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