With supply shortages affecting the giant car company, Toyota Australia had its lowest market share since 1997, but still dominated anyway. Both GM Holden and Ford had their lowest market share that I know of, so they were not able to capitalise fully on the situation with Toyota. The move away from large cars was the reason.
1 Toyota 181,600 18.0%
2 Holden 126,100 12.5% 3 Ford 91,200 9.0%
4 Mazda 88,300 8.8%
5 Hyundai 87,100 8.6%
6 Nissan 67,900 6.7%
7 Mitsubishi 61,100 6.1%
8 VW 44,700 4.4%
9 Subaru 34,000 3.4%
10 Honda 30,100 3.0%
11 Kia 25,100 2.5%
12 Suzuki 23,800 2.4%
13 Mercedes 21,200 2.1%
14 BMW 17,500 1.7%
15 Audi 14,500 1.4%
16 Chrysler 11,900 1.2%
17 Great Wall 8,650 0.9%
18 Isuzu 6,600 0.7% 19 Isuzu Ute 6,400 0.6%
20 Lexus 6,350 0.6%
21 Land Rover 5,850 0.6%
22 Volvo 5,275 0.5%
23 Peugeot 5,225 0.5%
24 Fuso 3,750 0.4%
25 Renault 3,625 0.4%
26 Skoda 3,500 0.3%
27 Hino 3,350 0.3%
28 MINI 2,300 0.2%
29 Chery 1,825 0.2%
30 Kenworth 1,750 0.2%
Others 17,650 1.7%
Total 1,008,400 2.6% decrease.
The big losers were Toyota (-15.4%), Subaru (-15.4%) and Honda (-25.4%). Some with fine increases were VW (+17.7%), Chrysler (+27.5%), Great Wall (+29.5%), Isuzu Ute (+25.1%) and Land Rover (+21.8%).
I expect Toyota to hit back in 2012, Holden to do OK with its locally made Cruze, but Ford to struggle in holding off Mazda and Hyundai. Nissan and VW should improve also.
My guess: Sales should hold up well in 2012.
Source: www.caradvice.com.au
Pics: Ford - carpresto.com

Vehicle Sales Australia: 2011

For some time now, new car sales have been dampened by used imports, mainly from Japan - which drives on the same side of the road. Often, the used imports have been higher than new cars. Used imports will reduce with stricter rules on what will be allowed to be imported.
In 2011 64,000 new cars were sold, partly impacted on issues of supply from Asia, where most cars are sourced. It was the best year since 2008, but still fairly flat. Kiwis seem to like Toyotas and and they raced out of the showrooms in December as supplies returned to normal. It wasn't enough to save Toyota from its lowest market share since 2007 however. It would be nice if New Zealanders showed a little more imagination in their car purchase decision, something not unique to NZ of course.
1 Toyota 11,800 18.4%
2 Holden 6,650 10.4% 3 Hyundai 6,075 9.5%
4 Ford 5,875 9.2%
5 Mazda 4,900 7.6%
6 Suzuki 4,750 7.4%
7 Mitsubishi 3,050 4.8%
8 Nissan 2,850 4.4%
9 Honda 2,600 4.1%
10 VW 2,550 4.0%
11 Kia 2,375 3.7%
12 Subaru 1,500 2.3%
13 Audi 1,300 2.1%
14 BMW 1,200 1.9%
15 Chrysler 1,000 1.5%
16 Mercedes 980 1.5%
17 Peugeot 770 1.2%
18 Skoda 510 0.8%
19 Lexus 510 0.8%
20 Ssangyong 440 0.7%
21 Land Rover 390 0.6%
22 MINI 310 0.5%
23 Citroen 210 0.3%
24 Volvo 180 0.3%
25 Chery 170 0.3%
Others 1,040 1.6%
Total 64,000 3.2% increase.
Toyota will get back in 2012 what it lost in 2011, while Hyundai will aim for 2nd spot. Ford went from 2nd to 4th in 2011, and will stay there. VW will press those just above with its aggressive ambitions, and hopefully the under performing Nissan importer will get its act together.
My guess: The market will not be improving in 2012.

Data source: MIA
Holden pic: Taranaki Daily News

Car Sales NZ: 2011

Ford took the lead in Canada in 2011 from GM, who had held it forever. In fact Ford increased its hold on top spot, in the process realising its best market share since the year 2000. Chrysler is now getting closer to GM and that #2 spot, GM at its lowest point in the its share of the market since Noah was a lad. In contrast, both Hyundai and Kia achieved highest ever market share, so the Koreans are coming. Merc, BMW and Audi also got a record share of sales, as did MINI and Land Rover.
1 Ford 275,900 17.4% 2 GM 242,800 15.3%
3 Chrysler 224,200 14.1%
4 Toyota 148,900 9.4%
5 Hyundai 129,200 8.2%
6 Honda 107,800 6.8%
7 Nissan 77,700 4.9%
8 Mazda 69,200 4.4%
9 Kia 65,100 4.1%
10 VW 52,600 3.3%
11 Mercedes 31,100 2.0%
12 BMW 29,800 1.9%
13 Subaru 27,000 1.7%
14 Mitsubishi 20,500 1.3%
15 Audi 16,900 1.1%
16 Acura 15,300 1.0% 17 Lexus 13,400 0.8%
18 Volvo 6,800 0.4%
19 Infiniti 6,900 0.4%
20 Suzuki 5,600 0.4%
21 Fiat 5,400 0.3%
22 MINI 5,200 0.3%
23 Land Rover 3,200 0.2%
24 Porsche 2,200 0.1%
25 smart 1,850 0.1%
26 Jaguar 775 0.0%
Total 1,585,000 1.8% increase.
Some Winners: Hyundai (+9.1%), Kia (+20.9%), VW (+15.9%), Audi (+17.7%) and Land Rover (+26.7%). Some Loser: Honda (-12.8%), Mazda (-12%), Acura (-11.9%), Infiniti (-15.8%) and Suzuki (-33.8%).
Point to note: Japanese brands had a tough year in Canada.

Car Sales Canada: 2011

South Africa is a strange car market to analyse. Brands under AMH including Hyundai, Kia, Daihatsu simply refuse to release any sales data by brand. A few other brands do likewise and now in December Mercedes has decided to stop reporting sales through the main body to release sales, Naamsa. This is while it deals with an investigation into anti-competitive practices by various European truck manufacturers. What has that got to do with Mercedes car sales in South Africa? There is more to this than what they are saying.
Why doesn't a government agency get all the registration data together and release it whether the likes of AMH, with its laager mentality, want it or not? It's an important market and should be more open. So with what I can get:
1 VW 75,500 19.1%
2 Toyota 52,400 13.2% 3 GM 34,100 8.6%
4 Ford 26,700 6.7%
5 Mercedes 24,300 6.1%
6 BMW 23,600 5.9%
7 Nissan 17,100 4.3%
8 Audi 14,500 3.7%
9 Renault 10,400 2.6%
10 Honda 7,800 2.0%
11 Chrysler 7,100 1.8%
12 Suzuki 5,500 1.4%
13 Land Rover 5,150 1.3%
14 Mazda 4,800 1.2%
15 Volvo 3,250 0.8%
16 Peugeot 2,800 0.7%
17 Fiat 2,650 0.7%
18 MINI 2,500 0.6% 19 Citroen 1,950 0.5%
20 Tata 1,920 0.5%
21 Mitsubishi 1,750 0.4%
22 Subaru 1,250 0.3%
23 Lexus 1,175 0.3%
24 Porsche 1,150 0.3%
25 Alfa Romeo 820 0.2%
26 Jaguar 520 0.1%
27 Mahindra 450 0.1%
28 Chana 350 0.1%
29 smart 130 0.0%
30 Maserati 70 0.0%
AMH 64,750 16.3%
Total 396,300
Some Winners: VW(+35.6%), GM (+31.1%), Ford (+48.2%), Nissan (39.2%), Chrysler (+38.8%) and MINI (+40.7%). Some Losers: Honda (-6.1%), Mazda (-33.7%), Tata (-35%) and Mitsubishi (-27.7%).
My take: Car sales were strong in the republic for 2011. It's a pity only Naamsa make an effort to let us know about it.
Source: Naamsa

Car Sales South Africa: 2011

The importation of cars into Korea is limited, but growing. Most of them are premium models, impervious to the duty that makes regular models too expensive against Korean brands.
1 BMW 23,300 22.2%
2 Mercedes 19,500 18.6%
3 VW 12,400 11.8%
4 Audi 10,300 9.8%
5 Toyota 5,000 4.8%
6 MINI 4,300 4.1%
7 Ford 4,200 4.0%
8 Lexus 4,100 3.9%
9 Nissan 3,800 3.6%
10 Chrysler 3,300 3.2%
11 Honda 3,150 3.0%
12 Peugeot 2,600 2.5% 13 Infiniti 2,150 2.0%
14 Volvo 1,500 1.4%
15 Land Rover 1,400 1.3%
16 Porsche 1,300 1.2%
17 Jaguar 1,000 1.0%
18 Cadillac 750 0.7%
19 Subaru 660 0.6%
20 Bentley 100 0.1%
21 Mitsubishi 34 0.0%
22 Rolls Royce 27 0.0%
23 Maybach 8 0.0%
24 Citroen 6 0.0%
Total 105,000 16% increase.
Big winners: BMW (+38.7%), MINI (+92.9%), Land Rover (+46.5%), Porsche (+84.5%) and Jaguar (+39.9%). Toe Stubbers: Toyota (-24.3%), Honda (-45.8%) and Infiniti (-31%).
Fact: A happy hunting ground for premium brands, especially Germanic ones....free with a cell phone.
Source: Kaida

Car Sales Korea Imports: 2011

Japan is a very insular country and the people have a sense of loyalty to the country. When it comes to buying cars, they buy local brands. Only with premium brands does this alter. A friend of mine with knowledge of Japan said they do not like Korean products. Hyundai entered Japan in 2001, expecting to crack the market. They sold 32 cars in 2011 and are having to walk away from Japan altogether. This collective thinking, where individuality is frowned upon, is what makes Japan unusual to the western observer.
Looking at the foreign marque market, minus any Japanese branded cars that are imported, it is small compared to the total but does involve fairly big numbers for some.
1 VW 50,600 24.8% 2 Mercedes 33,200 16.3%
3 BMW 34,300 16.8%
4 Audi 21,200 10.4%
5 MINI 14,350 7.0%
6 Volvo 11,800 5.8%
7 Peugeot 6,100 3.0%
8 Fiat 6,000 2.9%
9 Chrysler 4,700 2.3%
10 Porsche 3,650 1.8%
11 Renault 3,100 1.5%
12 Citroen 3,100 1.5%
13 Ford 3,000 1.5%
14 GM US/K 2,000 1.0%
15 Alfa Romeo 1,900 0.9%
16 smart 1,200 0.6%
17 Jaguar 1,000 0.5%
18 Land Rover 900 0.4% 19 Ferrari 386 0.2%
20 Lotus 271 0.1%
21 Maserati 249 0.1%
22 Aston Martin 140 0.1%
23 Bentley 126 0.1%
24 Lamborghini 99 0.0%
25 Lancia 98 0.0%
26 Rolls Royce 80 0.0%
27 Saab 60 0.0%
28 MG Rover 63 0.0%
29 Hyundai 32 0.0%
30 Morgan 16 0.0%
31 Maybach 9 0.0%
Others 71
Total 203,800 13.1% increase.
Some Winners: Audi(+25.6%), MINI (+26.6%), Volvo (+51.8%) and Chrysler (+40.4%).
Losers Included: Jaguar (-10.4%), Ferrari (-21.7%), Lotus (-13.1%) and Hyundai
(-72.9%).
My guess: The Japanese economy is strong and sales should reflect that in 2012.
Source: JAIA
Pics: monstersandcritics

Car Sales Japan Imports: 2011

The car market here is quite strong, with sales up for the last two years. They are still some way short of the peaks several years ago however.
Nissan is at its peak of penetration for many a year, if not ever. Clearly its cars are well liked here, and they are worth the popularity. Nissan has led for three years now and the gap to second is widening.
1 Nissan 224,500 24.8%
2 GM 168,500 18.6% 3 VW 126,800 14.0%
4 Ford 86,000 9.5%
5 Chrysler 82,100 9.1%
6 Toyota 48,600 5.4%
7 Honda 34,400 3.8%
8 Mazda 29,900 3.3%
9 Renault 23,100 2.6%
10 Seat 18,100 2.0%
11 Mitsubishi 10,500 1.2%
12 Suzuki 9,200 1.0%
13 Audi 8,100 0.9%
14 Mercedes 7,800 0.9%
15 BMW 6,600 0.7%
16 Peugeot 5,800 0.6%
17 MINI 3,000 0.3% 18 Fiat 2,600 0.3%
19 Lincoln 2,000 0.2%
20 Acura 1,800 0.2%
21 Isuzu 1,600 0.2%
22 smart 1,500 0.2%
23 Volvo 1,300 0.1%
24 Land Rover 613 0.1%
25 Subaru 587 0.1%
26 Porsche 539 0.1%
27 Infiniti 231 0.0%
28 Jaguar 54 0.0%
29 Alfa Romeo 30 0.0%
30 Bentley 6 0.0%
Total 905,900 10.4% increase.
Sizable Increases: Nissan (+18.5%), Renault (+28.2%), Seat (+35.4%), Audi (+46.8%) and MINI (+43.5%). Serious Shrinkage: Mitsubishi (-16.3%) and Lincoln (-25.1%).
Source: AMIA.
Pic: Nissan - creativecardesign.com
VW - thetruthaboutcars.com

Car Sales Mexico: 2011

It seems the government here plays a major role in what is allowed to sell, mainly locally made. Many brands have disappeared off the scene in the last couple of years. Whatever the politics, people still want vehicles and this is what sold in 2011:
1 GM 44,000 36.5%
2 Ford 26,000 21.5%
3 Toyota 10,100 8.4% 4 Chrysler 9,700 8.0%
5 Hyundai 7,850 6.5%
6 Mitsubis 6,350 5.3%
7 Kia 5,600 4.6%
8 Iveco 2,600 2.2%
9 Peugeot 1,800 1.5%
10 Fiat 1,600 1.3%
11 Renault 1,100 0.9%
12 Daihatsu 977 0.8%
13 Mazda 946 0.8%
14 Mack 674 0.6%
15 Mercedes 643 0.5%
16 VW 306 0.3%
17 Civetchi 261 0.2%
Others 215 0.02%
Total 120,700 3.6% decrease.
Some Winners: Hyundai (+96%), Peugeot (+93%), Fiat (+700%) and Mercedes (+109%). Some Losers: Toyota (-44.9%) Civetchi (-47%) and Nissan (-94.7%). Civetchi imports Chinese cars.
The above increases and decreases are not always due to market forces, so you cannot read too much into them.
Source: CAVENEZ

Vehicle Sales Venezuela: 2011