but as what I had was inconsistent, I went with what is basically French brands and 'Others' which is foreign makes. I may add more detail if I can find yearly figures for other brands.

Renault was well ahead back then with about a third of all French sales, easily outselling all imported brands combined. Peugeot

UK Car Industry: Summary

The Land Rover Discovery Sport


The UK is running up huge trade deficits and it looks to the car industry to try rectify that. It particularly fares badly in the trade imbalance with Germany, the largest supplier of cars to Britain. Without being too scientific and detailed, I looked at the volume of production both for cars and engines, unit value per car and R&D. The results of all the top

VW Group Fallout

A nice, clean family being sold a dirty diesel


VW's slogan is "Das Auto", or "The Car". A car that some feel cheated over, because they were spending their 'hard earned' on a promise that turned out to be a lie. Audi's slogan is "Vorsprung Durch Technik", meaning "Advancement Through Technology". No one knew - outside of VW - that the advancement was through cheating tests.

A brand name is

UK Car Industry: #8 & Below

Below the volume car makers come numerous car companies. I will address some of these that have some size worth noting.



Oh, I think I'll have the red one thanks


Bentley. 10,600 cars made is good volume. They are also in the super luxury class so contribute well beyond the unit figures suggest. Design work is done at Crewe and all the engines are made there too.

Production share (car) of the

UK Car Industry: Jaguar #7

Jaguar only made a medium and large car plus a large sports car. That was it. There was a ceiling to that range that would keep Jaguar in the boutique size of car maker. Hard to be profitable doing 75,000 p.a even in the premium quality range. Something had to be done.

The XE was the first answer and it is doing the business already. Motoring scribes are already saying that it is a great

US Car Production By Make : 2000-09

The Sonata assembled in Alabama, USA from 2005


Times were tough for US car production. The big economic downturn late in the decade sent volumes plummeting. Out of that sudden shift in 2009, Toyota became the largest car maker in the US, passing GM while Honda moved into third at the expense of Ford. Nissan and Hyundai were now ahead of Chrysler.

The three US car companies accounted for just

The Tesla X Is Finally Here

Tesla is a company with patient investors. This model's release has been put back a few times, apparently to get it as good as they could Owner Elon Musk now suggests maybe that was a mistake. He said often those last little gains are difficult and time consuming. I guess it depends if the extra time spent will enhance the product sufficiently to justify the hold up. The sooner it hits the

UK Car Industry: GM Vauxhall #6

Ellesmere Port plant 2002


Vauxhall is the oldest of the major brands made in the UK. It was named after a district in London where it was founded. It started making cars in 1903 and moved the bulk of production to Luton, Bedfordshire in 1905. In 1925 the company was bought by GM and Bedford trucks were made from 1931. Another car making plant was added in 1964 at Ellesmere Port, Cheshire.

A United Front

Is this how we want it? 


One thing the automobile industry doesn't see before it is a pathway forward. As with all human endeavour, decisions are hamstrung by self interest and a lack of meaningful cooperation. Los Angeles takes it's own road trying to reduce pollution. It is a city with a serious smog situation as with many others. Some cities in Europe such as London and Paris also have an

US Car Production By Make : 1990-99

The first US assembled Subaru, the Legacy


The 1990's were a continuation of the previous decade, with US car makers losing production volume as the Japanese companies moved in. The truck/SUV side of the industry was roaring ahead and profits were better there too. That is where the US automakers were heading, increasingly leaving the car side to foreign brands. So production numbers are not

UK Car Industry: Honda #5

Swindon is in Wiltshire, in South West England and where Honda has a car plant. It came about due to a collaboration with BL (MG Rover) and the two got involved with various projects of mutual benefit. Honda started making the Accord in 1992, after the Concerto had been made for them by Rover. UK production from 1989 to 2011 can be found by clicking here.

In 2014 122,00 cars were made down on

US Car Production By Make : 1980-89

The Honda Accord was the first US made car for the company


Things were changing in the 1980's. Trucks were making a mark (which are not included here) and the Japanese manufacturing invasion was underway. Total car sales were declining and AMC had gone, leaving just the three local car makers. While Ford and Chrysler actually managed small increases, GM's production volume was much lower.

Škoda Worldwide Production Car/LCV By Nation : 2011-14

Škoda is a brand that is going well. At 21st for worldwide production, there is plenty of scope. Volumes are not helped by the fact that it is only strong in Europe and China. I think parent VW has missed an opportunity by not using it more. Renault has benefited immensely with Dacia and while Škoda isn't the same sort of budget brand, it still is more low cost than VW.

With over 60% of

Am I Einstein, Or Do Car Makers Get Their Way?

I read in a New Zealand car magazine once that some premium car makers fly journalists to exotic locations and give a them a very pleasant few days looking after them. They drive cars around and go home to write nice things. It was stated that if you came back and were not positive in what you wrote, you didn't get an invite for the next model release. Car maker gets its way.

When it comes to

Daihatsu Worldwide Prod Car/LCV By Nation : 2011-14

Coming in at 20th is Daihatsu, part of the Toyota Group. It was a world player years ago but has steadily been pulled back to the point it is now only sold in Asia. I guess that it overlaps with Toyota cars anyway to a large degree and marketing small vehicles profitably is a challenge.

Daihatsu cars are also made by a Malaysian firm Perodua and are very popular in that nation. Just under

Mitsubishi Worldwide Prod Car/LCV By Nation : 2011-14

A lot rides on the Outlander's shoulders


The 19th largest car producer is very much a made in Asia brand. It used to share a plant in the Netherlands with Volvo but found going it alone too much and closed that. It also had a plant in common with Chrysler in the US but now that it tries to keep it going without a partner is again not cost effective, so the US plant is to go as well.

That

Ethics & Legislation

Ethics:



Many years ago my uncle worked for a car parts developer in the UK. A Japanese car maker (I won't mention the name)  wanted to use a patented car part they had and agreed to pay for it. They modified the part in some way and for that reason refused to pay anything for it. It went to court and the ruling was for the car maker to pay half the agreed value. They did so and got the part

UK Car Industry: Toyota #4

Toyota Derbyshire


For a car giant like Toyota, I'm surprised they haven't tried harder in Europe. One could argue that they do not want to get into the discounting that blights the EU market. However, when one looks at the products they have then that would be the telling factor for me. Nissan makes money in Europe and is now outselling Toyota in the region as well. Product is the difference.

Mazda Global Production Car/LCV By Nation : 2011-14

Mazda is a small fry in the big Japanese car making pool. 70% of production is in the homeland, fine when the Japanese government manages to under value the Yen - which is most of the time. At least the Chinese market isn't too important to Mazda as it seems to have peaked. Mexico (Mazda 3) has replaced the USA (Mazda 6) as a source of cars.

Some of the numbers are so low that one wonders if

VW Emissions Update

Anyone for a new VW car? I hope not


A few days ago I posted about alleged falsified emissions for VW Group diesel engines (it can be seen by clicking here), but under the broader subject matter of honesty. It's now clear to anyone not living under a rock that VW did indeed do wrong. They have admitted it and apologised. Anyone who loves cars must be disturbed. Anyone who loves VW products

US Car Production By Make : 1970-79

1979 Chevrolet Malibu 


US car production rose from 7.9m to 9.4m in this ten year period. However, this was the decade of GM as share rose from 46.5% to 57.4% and units made went from 3.7m to 5.4m. Ford only just grew numerically but the Ford nameplate fell. It relied on Mercury and Lincoln for the increase.

Chrysler and AMC went backwards. For the Chrysler Group Dodge and especially Plymouth

Fiat Brand Global Production Car/LCV By Nation : 2011-14

I'm not sure I get this photo, but it is fascinating and it does feature a Fiat


Fiat production dropped from 2.1 to 2.0% of worldwide volume, so not that much. But in a growing market, that meant dropping from 12th to 15th. Being so reliant on Brazil seemed the problem as that nation has had a mini implosion of sales.

Fiat was once a leading car maker in Europe, but gradually slipped as

Car Industry Honesty

A while back I reported on inaccurate fuel claims made by Hyundai and Kia in the US, and widespread disparity in Europe on fuel use claims which can be seen by clicking here. GM USA has just admitted that a flawed ignition switch was not reported or acted upon for years, resulting in deaths!


Now VW has been accused of deliberately evading federal emissions requirements in nearly a

UK Car Industry: BMW MINI #3

Mini was an iconic model that survived for over twenty years and ended in the year 2000. How do you follow that. Like Land Rover trying to reinvent the Defender, it was no easy task. In 1998, BMW started on a replacement and rather than try keep it mainstream, they took it into the premium sector. The car above was the result.

As for 2014, squeezing in at number three in UK production numbers

Honda Aims High With The 2016 Civic

Honda knows that while they are having success in Asia and North America, it could be doing much, much better in Europe. I spoke to someone at Honda NZ HQ and he assured me Honda were a cut above the mainstream segment, hence their higher price tag. An interesting suggestion.

I think Honda cars are well engineered and are safe, practical transport. However, those who love driving may be

Audi Brand Worldwide Production Car By Nation : 2011-14

At 14th is Audi, with production up from 1.9 to 2.1% of global output in 2014 from 2013. About half of all units made are in Germany and by adding China, something like over three quarters of all Audi production is covered. Apart from domestic plants in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm (which make most models), overseas plants are as follows:


Belgium (A1), China (A4L, A6L, Q5), Hungary (TT, A3

The Premium Kitchen Hotting Up

Premium car sales are hotting up. Profits are sweet and volumes just keep climbing. How are the car making companies doing in this important sector? Let's look, going by nation or region but focusing on the volume area of premium.

Germany: The country with the most success. Audi, BMW, Mecedes Benz and Porsche are all doing well. They have had it too easy and others are going to start chipping

Important New Premium Cars At Frankfurt 2015

Making premium cars is a good place to be. Plenty of buyers are paying enough to make reasonable margins in an industry that overall doesn't make enough money to cover the steep costs associated with it. Four new premium cars are highlighted below, all of which will soon be in showrooms.




Alfa Romeo Guilia: FCA is putting a lot of money into the four leaf clover marque. This compact executive

US Car Production By Make : 1960-69

This must be Mustang Sally! 


The number of brands making cars Stateside were down. GM ruled the roost by some margin, and would have done so by more but for one model. The Ford Mustang. In 1966 for example just over 600,000 Mustangs were made. That was 28% of all Ford brand cars, 23% for the figure below that includes Mercury and Lincoln!

Chrysler made a real effort to catch up, with both

Lorry (Truck) Drivers

I was just talking to a lorry driver who goes between Picton and Christchurch, NZ. That is nearly 350 kms (just over 200 miles). North Island drivers deliver their load to the ferry in Wellington, it crosses the strait and another driver takes it south. In this way the driver stays on his home island and time isn't wasted on a ferry.

If you have ever driven in New Zealand you will know the

UK Car Industry: Land Rover #2

Land Rover is the second major car producer in the UK, with just over 374,000 cars and 11,400 LCVs made in 2014. Vehicles are made in Solihull, Birmingham and Halewood, Merseyside. Production history by model can be found by simply clicking here. It certainly is a British success story, now being ably assisted by Tata Motors.

After WWII, steel was hard to obtain while aluminium wasn't. Therefore

Mercedes Brand Grobal Prod Car/LCV By Nation : 2011-14

Mercedes production data for 2011 was not provided so I sourced what I could as best I could. Therefore gaps in 2012 do not represent nothing doing, but that I don't know for certain. Like BMW, production went up from 2.0% to 2.2%, coming in 13th and one behind the arch rival premium marque.

Mercedes has a broader spread of manufacturing facilities than its Bavarian competitor. That said 63%

BMW Brand Worldwide Production Car By Nation : 2011-14

BMW production went from 2.0% to 2.2% of global sales, 12th on the list of car makers. Premium sales are taking an increasing slice of the pie so it's a good area to be selling in. Production in Germany was about 70% in 2011 and 61% in 2014.

One thing BMW has not done is make cars at another location in Europe. There is an assembly plant that opened in Brazil late 2014 but as it isn't here I

US Car Production By Make : 1950-59

Hudson Sedan from 1952


Car making isn't that big in the US these days, truck and SUV types becoming more popular. Back in the 1950's it was a different story. The car was king. While Europe was getting back on its feet, US citizens were out buying cars by the truck load. The figures below are in thousands so you have to add three zeros. For example GM in 1950 was 3,040,000. Which brands made

UK Car Industry: Nissan #1

Nissan was a popular brand in Britain way back in the 1970's, reaching 4th best selling make in 1977. By 1984, Nissan agreed to build a plant at Sunderland, the deal sealed with an assurance of tax-free purchase of industrial machinery which would soften the high initial set up costs. However, a 1984 budget proposal would stop that and put the venture at risk. Mrs Thatcher stepped in and the deal

Is Britain's Car Industry Any Good?

Off to the Frankfurt International Motor Show. Just don't tell the locals


For a country that has for years consistently imported more than it has exported, borrowing is the only thing that keeps things going. Of course, maintain that record and you end up like Greece, broke (no offence to anyone from Greece but this is where the UK is slowly heading). The UK’s deficit on trade in goods and

Chrysler Group Global Prod Car/LCV By Nation : 2011-14

Now part of FCA (Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles), the US wing of the company has taken flight. Without Fiat, it is 11th on the list of car makers, a 15% volume rise in 2014 and global market sharer up from 2.9 to 3.3%. 82% of Chrysler Group production is for light commercials and that is an amazing percentage. Jeep is especially benefiting with very healthy expansion outside of North America. It

Renault Group Global Prod Car/LCV By Nation : 2011-14

Renault Group is moving forward


The Renault Group discussed here is comprised of Renault, Dacia and Samsung, but excludes Lada. It made 3.3% of all car/LCVs made in the world in 2014, down from 3.7% in 2012 but up slightly on 2013's 3.2%. Renault Gp has been rationalising itself so as to be a stronger player and for a while volume suffered. It is 10th on the list of car makers according to

Kia Worldwide Production Car/LCV By Nation : 2011-14

The Optima/K5 model 


Coming in at 9th is Kia, with 3.5% of worldwide production. Korea still accounts for 54% of that but it is down from 62% in 2011. Making over three quarters of your cars in Asia hardly sounds like a global car maker although a new plant will open in Mexico during 2016, with a capacity of 300,000 cars p.a.

Kia makes cars in four facilities in Korea, two in China and one

Peugeot Car Production By Model : 2000-09

Production increased 20% from 1999 to 2009 but a dip in 2009 due to economic woes distorts that percentage. From 1998 to 2008 the figure was +47%. No fewer than 12 models debuted in this decade and that explains much of the increase.

The 206 hit some impressive numbers but the downturn hurt its successor, the 207. The 405 enjoyed a revival, mainly in Iran while the new 307 went well. Below the

GM Europe Production Car/LCV By Plant : 2014

The Opel/Vauxhall Mokka is proving popular


GM Europe made just under 1,000,000 cars and light commercial vehicles in 2014. It also sourced nearly 150,000 from elsewhere, basically Korea. For that amount of vehicles, that is too many plants but rationalising takes time. There is also an improvement in sales for 2015 so better utilisation of capacity will be achieved that way at least.

The

Suzuki Global Production Car/LCV By Nation : 2011-14

The SX4 is about as big as Suzuki gets


Suzuki is 8th in the world and has 3.6% of total production. As you can see below, it is about Asia. Most Asian nations have tariffs on imported cars so it makes sense to make them in those countries if you wish to have any volume. Because of the focus on Asia, may may be surprised at how many cars Suzuki make.

India is the main market for Suzuki, where

Peugeot Car Production By Model : 1990-99

Peugeot production grew 6.75% from 1989 to 1999 but actually dropped slightly from 1990 to '99, the period covered here. The reason was the range had settled and new niches were not being sort. That isn't necessarily a bad thing but get a main model fail and suddenly profit can evaporate.

Six models arrived this decade, mostly replacing existing cars. They are briefly highlighted underneath the

Honda Global Production Car/LCV By Nation : 2011-14

The new HR-V gets people dreaming


Honda is an independently minded company, with few - if any - collaborations. It is very successful in Asia and North America but is floundering in Europe. It has a conservative corporate culture, although it wants to shake off that image with its cars. It was considered innovative and interesting before, so why not be that way now?

Honda has 5.4% of the

Like a BRIC Through a Tissue Ceiling

I recall reading not long back that the BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China) were the future of the car industry. I was skeptical as it's hard to predict the weather tomorrow, let alone this sort of thing. So how are the BRIC nations going?

Brazil: It's now on a real downer. Latin economies are like the movement of a yo-yo, up and down quickly. Brazil have really fallen away and it

Peugeot Car Production By Model : 1980-89

At the end of the 1970's, Peugeot took Simca and what had been known as Hillman off Chrysler. This was not long after assuming control of Citroën a few years earlier. Did all this acquiring affect Peugeot? It was a lot to adjust to.

Production was up 49% from 1979 to 1989. There were three very successful models in the range but a big drop after that. Many of the models listed below were older

Suzuki-VW Divorce To Proceed

Relationships are based on trust. What sort of trust depends on the relationship but it has to be there for it to succeed. It seems that the relationship between VW and Suzuki - while good in theory - never worked in reality. It ended up in court and the international court has just ruled on the relationship that started in 2010 with VW taking a 19.9% holding in Suzuki. In 2011, Suzuki wanted out

Japanese Premium Marques

Honda decided to launch a premium marque in 1986 - Acura - basically for the North American market. It has been sold in a few other nations but in a limited way. It doesn't even sell in Japan, although there was a plan to do so in 2008 but not carried out. Vehicles are made in Japan, the US and Canada.




Toyota followed with the Lexus brand and a similar objective. However, it became an

My Favourite National/Regional Car Marques

We all have preferred brands. It may be based on reputation, personal preference or even some sort of bias. Whatever our reasons, companies jealously protect and strive to enhance the reputation of their products. The car make counts! So where do marques stand in relation to my august opinion?



The Qashqai has been phenomenally successful in Europe


Japan: Nissan. I like what Nissan are doing.

Hyundai Global Production Car/LCV By Nation : 2011-14

The Czech factory in Nošovice


For a car producer with claims to be a major international brand, it has a limited reach with car plants. 60% of all Hyundai cars are made in just two nations. Korea and China are major markets for them and so production is well placed to service them. Surely future expansion will be offshore.

Each of their facilities has fairly good production numbers, as can

Peugeot Car Production By Model : 1970-79

In 1976, Citroën was acquired - creating the PSA Group - which was a financial success from that year to 1979. As for Peugeot, the 504 was the most popular model for the lion marque from 1972 to 1978. Production amazingly increased each year through that time. The model range looked strong and expanding. For the new models added for this decade, see below the production chart.







Yr

Nissan Global Production Car/LCV By Nation : 2011-14

The Nissan X-Trail/Rogue going well


Nissan is the 5th largest car brand with 6% of global sales. They are growing nicely and profit is up as well. In 2011 China accounted for 27% of production but is down to 23%, a good sign as too much dependence on China - or indeed any market - is fraught with risk. Within the same time frame the US has increased its contribution to production from just

Peugeot Car Production By Model : 1960-69

The 1960's was a decade where car sales grew quickly as standards of living improved and materials to build them were freed up. Car ranges expanded too, giving more choice for the consumer. The 404 arrived for this decade and proved a popular addition to the range. The smaller 204 brought the total to three models and the 304 arrived as the decade concluded. New models added during this period

Profit Margins

When the average person such as myself look to see how successful a car company is, we check out sales figures. That is understandable as it is the most visible part of operations. However, it can be misleading. As an industry margins are pathetic.

Lack of cost sharing could be blamed, but the biggest issue how cars are priced. Keeping factories as close to capacity as possible is cost

Ford Worldwide Production Car/LCV By Nation : 2011-14

Ford needs to keep focused on it's One Ford Strategy


Included in the total is Lincoln, which doesn't make much difference as it turns out. Just over 130,000 Lincoln cars were produced in 2014, up from about 100,000 in 2011 through to 2013. Ford has 7% of the world market.

Most production is in the US, although it is making progress in China. However, it doesn't rely on that market like GM

Peugeot Car Production By Model : 1945-59

Peugeot made its first car in 1889, a steam powered vehicle of which only four were made. The following year the decision was made to use petrol powered engines and production gradually increased. In 1929, the three numbered model designation with a central zero was introduced.

When World War II ended, the 202 model was restarted in production and went to 1949. the 2013 replaced it that year and

VW Brand Global Production Car/LCV By Nation : 2011-14

This data is for VW as a brand, without the other marques it has within its stable. Unfortunately the data source included Škoda and SEAT brands so I did my best to untangle them. I think I got it about right.

China raced past Germany in 2011 to be the major nation for VW brand production. It looks that will remain so although the growth in China seems to have peaked. Still, with over 40% of