Autocar this week published stats showing car buying trends in the U.K.during 2005.
WINNERS
Aston Martin headed the list in % terms with a gain of 182.4%, Ferrari were up by 32.3% and Porsche up by 22.3%, so not too difficult to see where those city bonuses were heading.!!!
Within the mainstream cars Ssangyong were the biggest gainers in % terms up by 38.0%, closely followed by Saab up 35.3%, Kia up 18.9% Mitsubishi up 10.6%, BMW up 9.3%,Skoda up 7.9%, Honda up 7.8%, Audi up 7.1%,Land Rover up 5.7%, Lexus up 5.0%, VW up 2.0% & Toyota up only 1.2%. M.Benz were almost static up 0.4% and are now selling fewer cars in the U.K than Audi.
LOSERS
Lamborghini were the biggest losers in % terms down 56.9%, but the biggest volume drop was Fiat down 50.8%, which makes them look extremely vulnerable. Other big losers were Alfa Romeo down 20.8%, Jeep down 20.6% and worrying for Jaguar down 19.1%. Seat & Smart both down 14.4%, Peugeot down 14.0%, Renault down 7.7%, Citreon down 5.7%, Ford down 5.3%, Mazda down 4.3%, Volvo down 4.1%, Nissan down 3.9%, Hyundi down 2.6% and Vauxhall down less than Ford at 2.4%.
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Is it unit sales or by value?
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Surely the Fiat figure is n't such a huge deal. Would n't have thought that their UK market is that significant.
Generally, high street shopping witnessed a tightening of belts last year and this must have been reflected in car sales also - especially those cars more traditionally purchased by private buyers.
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IanS
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Is it unit sales or by value?
>>
The figures are the number of cars registered in the UK.
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>>>Is it unit sales or by value?>>>
It is indeed unit sales and looking through the stats it is interesting to see that the Japanese are not winning on all fronts. Whilst Honda had a healthy increase, Toyota`s were almost static and both Nissan & Mazda were down.
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Did Honda get a big share of the ex Rover market? I recall that some early 200 and 400 models were very similar to Hondas.
BMW also looks to be doing very well - is this down to the new Mini and 1 series?
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>>>>BMW also looks to be doing very well - is this down to the new Mini and 1 series?>>>
Mainly due to the increasing popularity of the 3 Series, which was the tenth best selling car of all makes last year. Obviously the 1 Series sales would have also had an influence, but not the Mini which was listed separately (sales increase of + 2.5%).
I did`nt list all makes as the thread would have been far too long. !!!!!
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Mainly due to the increasing popularity of the 3 Series, which was the tenth best selling car of all makes last year.
I don't think so - 3-series registrations declined from 54,000 in 2004 to 45,000 in 2005.
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"Did Honda get a big share of the ex Rover market? I recall that some early 200 and 400 models were very similar to Hondas."
Rover split from Honda in 1994. Honda had moved their game on from any jointly developed models although Rover were still bolting their versions together for quite some time afterwards.
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I am surprised at the drop in sales at Hyundai, but then again, their sister compnay Kia, seems to be winning the value war at present.
£7,000 for a Kia Magentis. That is the ultimate disposable car!
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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It is indeed unit sales
Sorry to be picky but the figures are, as I posted above, the number of cars registered in the UK rather than unit sales.
In theory unit sales and the number of registrations are the same but for two exceptions:
1. Cars that are registered but not sold (e.g. demo cars)
2. Cars that are sold in the UK for export overseas.
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Fiat were also big on pre-registering a lot of cars to get unit sales up. I heard franchises were told to cut down on this last year as it was adversely affecting residuals. I assume the same is true for Alfa.
Ssangyong would gain big time as nobody buys them, from 1 to 2 is a 100% improvement ;-)
teabelly
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I would have thought that changing profitability would be more relevant. That is, afterall, why businness are in business.
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I bet Aston Martin wished they sold as many cars as Fiat.They also lost money on ever one sold according to the balance sheet as did Volvo and Jaguar along with Vauhall/Opel.Whereas Fiat/Alfa Uk actually made money but as they are a family owned business they can do as they please the others are answerable to share hoders who I imagine are a little mad.Figures can be made to fit every argument.
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