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China March 2011: FAW Xiali N-Series grabs the pole position Discover the Top 150 best selling models
FAW Xiali N5
* See the Top 150 best-selling models by clicking on ‘Read more’ at the end of the post *
The Chinese car market continues to take a breather after the extravagant growth of 2010, up 5% in March at 1,828,500 vehicles and 8% over the first quarter at 4,983,800. Passenger vehicle sales are up 6% in March at 1,347,600 units.
For the first time since the launch of the N5 last year, the FAW Xiali N-Series takes the lead at 24,060 sales, and by the same token climbs to #1 year-to-date at 64,250 units. The VW Lavida drops to #2 at 22,265 sales and #3 in 2011 at 62,605 sales, and the veteran VW Jetta is #3 at 21,419 but #2 in 2011 at 63,033.
Honda CR-V
The Buick Excelle is solid in 4th place at 19,242 units, above the Ford Focus in very good shape at #5 with 18,247 sales. The BYD F3 continues to slide down, #10 this month and #5 year-to-date. The best selling SUV is the Honda CR-V, up 13 spots on February at #11 with 15,156 sales.
The Nissan Sunny continues its progression and ranks 13th with 13,865 units changing hands, the ChangAn Benben Mini is holding very well at #21 and the Mazda6 gains 48 spots at #24 with 12,104 sales.
Full Top 150 Ranking Table below.
Taiwan December 2010: Honda CR-V #2, Corolla leader in 2010
The Taiwanese car market is in good shape in 2010 at 327,615 registrations. The Toyota Corolla is the best selling car in Taiwan as it has been the case for a few years now. With 28,084 sales (8.6%), it is way above the Nissan Tiida (4.9%) and the Toyota Yaris, Camry (both at 4.4%) and Wish (4.3%). The Nissan Livina is #6 at 3.7%.
#8 in 2010, the Honda CR-V grabbed an excellent 2nd spot in December with 4.3% of the market, ahead of the Nissan Tiida (3.9%) and Livina (3.3%). The Mitsubishi Colt Plus is #6 (3.2%) and the Honda Fit #8 (3%).
December and Full Year 2010 Top 25: see below.
Mexico December 2010: Nissan Tsuru invincible
The Mexican car market is up 14% in December at 104,941 sales, bringing the 2010 total to 820,406 registrations, up 9%.
The new Jetta ‘threat’ was short-lived: in December the Nissan Tsuru is again way above the competition at 6.9% share, finishing the year at 61,147 sales, up 12% and growing faster than the market in its 19th year! The Nissan Tiida Sedan climbs 2nd at 5.6%. It is 3rd in 2010 at 38,206 sales, up 78% (the highest growth in the Top 10).
The VW Jetta/Clasico slows down at 4.9% but stays #2 over 2010 at 41,361 sales and +31%. Excellent performance in December of the Honda CR-V, 6th at 2.6%.
Full December Top 10 and 2010 Top 15: see below.
USA December 2010: Ford F-Series #1, Chevy Equinox in Top10
The Ford F-Series is the best-selling vehicle in the USA since 1986
** For the Top 100 best selling cars in the USA in 2010 click on ‘Read more’ below**
In a slowly rebounding US market, the Ford F-Series finishes the year at 528,349 sales, up 28% on a dismal 2009 and 2% on 2008. It is the 24th year in a row the F-Series is the best-selling vehicle in the USA, even though its 2010 sales are still a far cry from its 2004 peak of 939,511.
The Chevrolet Silverado reclaims the 2nd spot in 2010 with 370,135 sales (+17%), and the Toyota Camry is the best-selling passenger car in the USA for the 9th year in a row despite a 9% drop at 327,804 sales. The Ford Fusion is 8th overall and the best-selling US passenger car again with 219,219 sales (+21%), its best figure ever.
December highlights include the Chevrolet Equinox breaking into the Top 10 for the first time in 9th, the very good hold of the Dodge Ram (6th) and Honda CR-V (7th), the Hyundai Elantra jumping back into the Top 20 thanks to 4,724 sales of the 2011 model, and the Chevrolet Cruze breaking into the Top 30.
More commentaries, December Top 30 and Full Year 2010 Top 100 below.
Tajikistan 2010: Hafei minivans and Camry most popular
Hafei minivan in Dushanbe, Tajikistan
Tajikistan is at a crossroads of various civilisations and its car market reflect this, with Chinese, Russian, Iranian, Kazak and Uzbek influences.
Up to mid-2010, almost half of the cars in circulation in the capital city Dushanbe were Hafei and ChangAn Chinese minivans, introduced in 2006 when authorities prohibited larger microbuses from the city centre. However, these minivans were abruptly banned over safety concerns in April 2010 (for more details on this ban click here) and as a result must have dropped from the best-selling list.
The Toyota Camry could therefore be the best-selling vehicle in Tajikistan in 2010 (similarly to Kazakstan). Other very successful cars in the country are the Toyota Corolla and Chevrolet Optra, with the Honda CR-V and Russian-built Chevrolet Niva a notch lower.
Contrary to Azerbaijan and Armenia, the Lada 2105 has not managed to stay on top of the sales ranking after the independence from the Soviet Union. Some Iran Khodro Samands and Peugeot 405 Pars from Iran can also be seen, as well as a lot of old gen UzDaewoo Nexia from Uzbekistan.
More street scenes and street videos below. Read more…
Jamaica 2010: Corolla likely leader
Jamaican Toyota Corolla
Around one third of vehicles in the streets of the capital city Kingston are various generations of Toyota Corollas, and the current model is in all likeliness still the best selling car in Jamaica.
The Jamaican car market is relatively fragmented, with only a couple of other cars standing out: the Suzuki Grand Vitara, Honda CR-V and Suzuki Swift.
Street Scenes and Street Video below.
Dominican Republic 2010: Faithful to Nissan pick-ups
The most recent official data I could gather for Dominican Republic car sales dates back to 2005 (details below the jump), so a few things have changed since then.
One thing is certain, there is a history of high sales for the affordable Nissan pick up of the moment, and if in 2005 the 90’s Nissan Pick-up was leader, in 2010 it looks like the Nissan Frontier (aka NP300) has taken the title of best-selling vehicle in the Dominican Republic.
Other very successful models include the Honda CR-V, Toyota Hilux, 4Runner & Yaris, and interestingly the high-end Nissan Murano.
A couple of great Street videos featuring local music are below.
El Salvador 2010: Hilux leads a pack of pick-ups
Videos of the streets of San Salvador, the capital city of El Salvador, reveal that in all likeliness the Toyota Hilux is the best selling car in the country. Salvadoreans are very fond of pick-ups: the Mazda BT-50, Mitsubishi L200 and Nissan Frontier are also very popular.
Other successful models in El Salvador include the Toyota Yaris, Nissan Sentra, Hyundai Santa Fe, Honda CR-V, Hyundai Getz, Kia Picanto and Toyota Corolla.
More commentaries below. Read more…
Benin 2010: Hilux and Prado most popular
Toyota Prado in Cotonou, Benin 2010
Relatively developed market in Benin with the Toyota Hilux and Prado in all likeliness dominating the new car sales. Other successful models include the Honda CR-V, Hyundai Accent, Nissan Frontier, Toyota Yaris, Mitsubishi L200 and, interestingly, the Lifan 520.
The general car landscape is very different however, with lots of Peugeots everywhere, Benin even being the reference when it comes to 1960 Peugeot 404 pick-ups, still the most common truck in the country, especially in the rural North, as shown on this interesting site. Other common models are the 1968 Peugeot 504, 1979 Peugeot 505 and 2001 Peugeot 307. Only the first gen 1994 Toyota RAV4 competes.
More street scenes and street videos with Beninese rap music below.
USA November 2010: Nissan Altima in #4!
If the Top 3 is stable in November in the USA, the rest of the ranking reveals its lot of surprises. The trucks have an excellent month: the F-Series is #1 at +26%, Silverado #2 at +16% and Ram #6 at +86%.
The Nissan Altima is this month’s best performer: with 18,372 sales (+19%) it climbs to 4th and 2nd best selling passenger car behind the Camry! Other extremely strong performers are the Honda CR-V in 5th with 18,263 sales (+31%, best selling Honda model above the Accord and Civic!) and the Ford Fusion in 7th at +28%.
Accord and Corolla drop to 8th and 10th respectively, whereas the Chevrolet Equinox jumps to 11th (+61%) and the Chevrolet Cruze gears up to 32nd with 8,066 registrations in its 3rd month of sales.
More commentaries and Full Top 32 Ranking table below.
Best Selling Cars - Matt's blog 
