Argentina March 2011: VW Gol leads, Peugeot 408 lands

* See the Top 50 best selling models by clicking on ‘Read more’ at the end of the post *

New car sales in Argentina are up for the 17th month in a row at +16% in March with 66,608 registrations. ACARA changes its methodology and doesn’t split models by version anymore, which has a significant impact on the ranking.

The VW Gol takes the first place, with its Trend and Power versions combined selling a total of 4,870 units and 7.3% share, ahead of the Chevrolet Corsa/Classic at 4,062 sales and 6.1%. The Peugeot 207 rounds up the podium at 2,971 sales and 4.5%.

The Ford Ecosport and Renault Sandero are solid at over 3% share, just above the VW Bora in 6th place. Renault has a good month with the Logan up 7 spots on February at #15 and the Fluence up 18 spots at #27 with 815 units.

For its first month of sales, the Peugeot 408 lands directly within the Top 50 at #45 with 420 sales and 0.6% share.

Full Top 50 Ranking Table below.

Argentina February 2011: Chevy Classic back to #1, Ecosport #2

Ford Ecosport

2011 is looking more and more like another record year for Argentinean car sales, with February up 30% year-on-year at 59,603 registrations. This is the 16th consecutive month of growth.

The Chevrolet Classic reclaims its top spot at a very solid 6.2% share, and the Ford Ecosport climbs one spot to #2 with an excellent 4.1% of the market at 2,443 sales, ahead of the VW Gol Trend at 2,365 units and 4% and the Peugeot 207 Compact at 3.9%.

Good performances of the Chevrolet Aveo (#5), VW Bora (#8) and Chevrolet Agile (#9). The best selling Chinese model is the Chery QQ in 60th position with 209 sales.

Full Top 50 Ranking Table below.

Argentina January 2011: 207 Compact #1 in record market

Peugeot 207 Compact

January is traditionally the strongest month of the year in Argentina but this year it reaches never-seen before levels: January 2011 will stay in Argentinean car history as the first month the market crossed the 100,000 sales mark, at 100,964 exactly.

Another first, the Peugeot 207 Compact leads the ranking for the first time with 4,653 units and 4.6% share, just ahead of the Chevrolet Classic at 4,608 sales. The Ford Ecosport is a strong #3 at 3.8%, followed by the Renault Sandero (3.4%).

The Toyota Hilux (#8) regains the advantage over the VW Amarok, in the Top 10 for the first time at #10 with 2,336 sales and 2.3%. Full Top 50 Ranking Table: click on ‘Read more’ below.

Ford Ecosport

Argentina December 2010: Amarok passes Hilux for the first time

Never before had Argentineans bought that many cars in a year: 662,591 registrations in 2010 is the new record for this market, up 29% on 2009.

In December the VW Amarok (#12, 892 sales) is ranked above the Toyota Hilux (#19, 625 sales) in Argentina for the very first time. With the Single Cab still to be launched, the VW pick-up should see its sales progress further in 2011 and the battle between the two models will be intense.

The Chevrolet Corsa Classic is the best selling car in Argentina in 2010 with 36,058 sales (5.4%), finishing the year with an outstanding 7.8% share in December. The Peugeot 207 Compact is #2 (29,613), ahead of the VW Gol Trend (25,756), Renault Sandero (24,302) and Ford Ecosport (21,389).

More commentaries, December Top 40 and Full Year 2010 Top 50 below.

Argentina November 2010: Sandero #1!

The Argentinian market is on fire in 2010 at +44% in November. For the very first time, it is led by the Renault Sandero, with 2,929 registrations and 5.4% of the market, ahead of the Chevrolet Corsa Classic at 5.1%. It is possibly the first time the Sandero leads the sales of any country in the world, be it under the Renault or the Dacia brand (Colombia might have been first but monthly data is unavailable).

The VW Gol Trend, very stable at 3.8%, closes the podium and the Peugeot 207 Compact drops two spots in 4th. This month the battle between the Toyota Hilux and the VW Amarok intensifies: the Amarok is now only 166 units below the Hilux (1,282 vs. 1,116), down from 239 last month.

Many thanks to ausrutherford for pointing out autoblog.com.ar as a source!

Full Top 30 Ranking table below.

Argentina October 2010: Corsa #1, Amarok #12

The Argentinean car market is up a very healthy 28% in October at 48,873 registrations, and 25% year-to-date at 544,636. The Chevrolet Corsa Classic is on top with 6.3% market share in October and 5.7% year-to-date.

The French take up the two remaining spots on the podium with the Peugeot 207 Compact (actually a 206+ including a Sedan version) in #2 at 4.5% and the Renault Sandero in #3 at 3.8%. The VW Suran (aka SpaceFox), built here, is 5th year-to-date at 3.4%.

Argentina is the test-market for VW’s first heavy duty pick-up, the Amarok. Built in the country and with the Toyota Hilux in its sights, the Amarok delivers a best-ever 12th position in October with 1,068 sales and 2.2% market share, up from 17th in September. Hilux is 8th with 1,307 sales and 2.7% (3% year-to-date). Full Top 30 ranking table: click on ‘Read more’ below.

VW Amarok

Argentina 2009: Chevy Corsa new leader, 207 Compact #2

Chevrolet Corsa

New car sales drop 16% in 2009 in Argentina at 515,008 registrations. Big changes atop the models ranking: after 20 years of domination, the VW Gol is no longer the best selling car in Argentina. That is if we follow the official ACARA statistic that separate sales of the 4th gen Gol (#3 at 21,254 units) and those of the new, 5th gen Gol called Gol Trend in Argentina (#4 at 20,547 sales). The two versions add up to 41,801 sales which would earn them the first place.

Instead, the Chevrolet Corsa takes the lead at 5.4% of the market, in spite of sales dropping by 22%. The Peugeot 207 Compact (aka 206+) follows the tracks of the 206 and ranks #2 with 23,932 sales (4.6%). The Toyota Hilux stays #5, followed by the Ford Ecosport (+1 spot) and the VW Suran (+2 spots). Notice the Ford Ka at #11 (+9 spots) and the Renault Sandero at #14 (+ 27 spots).

Full 2009 Top 50 Ranking Table: click on ‘Read more’ below the VW Gol Trend picture.

Peugeot 207 Compact

VW Gol Trend

Argentina 2006-2008: VW Gol, Chevy Corsa & Peugeot 206 on top

VW Gol –  Picture by Mario Amati, all rights reserved.

Argentinean car sales and going gangbusters over the period: up 17% at 450,040 units in 2006, up 26% at 567,850 sales in 2007 and up 8% at 610,780 registrations in 2008.

ACARA’s ranking methodology changes in 2006: Sales of the VW Gol are now split between Gol and Gol Country (station wagon, aka Parati), the Chevrolet Corsa is split between Corsa, Corsa SW and Corsa II, the Peugeot 206 is split between 206 and 206 SW, the Palio between Palio and Palio Weekend (station wagon), etc…

However this doesn’t impact the top of the models ranking, with the podium unchanged from 2005 and over the period. The VW Gol is still the best selling car in the country, albeit with weaker and weaker market shares: 8.1% in 2006, 7.8% in 2007 and 6.9% in 2008. The Chevrolet Corsa is #2  (5.3%, 5.9% and 5.8%) and the Peugeot 206 #3 (5%, 4.9% and 4.3%). The Renault Clio is #4 in 2006 and 2007 and is passed by the Renault Kangoo in 2008. The VW Suran breaks into the Top 10 in 2007 (#10).

Full Year 2006 and 2007 Top 40, 2008 Top 50 Ranking Tables: click on ‘Read more’ below the Peugeot 206 pic.

Argentina 2003-2005: VW Gol continues to dominate

The Argentinean car market was hit full frontal by the crisis in 2002, falling under 100,000 units. It recovers pretty swiftly over the next few years: up 48% in 2003 at 143,273 registrations, up 101% in 2004 at 288,527 units and up 34% in 2005 at 385,805 sales.

Throughout the period, the VW Gol continues to dominate the models ranking with a comfortable margin, going from 9.7% share in 2003, to 13.9% in 2004 and 11.3% in 2005. The Chevrolet Corsa, 5th in 2003 (5.5%), climbs up to #2 in 2004 (6.3%) and stays there in 2005 with a strong 7.3% share.

Great success also for the Peugeot 206, #2 in 2003 at 6.1% of the market and #3 in 2004 (5.4%) and 2005 (5.9%). The Renault Clio progresses throughout the period, going from 7th in 2003 to 5th in 2004 and 4th in 2005.

Full Year 2003, 2004 and 2005 Top 10 Ranking Tables below.

Argentina 1988-2002: VW Gol reigns

1988 VW Gol, picture by Thiago Pires, all rights reserved.

Launched in 1980, the VW Gol climbed to the top of Argentinean car sales in 1988 and stayed there for 15 consecutive years, all the way to 2002. I have no official sales data for this period, only the name of the best-seller so if you have any more information I would love it if you could get in touch!

Source: Wikipedia