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Australia March 2011: Commodore #1, Lexus CT200 & Chery land Now with the Top 65 best selling models
Lexus CT200h
* Now with the Top 65 best selling models in Q1 2011: click on ‘Read more’ at end of post *
At 93,984 registrations, Australian car sales are down just 1% year-on-year in March. The Holden Commodore stays #1 at 4,170 sales and 4.4%, but the 2011 leader is still the Mazda3 at 11,159 units and 4.5%, thanks to another strong month at 3,979 sales and 4.2% in March (#3).
The Toyota Hilux takes the 2nd place only 140 sales behind the Commodore. Just behind the Toyota Corolla, the Holden Cruze is up 1 spot at #5 with a strong 3% share, and the Mitsubishi Triton is up to a brilliant 8th position. The Lexus CT (223 sales) and the Toyota FJ Cruiser (209) both appear for the first time in the Australian ranking.
March 2011 will also be remembered as the month Chinese brand Chery started in the country, launching the first Chinese passenger cars in Australia. The Chery J11 SUV (aka Tiggo) delivers 166 sales and the J1 (aka Face) lands 53 buyers. In the meantime the Great Wall V240 ute continues to grow, #64 in Q1 at 989 sales.
A few new models perform well in Q1: the Ford Fiesta is #17, the Hyundai ix35 #28, the Nissan Dualis multiplies its share by two at 1% and #31, the Mistubishi ASX is #50 and the VW Polo #57. With the discontinuation of the the Falcon model last year, the Ford Mondeo is now the default Ford station wagon and is up to #39.
March Top 10 & 1st Quarter 2011 Top 65 Ranking Tables: see ‘Read more’ below the Chery J11 pic.
Chery J11
Algeria March 2011: Renault Symbol leads, Kia Picanto #2
Outstanding month for new car sales in Algeria: the market is up 40% year-on-year in March at 25,971 registrations, and 35% year-to-date at 74,781. The Renault Symbol keeps the lead with 2,469 sales and 9.5%, and this month it is followed by the Kia Picanto and Peugeot 207, both at 1,525 sales and 5.9%.
Hyundai stays strong with the Atos in 4th place at 5.2% share and the Accent in 5th at 4.7%. The Dacia Logan has a weak month in 9th place at 2.3%, it is however #3 year-to-date with 3,306 sales and 4.4%. The Peugeot 308 slips into the Top 10 at 510 units and 2% share.
Full Top 10 Ranking Table below.
Taiwan March 2011: Toyota Corolla back to #1, RAV4 #3
Toyota RAV4
New car sales in Taiwan are up an explosive 58% in the first Quarter of 2011 at 106,191 registrations, and in March alone, imports are up 70% at 9,411 units.
The Toyota Corolla reclaims the title of best-selling car in Taiwan with 3,862 sales and 10.9% share, ahead of the Nissan Tiida at 1,590 sales and 4.5%. The all-new Toyota RAV4 climbs onto the podium with 1,477 units and 4.2% whereas the Nissan Livina stays strong in 4th with 1,436 sales and 4%.
Other good performances include the Hyundai ix35, up 7 spots and #14 with 707 sales and 2% and the BMW 5 Series at #22 with 435 units and 1.2%.
Full Top 25 Ranking Table below.
Panama March 2011: Toyota Hilux leads, Nissan Navara strong
Nissan Frontier
After a very strong showing by the Hyundai Tucson IX late last year, the Toyota Hilux reclaims the title of best selling vehicle in Panama over the first 3 months of 2011 with 693 sales, 127 units above the Tucson.
The Hyundai Accent GL is stable in 3rd place, the Nissan Navara is up 4 spots at #4 with 386 sales, same as the Toyota RAV4, #5 with 383 sales. The Hyundai Elantra reappears in the Top 10 at #7.
Full Top 10 Ranking Table below.
Germany March 2011: Opel Astra and Skoda Fabia shine
* Now with the Top 200 best selling models: click on ‘Read more’ at the end of the post *
The German car market is definitely back on track, up 11% in March at 327,911 registrations. Unsurprisingly, the VW Golf is in the lead at 7.5% share, and it is followed this month by the Opel Astra, up 2 spots on February with 9,242 sales and 2.8%.
The VW Polo at #3 and Passat at #4 are slightly weaker this month, and the Opel Corsa is stable in 5th place. The Skoda Fabia delivers the best performance of the month, up 12 spots at #6 with 7,075 sales and 2.2% share. The Mercedes B-Class is also handling extremely well at #9 with 6,212 units.
Mercedes B Class
The only foreign model in the Top 20 is the Nissan Qashqai, up 4 spots at #20 with 4,638 sales, the Hyundai i30 (#22) and Toyota Yaris (#31) follow. Notice the Ford C-Max up 27 spots at #27 with 3,056 sales. A few all-new models appear in the ranking: the Toyota Verso-S at #117 with 625 sales, the Citroen DS4 (17 sales), Audi Q3 (13), Hyundai Veloster (4) and Lexus LFA (3).
Full Top 200 Ranking Table below.
Czech Republic March 2011: Ford Focus and Hyundai i20 strong
Ford Focus
* See the Top 100 best selling models by clicking on ‘Read more’ at the end of the post *
In a stable market at 17,501 registrations, the Skoda Octavia and Skoda Fabia see their share slip down rather significantly, at 11.6% and 8.6% respectively, compared to 16.2% and 9.4% in February. They however stay distant leaders both this month and year-to-date.
Boosted by the arrival of the new generation, the Ford Focus gains 6 spots on last month and climbs onto the podium at #3 with 788 sales and 4.5% share, way ahead of the Ford Fusion, also in very good shape in 4th place at +8 spots and 490 sales (2.6%).
Below the Skoda Superb down one place, the Hyundai i20 continues its remarkable progression to land 6th this month with 455 units. For its 2nd month of sales only, the Chevrolet Orlando breaks into the Top 50 for the first time at #42 with 85 sales and 0.5%.
Full Top 100 Ranking Table below.
China: 1986-2009 Historical Data now available
2004 VW Jetta
Chinese historical data up to 1986 is now available on Best Selling Cars. This 25 year period in China is definitely one of the most interesting in the history of automobile, sales in the country going from virtually nothing to 18 million cars nowadays!
1986 marks the local production launch of the VW Santana, the very car that would set the ground work for China’s motorisation, with over 3 million units produced in 25 years. Witness the Santana pass the relay to the VW Jetta in the mid-nineties, the Jetta leading for over a decade and surviving to this day with a second facelift in 2010 and 2 million units produced.
1986 VW Santana
Discover the intense fight between the Jetta, Buick Excelle, Hyundai Elantra and Tianjin Xiali in the mid-noughties, leading to the crowning of the BYD F3 in 2009.
Click on ‘Read more’ below for the direct links to these 10 new posts.
Russia March 2011: Lada 2104-7 back to #1, Hyundai Solaris up
Russian car sales are up an impressive 77% both in March at 223,429 units and year-to-date at 517,304. The Lada 2104-7 is back in pole position with 14,284 sales and 6.4% share, including 4,061 units of the 2104 built by IZH. It is in the lead year-to-date at 35,032 sales and 6.8%, up a massive 191% year-on-year.
The Lada Kalina drops to #2 at 13,084 sales but improves its market share to 5.9%. It is ahead of the Lada Priora at 11,541 units (5.2%) and the Lada Samara at 8,315 (3.7%).
The Ford Focus reclaims the title of best selling foreign model at #5 with 7,934 sales ahead of the Renault Logan at #6 with 7,115 sales. The Hyundai Solaris takes the 3rd foreign spot at #7 and 6,762 units (3%) for only its 2nd month of sales in the country.
Full Top 20 Ranking Table below.
Netherlands March 2011: Polo, Twingo and Punto on podium
* See the Top 100 best selling models by clicking on ‘Read more’ at the end of the post *
Car sales in the Netherlands are up again, at +27% in March with 56,762 registrations. The VW Polo is the best selling car in the country for the 4th time in the last 6 months at 2,147 sales and 3.8% share. Just below are the Renault Twingo at 2,123 units (3.7%) and the Fiat Punto at 2,066 (3.6%).
The Peugeot 107 (2.9%), Ford Fiesta (2.7%) and Seat Ibiza (2.6%) follow. The Hyundai i10 is up 8 spots on February at #10, and the Citroen C3 is up 25 places at #20. Two new models break into the Top 40 for the first time: the Peugeot 508 is #35 with 446 sales and the Citroen DS3 is #37 with 434 units.
Full Top 100 Ranking Table below.
South Korea March 2011: Avante #1, Orlando & Korando arrive
Chevrolet Orlando
* Thanks to Rutger (DC) at AutoWeek NL for the data! *
The Hyundai Avante is back into pole position in March, a place it has held 7 out of the last 8 months, this time with 12,173 sales and 9.1% share. The Kia Morning new generation falls back to #2 at 8.6%, just above the Hyundai Grandeur, still very strong at 8.3% share and keeping the Hyundai Sonata at bay (#4 at 7.1%).
This month Chevrolet started in South Korea, all Daewoo models will henceforth be sold under the Chevrolet brand. The Daewoo Matiz Creative becomes the Chevrolet Spark and grabs 3.6% and the Daewoo Lacetti Premiere becomes the Chevrolet Cruze and holds 2.3%.
First month of sales for the Ssang Yong Korando C, #21 at 2,073 sales, and the Chevrolet Orlando, #23 at 1,526 sales.
Full Top 30 Ranking Table: click on ‘Read more’ below the Korando pic.
Ssang Yong Korando C
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