AMC USA Sales : 1970's (2nd Half)

The 1978 Concord

Years ago, I recall seeing AMC vehicles around Auckland, NZ. They weren't numerous but in a country where US brands were not selling at all, they offered something different. The other day, I noticed an AMC Javelin in the town I now live. Of course, I had Dinky cars of a Nash and Rambler models too when I was a boy.

The American Motors Corporation was founded by the merger of

Plymouth USA Sales : 1970's (2nd Half)

1977 Plymouth Volare


I recall having a couple of Plymouth Plaza taxis as dinky cars. That was all I knew of the brand. Plymouth was created in the late 1920's to give the company a low price vehicle to compete with Chevrolet and Ford. If that was the case, by the late 1970's it wasn't doing that well. It was based around the Valiant and its successor the Volare. The early 70's sales were

Mercury USA Sales : 1970's (2nd Half)

A 1977 Mercury Cougar XR-7


The brand was created in 1938 to fit above the Ford brand but below Lincoln. This followed what GM and Chrysler had already done and the Ford company felt the need to do likewise. 65,000 car were sold in 1939 which was a successful start. It became part of the Lincoln-Mercury division that was created in 1945.

By the late 70's Mercury was well established. Sales

Oldsmobile USA Sales : 1970's (2nd Half)

The Cutlass Supreme was a top selling model


I was visiting the US some years back and was kindly loaned a Cutlass Ciera by the people I was staying with. Despite that brief introduction, I know little of the Oldsmobile brand as it was exclusively a North American make. Mr Olds started making cars in 1897 and the company was purchased by GM in 1908. Over 35 million Oldsmobile cars were made

Nissan Europe's Sales Plunge

Nissan Europe's jewel in the crown, the Qashqai


The car markets of Europe are notoriously difficult to make money in. The UK is one of the more profitable, hence why car makers importing from Europe are fearful of a trade barrier. Overall it is a challenging environment that recently had GM pulling out of the region altogether and Ford is realigning its business from volume to profit driven.

Nissan Group Production : 2016-18 (Regions & Nations)

For production, there are four regions I have created to see where vehicles are made. Chinese partner Dongfeng's production is not included in the main data list but I placed it at the bottom of the chart.

Asia: It's accounts for over half of all production for the Nissan Group and China now manufactures half of that. This region will continue to contribute more volume in the future.

Nissan Group Sales : 2016-18 (Regions & Nations)

The brands under consideration here are Nissan, Infiniti, Venucia and probably Dongfeng. The latter two are Chinese brands with Venucia a subsidiary of Dongfeng and Dongfeng a 50/50 joint venture company with Nissan. Sales listed here are very close to production numbers, so if few Nissan cars are imported, then it covers all four above brands.

There are six regions below and I will briefly

Top 5 Other Segments Models UK : 2017/18

Sports: This category dropped from 1.9% to 1.6% of total sales. There was also quite a shuffling of models with only one surviving from 2017 to 2018. That was the Mazda MX-5, which became the best selling model.

SUV: They were up to 21.2%, a segment that has grown every year since 2008. Back then it was a much smaller 6.4%. The Ford Kuga knocked the Kia Sportage of the top spot and the soon

Top 5 Larger Car Models UK : 2017/18

Upper: Dropping from 9.6% to 8.1% of the market shows this segment is falling out of favour. It has been consistent for several years but 2018 saw a change in fortune. This was the 7th year the 3-Series was the best selling and the 4-Series made it a 1-2 for the brand.

Executive: This has been a consistent category in the UK regarding its share of sales. 2018 was down slightly to 4.6%.

Top 5 Smaller Car Models UK : 2017/18

Mini: Little change here, in this small segment at the bottom of the pile.

Supermini: This is the largest segment, led by the largest selling model. Again, consistent with last year.

Lower Medium: The VW Golf passed the Ford Focus for the first time, so that's something of note. The Astra dropped off altogether after decades of gracing this segment's top five. It's been replaced by the Mokka

Infiniti Euro Sales (By Model) : 2003-2019

A better car than its reception deserved. 


The premium wing of Nissan touched down in Europe for 2003. It had a battle on its hands as premium car buyers are paying that premium to get something with a reputation of quality above the mainstream car. Until a name has cachet it will sell in minuscule numbers to a few aficionados. That seems to be what has happened to Infiniti.

In 2003, there