The monthly Chinese car sales number confusion is finally over. The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers CAAM has spoken their official word on June 2010 motor vehicles sales in the Middle Kingdom. We nearly lost confidence, but again, our patent pending sales oracle has been proven right. A week ago, our oracle said “that the Chinese market will come in at a growth in the low 20 percentile range.“ And what says CAAM? Read More >

Volkswagen, Daimler, Audi, BMW: Despite tanking sales in Europe, they all report record numbers. Why? Exports and a weak Euro. It’s not just a German thing. Same across the Rhine: Agence France Press (via Google News) reports that Renault is very bullish on the back of strong sales in the first half of 2010.  Renault is up an amazing 21.6 percent to 1.35 million vehicles. Growth of 21.6 percent is good in Renault’s eyes as they claimed that the global market grew 16 percent. Meaning: Renault gained global market share. Read More >

Kia’s Soul didn’t have the most electrifying launch sales-wise, but with the release of its second buzz-worthy ad, the funky little box is becoming a major player in our A/B/Small Hatch segment. The Nissan Versa is clearly the dominant player here, selling nearly twice as well as the Soul. Meanwhile, there’s a tight pack of offerings that have moved at least 20k units this year, that ranges from the aged HHR to the MINI Cooper. Look for a big shake-up in this segment once Ford’s Fiesta production hits high gear.

Tempora mutantur, or in Boy Dylan’s  words, the times they are a-changin’. Last year, luxury cars were pretty much unsalable. This year, they are the hottest commodity. Especially in Germany. Which isn’t doing so well generally. Germany’s car companies on the other hand are working at warp speed. Daimler already had announced their best June ever. What about BMW and Audi? They are doing great. Danke, Euro. Xie xie, China. Read More >

Where would the automotive world be without China. From Daimler to Volkswagen, all send daily prayers east, in the general direction of the Middle Kingdom. (No much aiming precision is needed. It’s a big country.) Even Lamborghini has high expectations. This year, they will sell record numbers of Lambos to China. Read More >

This segment is another big one, representing a number of four-door sedans that are either larger than another same-brand, D-Segment offering (i.e. Impala, Maxima), or a premium or “junior luxury” sedan. That throws cars as diverse as the Charger and the BMW 3-Series into the same segment, and though less than perfectly-focused, it makes for some interesting comparisons. Take, for example, the fact that the 3-Series has sold better so far this year than the Charger. Or the fact that Acura’s divisive TL is selling considerably better than Hyundai’s white-bread Genesis. So much to learn…

Ford was the best-selling brand in America over the first half of 2010, outselling second-place Chevrolet by over 70k units. Sadly, we don’t have the fleet sales breakdown for this data, because both Ford and Chevy have been dogged by indicators of heavy fleet-sales reliance all year. And volume means very little if it’s hurting resale and eroding a brand. Speaking of brand erosion, did you know that the zombie brand Saturn sold better (6,480 units) since January than Jaguar or Saab? With Hyundai-Kia headed for a combined million-sales year, there’s a new pack forming behind the Korean brands, composed of Subaru, VW and Mazda. Neither true mass-market brands nor premium players, these three brands will be interesting to watch over the next several years.

Mid-to-large unibody crossovers are a large segment covering a wide variety of prices and capabilities, but the competition is tight as can be. Ford’s Edge joins its Escape sibling in bringing the second 2010 YTD crossover sales award back to Dearborn… but only barely. And not if you count the Enclave and Acadia to GM’s Traverse numbers (Lincoln MKX sold only 10,289 YTD, MKT moved 3906, keeping them both off this chart). Once again, we have more proof that the Ford brand is plenty strong, but that Lincoln is still badly enough wounded to keep Ford from hanging with The General. Meanwhile, Hyundai, Kia and Subaru are charging into this segment with guns blazing, and the Toyota Highlander seems to be taking much of the hit from the new competition.

Speaking of German car companies doing exceptionally well despite a tanking German car market, there is of course Volkswagen.

The Volkswagen group sold more than 3.5m units worldwide in the first six months of 2010, besting the pretty darn good numbers of the same period in 2009 by about 15 percent, Martin Winterkorn said to Reuters. He predicts (and that’s an easy call based on the half year results) that the Volkswagen group will see record car sales in 2010. What’s driving the new Wirtschaftswunder? The weak Euro, of course. And the strong position of Volkswagen in boom markets such as China.

Nevertheless, VW doesn’t want to rely on the vagaries of the foreign exchange. Read More >

Ford’s Escape wasn’t the best-selling compact crossover in June, but it only needed to cruise to an easy victory as the best selling compact crossover in the first half of 2010. Honda and Toyota’s offerings are still over 10k units behind the mighty Escape on the half, with the Equinox claiming fourth place, and Rogue and Forester neck-and-neck for fifth.

The BBC reports that new car registrations in the UK have inexplicably risen 10.8 percent in June 2010 compared with this time, last year. What makes this “inexplicable” is the fact that sales have risen, despite the fact that the “cash for clunkers” scheme had ended on March the 31st, 2010. “The new car market continued to perform above expectations in June,” said the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) chief executive Paul Everitt said, “The results indicate improved business confidence and a strengthening economic recovery.” However, a quick look at the SMMT report reveals a potential answer. The article shows that fleet sales grew 25.3 percent. Those pesky fleet sales! Let’s take a quick look at some of the brands and their performance, shall we…? Read More >

Now we know why Daimler’s Zetsche said that “2010 could become the best year in the history of the automobile.” Daimler is celebrating record numbers. Never in recorded history had Mercedes-Benz sold more cars in a June than in the last June, says DPA (via Ad Hoc News.) Due to high demand in China and the U.S., Daimler sold 122,900 passenger vehicles this June, that’s 10.6 percent more than in June 2009. Read More >

In June 2010, new car sales in Germany were down 28.7 percent from June 2009, reports the German Kraftfahrtbundesamt, the German government agency that is responsible for all things rolling on Germany’s roads. That may sound like a horrible number, but the graph tells a different story. June 2009 was the absolute peak of the Abwrackprämien-orgy (red line), and Germany seems to slowly get back to 2008 levels (blue line.) Once we are through the seasonally low July/August months, sales may actually exceed 2008 levels. It won’t be until next year before Germany will report real growth. Read More >