Total sales were down 0.8% for June and +3.1% YTD. The last four years have been very positive, yet sections of the UK media are calling -0.8% drop in sales "a slump", linking it to Brexit. That only happened at the end of the month and could not possibly have had any bearing on the situation. Anyone who has any knowledge of the UK car market would know it has been slowing for some time and this was to be expected. The media in the UK is without equal when it comes to disseminating sensational garbage.
Top selling brands are doing it tough in the UK. Had Ford and Vauxhall been going well, then one would assume VW's poor showing was due to the scandal fallout. Seeing that it is not alone, it could simply reflect a trend in the UK of car buyers diversifying to smaller selling brands.
Nissan has grown in Europe in recent years but 2016 seems to be the year they have changed tack. Perhaps profit suffered in the charge upward and that now volume is being sacrificed for a better return. The wide scope of the downturn would indicate that to be so and I applaud them for taking that route.
Land Rover is now up to 13th place but surprisingly Jaguar is having a more restrained result than the helter-skelter increases experienced everywhere else. 28% market gain is snail-like in comparison, yet it is one of the best in the UK. It goes to show everything is relative and 100% growth is the expected.
| 15 | 16 | Brand | 2016 | % | +/- | ||
| 1 | 1 | Ford | 171,192 | 12.1% | -5% | +20% or | |
| 2 | 2 | Vauxhall | 132,947 | 9.4% | -9% | more | |
| 3 | 3 | VW | 109,566 | 7.7% | -9% | ||
| 4 | 4 | BMW | 91,610 | 6.4% | 1% | +1 to +19% | |
| 5 | 5 | Audi | 89,521 | 6.3% | 0% | ||
| 7 | 6 | Mercedes | 88,603 | 6.2% | 13% | -19 to 0% | |
| 6 | 7 | Nissan | 78,582 | 5.5% | -5% | ||
| 8 | 8 | Peugeot | 54,776 | 3.9% | -3% | -20% or | |
| 9 | 9 | Toyota | 54,504 | 3.8% | 2% | less | |
| 10 | 10 | Hyundai | 48,077 | 3.4% | 1% | ||
| 11 | 11 | Kia | 46,343 | 3.3% | 9% | ||
| 12 | 12 | Renault | 44,570 | 3.1% | 9% | ||
| 16 | 13 | Land Rover | 42,559 | 3.0% | 19% | ||
| 13 | 14 | Škoda | 42,233 | 3.0% | 5% | ||
| 14 | 15 | Citroën | 37,781 | 2.7% | 1% | ||
| 15 | 16 | Fiat | 35,329 | 2.5% | -2% | ||
| 17 | 17 | MINI | 33,963 | 2.4% | -1% | ||
| 18 | 18 | Honda | 32,449 | 2.3% | 13% | ||
| 20 | 19 | Mazda | 26,381 | 1.9% | 7% | ||
| 19 | 20 | Seat | 24,634 | 1.7% | -4% | ||
| 21 | 21 | Volvo | 22,629 | 1.6% | -3% | ||
| 22 | 22 | Suzuki | 19,944 | 1.4% | 7% | ||
| 24 | 23 | Jaguar | 16,597 | 1.2% | 28% | ||
| 23 | 24 | Dacia | 13,445 | 0.9% | -5% | ||
| 25 | 25 | Mitsubishi | 10,544 | 0.7% | -14% | ||
| 26 | 26 | DS | 9,436 | 0.7% | -10% | ||
| 29 | 27 | Jeep | 7,600 | 0.5% | 29% | ||
| 27 | 28 | Lexus | 7,416 | 0.5% | 4% | ||
| 28 | 29 | Porsche | 6,712 | 0.5% | 2% | ||
| 30 | 30 | smart | 5,743 | 0.4% | 26% | ||
| 31 | 31 | Alfa Romeo | 2,705 | 0.2% | -1% | ||
| 33 | 32 | Ssangyong | 2,342 | 0.2% | 30% | ||
| 34 | 33 | MG | 1,896 | 0.1% | 12% | ||
| 32 | 34 | Subaru | 1,828 | 0.1% | -2% | ||
| 37 | 35 | Infiniti | 1,565 | 0.1% | 143% | ||
| 36 | 36 | Bentley | 961 | 0.1% | 29% | ||
| 35 | 37 | Maserati | 712 | 0.1% | -8% | ||
| 38 | 38 | Aston Martin | 467 | 0.0% | -9% | ||
| 41 | 39 | Lotus | 140 | 0.0% | -31% | ||
| 42 | 40 | Chevrolet | 3 | 0.0% | -54% | ||
| Others | 2,334 | 0.2% | |||||
| Total | 1,420,636 | -46.1 |
Data source: SMMT.
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