Venezuela March 2011: Ford Fiesta leads, new Ranger #5

Ford Fiesta

The Venezuelan car market is down 5% in March at 10,289 registrations, and down 7% year-to-date at 25,790 units. There is a bit of a reshuffle in the models ranking this month: after leading with nearly 20% share for a few months, the Chevrolet Aveo drops to #2 and let the Ford Fiesta access the pole position with 1,122 sales and 10.9% market share. The Venezuelan Fiesta is a restyled version of the 1999 European model identical to the Fiesta sold in Brazil.

The Aveo is still #1 year-to-date by far at 15.5% share, and the Chevrolet Optra ranks 3rd this month at 6.7%, but it is still #2 in 2011 with 2,582 units and 10%. Excellent performance of the Chevrolet Silverado, up 8 spots on February in 4th place with 532 sales and 5.2%.

The new Ford Ranger, a unique design for South American that has nothing to do with the US version, is an instant hit: already #5 for its very first month of sales with 488 units changing hands and 4.7% share.

Full Top 20 Ranking Table below.

New Zealand January 2011: Corolla at 12%!

The New Zealand car market is up 16% in January at 7,523 registrations. Boosted by strong rental vehicles sales, the Toyota Corolla reigns with 903 sales and no less than 12% of the market, followed by the Holden Commodore at 380 sales (5%) and the Suzuki Swift at 265 units (3.5%).

Source and Commercial Vehicles sales below.

Malaysia Full Year 2010: Perodua Myvi #1 for 5th year in a row

Perodua Myvi

The Perodua Myvi finishes the year on a high at 8,289 sales and 15.6% share in December, bringing its 2010 total to 77,657 sales and 13.3% of the Malaysian market and making it the best-selling car in Malaysia for the 5th consecutive year in spite of a 14% drop over 2009 in a total market up 13% at 582,714 registrations.

The Proton Saga takes the 2nd spot like in 2009 with 72,303 sales (12.4%), ahead of the Perodua Viva at 69,048 sales (11.8%) and the Proton Persona at 44,391 sales (7.6%). The Perodua Alza is the only new entrant in the yearly Top 10 in 5th with 41,933 sales (7.2%). The Toyota Vios is still the best-selling non national model at #6 with 33,674 sales.

Link to the Top 50 Ranking Table and exclusive rankings for Eastern Malaysia below.

Laos 2010: Hilux in the lead, Chinese models on the up

Observation in person during my stay in Laos 5 years ago and through YouTube videos of the streets of Vientiane indicate the Toyota Hilux dominates the car sales in Laos, with even more authority than in neighbouring Thailand where it is built. The Isuzu D-Max is possibly #2.

As far as passenger vehicles are concerned, Korean models seem to be all the rage with the Kia Cerato Forte, Kia Picanto, Hyundai Elantra, Getz & i30 very common. More recent observation by my dear Mum and Dad during their stay in Luang Prabang in January 2011 seem to indicate that Chinese models are starting to be quite successful in the country.

Click on ‘Read more’ below for the Full Photo Report.

Kia Cerato Forte in Luang Prabang, Laos January 2011. Picture taken by my dear Mum and Dad.

Chery Riich M1 in Luang Prabang, Laos January 2011. Picture taken by my dear Mum and Dad.

World 2010: Toyota Hilux #1 in 28 countries

Best Selling Cars now covers 154 countries around the world, so we can rank models by the number of times they appear #1 in any given country (more on the methodology below). This is exclusive to Best Selling Cars, you won’t find it anywhere else! Toyota places 4 models in the Top 5, showing how established the brand is all over the world.

The Toyota Hilux is the model that appears most often in #1: in 28 countries, including 21 in Africa. The Toyota Corolla follows: #1 in 18 countries, and the only one across the 5 continents: Europe (1 country), Asia (6), Africa (9), America (1) and Oceania (1).

Then come the Toyota Camry, VW Golf (both 8 countries) and Toyota Yaris/Vios (7). For the list of all 57 models that appear #1 and in which countries they do so, see below.

Haiti 2010: Ford Ranger and Nissan Frontier favourites

As in neighbouring Dominican Republic, Haitians seem to be fond of Nissan pick-ups, with the Nissan Frontier really successful. However its seems the Ford Ranger has taken the lead in this troubled year 2010 in Haiti. Pick-ups are a great help in the huge reconstruction effort the country has to go through after the dramatic earthquake of February 2010.

Another Haitian car tradition is Suzuki/Chevrolet 4WD’s: the Chevrolet Vitara and Grand Vitara can be seen frequently in the streets of Port-au-Prince. Other successful models include the Daihatsu Terios, Mazda Bt-50, Toyota Hilux, Hyundai Tucson, Chevrolet Luv D-Max and Mitsubishi L200.

Street scenes and street videos below.

Republic of the Congo 2010: Hilux most popular

The observation of the streets of the capital Brazzaville reveal that the Toyota Hilux should hold the title of best-selling vehicle in the Republic of Congo in 2010, with the Ford Ranger, Mitsubishi L200 and Toyota Corolla & Hiace also very popular.

The two versions of the Toyota Land Cruiser, 70 (especially the Pick Up) and 200 can also be seen, as well as the Suzuki Grand Vitara and the Toyota Prado. 90% of the dark green taxis are old gen Toyota Corollas or Hiaces, and the Toyota RAV4 first gen is swarming the streets.

Street scenes and videos below.

Sierra Leone: Ford Ranger possible leader

Ford Ranger in Freetown, Sierra Leone

Only a couple of recent videos of the streets of the country are available, and there are very few new cars in them which makes it very difficult to estimate best car sales in Sierra Leone. My (bold) bet is that the Ford Ranger is the best-seller in the country, followed closely by the Toyota Hilux.

The most frequent cars are however the Nissan Sunny, Toyota Land Cruiser and Corolla.

More street scenes and the only 2010 street video I could find are below.

Senegal 2010: Hilux, Logan popular, Peugeot losing grip

Around 5,000 new cars are sold each year in Senegal, and the strong influence Peugeot had on the market over the years (205, 309, 405 and 406 everywhere) seems to have dwindled down to just one popular model: the Peugeot 308, which could still with a bit of luck stand within the Top 5 best sellers in Senegal.

Toyota should place the Hilux at the top of the Senegalese sales, with the Mitsubishi L200, Dacia Logan, Toyota Prado and Ford Ranger also very strong. Great Wall seems to have also had some success with the Hover.

Street scenes and street video below.

Madagascar Q2 2010: JAC Tojoy among best-sellers

JAC Tojoy

Still very limited, the new car market in Madagascar is dominated by Asian brands: Toyota is in the lead in Q2 2010 at 11.8% (down from 17.9% in Q4 ’09), ahead of Nissan and Mitsubishi. However the big novelty in Q2 is the thunderous arrival of two Chinese brands in the Top 10: JAC in 5th at 7.3% and BYD in 8th at 5.1%.

Given JAC only sells one model in Madagascar, this means the JAC Tojoy is already within the best-selling models in the country, along with the Mitsubishi L200 (probably the best-seller), Nissan Hardbody, Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux. Remember we’re talking 30 to 50 units sold in the space of 3 months to be best-seller in Madagascar.

More commentaries, Top 10 brands ranking table, street scenes and videos here: