I know how much you like big rankings… Last week, I gave you the Top 265 best-selling models in China in April, but you also enjoyed the Top 265 best-selling models in the USA over Q1 2012 and the Top 318 best-selling models in Europe in 2011.

So today, before our worldwide roundup monthly appointment (coming up next week!), I thought I would share with you one more sizeable ranking: my estimation of the Top 100 best-selling cars in the world over the First Quarter of 2012.

Does that make you happy?

No? Well there are 163 additional countries and territories for you to visit in my blog, all one by one. Click. The link. You will love it.

Back to the world.

As I mentioned in my last world roundup, it’s looking like the hybrid era has now started for good around the world…

In spite of a scare (or a historical loss, depending on which way you split the numbers) in March where it was neck and neck with the Prius family, the Toyota Corolla remains the best-selling model worldwide over the period with 285,352 sales, on its way to yet another 1 million+ year. The massive event in this start of 2012 is the thunderous take off of the Prius family, delivering an out-of-this world 242,947 units, which means 1 million Priuses could find a buyer in 2012 alone…

Here are again the January-April sales data for select Chinese automakers:

The Dongfeng PSA and Geely numbers are alright for China. For the others, I took the biggest outlier, that of Dongfeng Nissan, and requested the official number from Nissan HQ in Yokohama. It’s the one in the middle.

I was told officially by a Nissan spokesperson that “Nissan sold 446,806 units in China during the January-April 2012 period. April-only sales were 112,365 units.” Furthermore, I was told that Nissan has no idea where the other numbers came from.

All that may sound quite arcane to you, and it’s not as exciting as heel-toe shifting or a camshaft transplant. Yet, if reported sales can be off by a few hundred thousand units, and if none of the two numbers are correct, then one can safely assume further messes.

Like reports being off by a million.

Bloomberg (and gadzillions of media outlets that use the Bloomberg wire) reported a few days ago that Toyota “said this week that deliveries, including those of subsidiaries Daihatsu Motor Co. and Hino Motors Ltd., will grow 18 percent to 8.7 million vehicles in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2013.”

Not true. Toyota said that sales of Toyota and Lexus cars are planned to grow to 8.7 million.  Not including Daihatsu and Hino. I was there, and I checked back with Toyota today. Spokespeople confirmed again that the 8.7 million are Toyota and Lexus only, and that there is no new projection for Daihatsu and Hino. Global sales by Daihatsu and Hino usually add in the neighborhood of a million cars to the total, which would then climb to somewhere around 9.7 million. All by the usually highly conservative projections of Toyota.

Earlier, Bloomberg had (correctly) reported that Toyota “said in February that deliveries — including those of its Daihatsu Motor Co. and Hino Motors Ltd. units — will increase 21 percent to a record 9.58 million vehicles in the regular calendar year.” Toyota sure did. Someone should have noticed that a million cars were suddenly missing.

Well.

It seems like the bigger the areas I cover (March worldwide roundup anyone?) or the longer the rankings I talk about (Top 265 best-selling models in the USA over Q1 2012, Top 318 best-selling models in Europe in 2011 and Top 100 best-selling models in the World in 2011) the happier you are.

And that’s what I want.

You. Happy.

So I have more and more data in store for you. Don’t worry, when you think I will have exhausted every possible avenue I will still have more. Because that’s what I do all day, counting cars. So you can count on me.

And to follow-up on Bertel’s appetizer earlier today I give you the Top 265 best-selling models in China in April. Just another month in Chinaworld: two new brands launched, 10 new models, and we’re only talking about the cars produced locally…

Not interested? Fine. There is more data (told you) for 159 additional countries for you to visit in my blog, all one by one. Click. The link. You will love it.

Back to China.

And first two clarifications: we will be talking about passenger cars here (and not commercial vehicles which are the subject of another ranking) and only cars produced locally as imports data is still a bit patchy in China.

Now that it finally managed to be the most popular passenger car in the country after 4 years finishing at #2 (See the Full Year 2011 Top 250 here), the Buick Excelle is not letting go: in April it is holding the pole position for the third time in a row and the 6th time in the last 9 months with 23,179 sales.

In 2nd place we find the VW Jetta. Bland you will say. Maybe so. But the interesting fact about the VW Jetta sold in China is that it is still based on the 1984 second generation of the model! You can recognize the original body behind many layers of make-up… In spite of approaching the ripe age of 30, it still sells 21,909 units in April…

On the third step of the Chinese podium this month we find the Ford Focus boosted by the arrival of the new generation and up a massive 14 spots compared to March with 21,793 sales.

Volkswagen is still the dominant brand in China and manages to place 3 models in the Top 5 with the Passat at #4 and the Lavida at #5 and 4 models in the Top 7 with the Bora at #7…

The other interesting development this month is the arrival of the Hyundai Verna (aka Accent) in the Top 10 at #8 thanks to a record 18,786 sales, making it two Hyundais in the Top 10 with the Elantra Yuedong at #9.

The VW Magotan hits its highest ranking ever at #11 with 16,188 units.

Yes, you got this right. There is no ‘truly’ Chinese model in the Top 10 even though all cars above are manufactured by joint-ventures with Chinese manufacturers. In fact I wrote an article about the very fact that Chinese cars don’t seem to be selling well at home…

The best-selling Chinese model at home this month is the Great Wall Haval H3/H5/H6 which is a little unfair because it is in fact 3 quite distinct models but no split sales are available. It ranks #13 overall with 15,747 sales.

The #2 Chinese is also composed of two models: it is the FAW Xiali N3/N5 at #15 overall with 15,476 units.

The Chery QQ is getting old but still selling reasonably well at #20 overall with 12,423 sales.

In transition between the old and new generations, the BYD F3, best-selling model in China overall in 2009 and 2010, is down to #45 at 8,216 units.

Notice also the excellent performance of the Audi A6 L up to #30 with 13,675 sales, double the amount it sold in Germany over the same period (and the German ones are not the eLongated version sold in China)!

Now you’ve read so far, it means you want to know about these two new brands I talked about earlier.

Getting right into it in a few, but first a bit of background.

The latest trend in the world of Chinese cars is the launch of new, allegedly low-cost brands. In April 2011, Guangzhou-Honda launched the new brand Li Nian with the S1 based on the previous generation City. It got a mild welcome with a peak at #89 last August.

Last August as well, General Motors launched its own Chinese low-cost brand, Baojun. Looking like a truly new car, the Baojun 630 received a much warmer welcome: it peaked at #31 last February, and after falling to #83 last month it is back up to #53 in April.

But wait there’s more. In April we welcome not one but two new low-cost brands in the market, with their first model appearing for the first time in the ranking… Ciimo, Dongfeng-Honda’s low-cost attempt, has launched the Ciimo Si Ming based on the previous generation Honda Civic and it sells 3,022 units for a respectable 118th position.

Dongfeng-Nissan released the Venucia D50 based on the previous generation Nissan Tiida sedan, landing at #122 with 2,845 sales. These two monthly figures are so far the strongest starts for Chinese low-cost models: the Li Nian S1 debuted at 2,084 units and the Baojun 630 at 869.

That’s it for the new brands. I still find it quite exhilarating that new brands keep popping up in this market. It must have felt like this in Europe at the start of the 20th century. Even though the majority of these brands may not survive for long there is no denying it is a fascinating time to follow car sales in China.

Especially when you realize that there are 8 other all-new models making their first appearance in the ranking in April…

We also welcome the Gleagle GX7 at #135 with 2,307 sales, the now locally produced Mercedes GLK at #169 with 1,344 units…

…the Beijing E-Series, a Mercedes B-Class clone, at #183 with 949 sales…

…the Dongfeng Fengshan A60 at #191 with 700 units…

…the Chery Cowin 5 at #194 with 589 sales…

…the Great Wall Haval M4, probably the most attractive of these newcomers, at #197 with 532 units…

…the GAC Trumpchi GS5 with a ‘je-ne-sais-quoi’ from an imaginary Subaru Tribeca at #200 with 484 sales…

…and the Gonow Aoosed GX5 at #245 with 85 units. Wait. What? Seriously? Is that the name of the car? I can see the proud owner boasting about how tough its Gonow is. Sounds suspiciously like some hidden, unknown part of my body that I wouldn’t want anyone to know about. But hey, I’m sure it sounds great in Chinese!

Now don’t lie to me. You didn’t know brands like ‘Beijing’, ‘GAC’ and ‘Gonow’ even existed? Don’t panic, it also hurt my feelings to know that somewhere in the world there were cars allowed to be driven on the streets without me knowing not only the model but the brand… But that’s why I’m here! To push the boundaries of ignorance. Nothing less.

China’s best-selling and worst-selling cars, April 2012

Looks familiar? The Shanghai Englon TX4 only sold 6 units in April though…

Top 10 worst-selling cars in China – April 2012:

You can check the entire Top 265 best-selling models in China in April 2012 here

I think you have a few things to say at your next pub meal don’t you?

Until next week…

Data for this post was sourced on www.chooseauto.com.cn, many thanks to DC from www.autoweek.nl for sharing, translating and helping compile the data.

Matt Gasnier, based in Sydney, Australia, runs a blog named Best Selling Cars, dedicated to counting cars all over the world.

Crash fatalities are down 1.7 percent to 32,310 from a year earlier, NHTSA data shows. How can you counteract this alarming trend? Pile young people in the car.

A new report by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety shows that the likelihood of a 16- or 17-year-old driver being killed in a crash increases with each additional young passenger in the vehicle.

• One passenger younger than 21 (and no older passengers): 44 percent riskier
• Two passengers younger than 21 (and no older passengers): 100 percent riskier.
• Three or more passengers younger than 21 (and no older passengers): 300 percent riskier.

Put one passenger aged 35 or older in the car, and a teen driver’s risk of death goes down by 62 percent.

I can sense from where I sit upside down in Sydney, Australia, that through my posts you are getting more and more knowledgeable about exactly which cars sell best: the Top 265 best-selling models in the USA over the first quarter of 2012 now have no secrets for you, as do the Top 318 best-selling models in Europe in 2011 and the Top 100 best-selling models in the World in 2011… So I thought I would give you even more recent data.

How about the best-selling models in the world in March 2012?

More of the same I hear you say?

Fine, you can find sales info for 159 additional countries for you to visit in my blog, all one by one. So don’t be shy and click away!

But to answer the question…

Actually, no. It’s not more of the same.

And I’ve got one word for you to prove it: hybrid.

Given I spend most of my evenings gathering car sales data from all around the globe, last month I had the (genius? more like masochist) idea of doing a monthly wrap-up compiling the world’s sales highlights for March 2012.

And there were a few.

Yes because you see, to start with the above-mentioned hybrid word, two variants of the Toyota Prius launched a few months ago: an MPV called Prius alpha in Japan and Prius v in the US and a smaller hatch called Aqua in Japan and Prius c elsewhere. And the Prius family took off worldwide in March. It lodged record-breaking volumes in Japan and the USA. In Japan, the Prius c is marketed as Aqua and is up to an outstanding 29,156 sales, while the ‘standard’ Prius sold a record 45,496 units including the MPV version, up 131% year-on-year. In the US, sales are not split and the Prius family as a whole sold a record 28,711 units for a best-ever 6th place.

What does it mean?

Simply that for the first time in the history of automobile, the best-selling model (or call it family) in the world may (and I stress the ‘may’ – these are still estimates after all) be a hybrid car. Estimations for world sales of the Prius family in March stand at 106,522, ahead of the estimated 102,000 sales of Toyota Corolla over the period and the 98,000 estimated Ford Focus sold across the planet that month…

It is a historical month indeed.

But there were other models that were under the spotlights worldwide in March…

The Honda CR-V new generation enables the nameplate to reach record heights in both the USA where it ranks at a best-ever #5 with 30,068 units sold and in China where it is #4 with 21,124 units.

Nissan lodges two historical performances in March: even though it is about to be replaced with a new generation, the Altima breaks its monthly volume record in the USA with 41,050 sales…

…while the Nissan Qashqai has its best European month ever in 7th place with 30,237 units, thanks to best-ever performances in Germany, France, the UK, Ireland (#1), Poland, Slovakia, Switzerland, Czech Republic and ranking #2 in Spain.

Another milestone passed in March: for the first time ever, there were two Japanese models in the European Top 10 with the Toyota Yaris climbing into 10th position with 22,856 sales, helped by a record-breaking showing in the UK.

India is the new China: in March 281,831 new vehicles found a buyer in the country, up 20% year-on-year and a new all-time record! The Maruti Alto has its 2nd best month ever at 35,245 sales and no less than 12 models break their monthly record, including the Maruti DZire, Hyundai Eon, Tata Nano…

…and Honda Brio delivering the best month ever for a Honda model in India at 6,355 sales.

Other March highlights include the pole position of the VW Up! in Denmark only a few months after its launch…

…the Fiat Uno beating the VW Gol in Brazil for only the third time ever…

…the Lada Granta up to #4 in Russia…

…the Dacia Duster reaching 10% share in its native Romania…

…the all-newPeugeot 208 landing at #16 in France, the Mazda CX-5 reaching a world best #18 in the Netherlands…

…and the Range Rover Evoque breaking into the Swiss Top 20,

Worldwide estimated Top 10 best-selling models – March 2012:

Note this is an estimation I made based on the sales figures of these vehicles in 60 countries around the world, these are not official sales figures.

Now if this doesn’t quench your thirst for numbers I don’t know what will.

What if I wrote a similar article each month so you can make sure you are abreast of all the latest developments in the geeky world of car sales? Let me know what you think…

Matt Gasnier, based in Sydney, Australia, runs a blog named Best Selling Cars, dedicated to counting cars all over the world.

Says Michelle Krebs of Edmunds:

”The Prius C, the newest, smallest and least expensive member of the Toyota Prius hybrid family, barely has time to get its tires dirty because the Prius C, with a starting price of about $19,000, stays on the dealership lot only about eight days until a buyer drives it away. By comparison, the average vehicle across the U.S. industry sat on a dealership’s lot an average of 53 days in March, according to Edmunds.com’s metric referred to as days-to-turn — the number of days between a vehicle being delivered to a dealership to it being purchased by a customer.”

America’s Fastest Selling Cars

The velocity of inventory is measured in DTT – Days To Turn. Inventories are a closely watched metric in the industry, and you should watch it too. Fast moving inventory can mean that the car is in high demand, in short supply, or both. It also tells you that your bargaining power is low – there is a customer right behind you. Cars that stick around much longer than the industry-standard two months attract incentives to move the metal. Those incentives may not be as generous as they used to be. Michelle Krebs explains:

“Since the recession and the bankruptcies of General Motors and Chrysler, automakers have been much more disciplined about keeping production in line with customer demand. The industry’s average days-to-turn has been in 47 and 57 days since January 2010. If inventories begin to bloat, the manufacturer shuts down the factory until the marketplace sops up the inventory, as is the current case with GM’s extended-range plug-in hybrid Chevrolet Volt.

Stricter production discipline allows automakers to show restraint on incentives, which are at their lowest levels since 2008, according to Edmunds.com’s Total Cost of Incentives (TCI) calculations. That’s bad news for consumers because low inventories and quick turn of vehicles equals little — if any — discounts and haggling room on the showroom floor for hot sellers.”

Brand new models tend to enter the list of hot sellers like shooting stars: Oooh, aaaah, burnout. Factories slowly and cautiously ramp up production to ensure there are no glitches. At the same time, certain consumers absolutely must have the latest, greatest vehicle on the market. According to Ms Krebs, shooting star candidates are the Lexus GS 350 sedan, Mazda CX-5 SUV, Porsche Cayenne SUV, the Subaru Impreza sedan and the Honda CR-V. Then there are the regulars of the list. Says Krebs:

“Some companies and certain of their models make the quickest-selling vehicles just about every month, indicating the strength of the brand and the product as well as the automaker’s capacity constraint. Two notable ones are Audi and Hyundai.”

Edmunds lists the 20 fastest-selling cars on its website. We asked Edmunds to give us the whole list, fast sellers and lot queens. We received a list of the top 50, but not more, due to “low sample sizes.”  Mind you, the #50 on this list is still in an enviable position with a little less than double the industry-standard 2 month inventory velocity.

Now that most of you know about the Top 100 best-selling cars in the world and the Top 318 best-selling models in Europe, I can go back to travelling where you want me to… Following your lead, we have already been to Chile, Georgia (the country, not the American state), Myanmar, Bolivia and Paraguay.

Now it seems like a few of you really enjoyed the trip we made to Russia exactly one year ago. Given a lot has changed since, I found it my duty to give you an update on the country of Vladimir Putin.

But wait, Russia is not your cup of vodka? нет проблем, because I have sales info for 159 additional countries for you to visit in my blog, all one by one. So don’t be shy and click away!

So I was saying a lot has changed in Russia…

First of all from a general point of view, the Russian market has grown significantly in one year: in March, it was up 12 percent year-on-year to 252,816 registrations, bringing the 2012 year-to-date total to 614,273 units after 3 months, up 19 percent on 2011.

Secondly the antediluvian Lada 2105/7 (born in 1979) and Samara (1984) are about to be discontinued! Yep that’s a massive event, and if the Lada 2105/7 was still leading the models ranking one year ago its fortune is logically very different today: it is down to #21 in March with sales down 78 percent year-on-year, while the Samara is down 36 percent to #9.

But if these two icons are on the way out, who’s coming in? One word: Granta. The new Lada Granta kick-started its production in December 2011 and as of March it is already up to 4th place in the models ranking with 9,291 sales and 3.7 percent share. The Granta is a big event for local brand Lada as it has the daunting task of keeping the brand afloat in an increasingly competitive market.

For more info about the Granta launch in Russia you can click here.

The third big change the Russian market has undertaken in the last year is the responsibility of Hyundai. The Korean manufacturer launched the locally manufactured ‘Solaris’ in early 2011. The Solaris is a new generation Accent fine-tuned to suit Russian road conditions and it has been an instant hit with Russian consumers, reaching levels never seen before for a model by a foreign brand in Russia.

In February the Solaris was up to #2, quite possibly the highest position ever reached by a ‘foreign’ model in Russia even though it is built locally. It keeps this spot in March with 10,492 sales and 4.2 percent share.

Meanwhile, the Lada Kalina finished 2011 in pole position for the very first time and is in the lead after 3 months in 2012 with 27,820 sales and 4.5 percent share, in spite of a 11 percent drop year-on-year.

It is followed by the Lada Priora at 27,433 units, down 15 percent year-on-year, and the Hyundai Solaris with 27,072 sales and 4.4 percent share, up 166 percent year-on-year.

Russia March 2012 Top 10 best-selling models:

You can check out the entire Top 25 here.

Russia 3 months 2012 Top 10 best-selling models:

You can check out the entire Top 25 here.

So there, now I can rest assured that you have the latest information on the Russian car market. I couldn’t risk putting you in danger of not being totally up-to-date for your next posh dinner!

Matt Gasnier, based in Sydney, Australia, runs a blog named Best Selling Cars, dedicated to counting cars all over the world.

After a two-week interruption to explore the Top 100 best-selling cars in the world and the Top 318 best-selling models in Europe, I am now back to travelling where you want me to… Based on your suggestions, we have already been to Chile, Georgia (the country, not the American state), Myanmar and Bolivia.

And this week we are going to Paraguay. Why? Because lilpoindexter and lokki have asked. Yep, Paraguay seems to be a popular destination among TTAC readers… Is that because of Larissa Riquelme, the lingerie model who promised to run naked in the streets of Asuncion if the Paraguay soccer team won the 2010 World Cup? Maybe.

But wait, are you tired of South America already? Que no es un problemo, because I have sales info for 159 additional countries for you to visit in my blog, all one by one. So don’t be shy and click away!

The good thing about Paraguay is that I have official data. Yep, no need for me to spend hours watching YouTube videos to give you my best guess. Phew!

Over the Full Year 2011, the Paraguayan new car market is up a whopping 45% to 29,392 registrations.

For once let’s start with a brands ranking before we get into specific models. While it had been dominating the Paraguayan scene for at least a decade, Chevrolet has lost its #1 spot in 2011: with 13.5 percent of the market it is passed this year by Kia at 14.5 percent, with Hyundai in third place at 10.5 percent. Toyota comes 4th followed by Volkswagen.

Paraguay Full Year 2011 Top 10 Brands

You can see the Top 30 brands here.

Outside the Top 10, the ranking is crowded with new Chinese entrants, making Paraguay one of China’s most successful export market… You will notice Great Wall at #14, DongFeng at #18 and BYD at #19, with Geely, Chery, JMC and Jinbei also managing to rank within the Top 30…

Model-wise, the Toyota Hilux is head and shoulders above the competition with 1,913 sales and 6.5 percent share. Paraguay is estimated to be the 34th country in the world where the Toyota Hilux is #1 in 2011!…

The Kia Rio previous generation is the best-selling passenger car in Paraguay this year at 1,525 units and 5.2 percent share. Another pick-up, the Nissan Frontier, rounds up the podium with 1,473 sales and 5 percent.

Excellent start for the Chevrolet Agile: Up to #4 at 1,287 units and 4.4 percent for its first full year of sales…

…followed by the VW Gol at 3.9 percent…

…and the Chevrolet S10 at 3.7 percent.

Notice also the Hyundai Tucson, Santa Fe and new generation Kia Sportage all clawing their way into the Top 10. Interestingly, no trace of the Chevrolet Classic which dominated sales in Paraguay up until a few years ago…

Paraguay Full Year 2011 Top 10 models:

You can see more car sales information about Paraguay here.

This data was provided by CADAM.

Matt Gasnier, based in Sydney, Australia, runs a blog named Best Selling Cars, dedicated to counting cars all over the world.

Car owners have a warped view when it comes to their automobile’s cost.

When you ask someone the, “How much did you spend..”  question, their usual response is to take the price they paid and just let that be that.

“Oh, I got this Mercedes for $50k.” They then will usually go about telling you the options they chose, and other trivial realities related to the car.

But as we all know,  that’s not the question.

I’ve been thinking about this because after several years toiling all over Atlanta with my 1st gen Insight,  I am now spending a fair amount of time raiding the local press fleet cars. One car plus one review to write equals one less tank of gas… and a lot of other subtractions.

Less time obviously equals less wear on my primary driver. A 2001 Honda Insight which I bought three years ago for $4100. It had 145k back then.

Today? It has 187k. I do drive about 25k miles a week…. uh… make that a year.  But much of that is shuttling other cars to various mechanic and paint shops. The Insight also seats only two people. So when I head off to pick up cars at the auctions, I usually take a car fron the lot.But yes, that’s an expense. At least the IRS sees it that way.

However  for the sake of avoiding a calculation that resembles something from NASA, I will simply stick with the usual line items.

Purchase Price: $4100

Depreciation: 0

In Atlanta I could probably sell it for $5000. But I haven’t sold it yet, so I won’t make this a negative number.

Gas: $2300

42,000 / 55 mpg = 763. Gas has averaged about $3 a gallon in Atlanta. Keep up with the SWAG estimating, and you come to a nice round number.

Thank God I no longer drive old Lincolns.

Insurance:  $3165

This is where things are simple for most of you, but not me. The Insight is my work vehicle so my dealer insurance covers it as my primary ride. Since I would still need this insurance if I wasn’t shucking cars on the side, I’ll just let my actual insurance expense represent the Insight.

Maintenance: $87

That’s not a misprint. I bought another Inisght for it’s tranny and other related parts a bit over a year ago. Other than five oil changes (mostly free thanks to Bob is The Oil Guy), a tranny fluid change, and two air filters, I haven’t needed to do much of anything else… with maintenance that is.

Repairs: $595

The parts vehicle that I got for it’s tranny cost me $1850. Proceeds from it were $1485. $985 for the shell. $500 for the battery pack. The guy who bought the battery pack also managed to re-balance the battery on a Civic Hybrid which I later sold at auction for a $2500 gain. I won’t include that in the total. Or the good tires and other wear parts that I have for my ride.

We’ll keep it kosher. $1850 – $1485 = $365. Plus $230 for a botched repair (which was all my fault) and the total comes to about $595.

Total: $10,247

So my ride so far cost me about $3400 a year. Sounds good, but then again I’m also in the business.

But what if I wasn’t? What if I spent my days in a classroom? Or a research lab? Or a doctor’s office? What if I could trade in my dealer’s license and aluminum ride for a nice corner office with a Crown Vic parked as close to the nearest exit as possible?

If I lived close to work and remained a gearhead, that Crown Vic may not cost that much more than the Inisght.

What about you? How much has your primary driver cost you? Has it been worth it?

In the last couple of weeks we have traveled to Georgia (the country, not the state,) Myanmar, Bolivia and the entire world! The success of our exploration of the Top 100 best-selling models in the world last week made me think you might be interested in a similar type of article about Europe…

However, if the whole of Europe is too much for you to handle today, that’s fine because I have sales info for 160 countries for you to visit in my blog, all one by one. So don’t be shy and click away!

Back to your Grand Tour of Europe.

First a bit on the methodology, as ‘Europe’ is a vague geographic notion these days. This data was sourced on Automotive News and includes sales from the 27 European Union countries minus Bulgaria and Malta, plus Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey.

If you are not interested in Europe as a whole but in its individual countries, that’s OK too – just click here and look for your country on the right hand side.

Now that I’ve cleared that up, let’s get to it.

The VW Golf continues to be the best-selling car on the continent by far with 493,855 sales in 2011, it has now been on top of the European ranking every year since 2008…

The Ford Fiesta takes the 2nd spot at 372,977 units…

…just above the VW Polo at 371,454 sales.

The Opel Corsa ranks #4…

…followed by the Opel Astra, Ford Focus and Renault Clio.

The VW Passat is the big winner in the Top 10 at #10, up 10 spots and 43% on 2010.

Down 17% on last year, the Fiat Punto loses its spot in the Top 10 to #11, followed closely by the Nissan Qashqai at #12 with 216,970 sales. The Qashqai hasn’t stopped progressing in the European ranking since its original launch in 2007 and has managed to rank within the monthly European Top 10 a couple of times already, including in September 2011.

The Skoda Octavia is up 2 spots to #14 and climbed into the European Top 10 for the first time in January 2012. The Mercedes C-Class moved up 9 ranks to #16, it überholt its archenemy, the BMW 3 Series.

Europe 2011 Top 20 best-selling models

You can see the entire Top 318 best-selling models in Europe in 2011 here 

Outside the Top 20, great performers include the BMW 5 Series, up 30% and 12 ranks to #24, the Dacia Duster landing directly at #26 with 141,961 units, and the Opel Meriva up 22% and 8 spots to #32. Notice the Nissan Juke up to #39 for its first full year of sales.

The DR Motor DR1 manufactured in Italy (in fact a rebadged Chery Riich G1) is once again the best-selling Chinese model in Europe but it has lost its spark at #259 with 1,886 units, down 40%.

Let’s conclude this article by observing that the Lamborghini Aventador sells its very first 63 units over the continent to rank #310.

You can see 2010′s Top 371 best-selling models in Europe here:

Previous year: Europe 2011 All-models Top 371 ranking (source JATO)

Now for the usual golden nugget: those who have read up to here, I thank you profusely but you must be wondering where the heck is the best-selling car in the world, the Toyota Corolla? Yes I have kept the suspense up till the end. Well. Fact is when the Corolla hatchback was renamed Auris for the European market for the launch of the 11th generation 2007, it took most of the sales as the Corolla sedan has never been a favourite in Europe… Result: the Corolla is only #129 in Europe with a bit over 26,000 sales! Pretty lame…

There. You are now an expert in all things European cars…

Till next week dear readers! Thanks for listening.

Source: Automotive News. I need to thank Tuga and Lancia Lover for sharing the data.

Note 1: The 2010 figures beyond the Top 50 are calculated based on the 2011/2010 variation in percentages, therefore the exact sales number for 2010 may be slightly different.

Note 2: The Top 318 list is incomplete and doesn’t account for absolutely all models sold in Europe in 2011. If you have sales data for any additional model in the whole of Europe please make sure to get in touch by commenting on here!

Note 3: This ranking includes sales from the 27 European Union countries minus Bulgaria and Malta, plus Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey.

Matt Gasnier, based in Sydney, Australia, runs a blog named Best Selling Cars, dedicated to counting cars all over the world.

Over the past few of weeks we have traveled to Chile and Georgia, Myanmar and Bolivia, the last 3 destinations being all your fault: you asked for it! Now I felt I had to interrupt this elan of generosity and hold on going to countries you asked for just for one week.

I have to rectify a very important ranking: the best-selling cars in the world.

You may remember earlier this year I wrote an article detailing the Top 10 best-selling models in the world in 2011, based on an article published on Forbes. Which I had a few issues with. Well a few official figures, a lot of work and a couple of long nights later, I now have a ranking that looks much more like reality…and is much bigger: the Top 100 best-selling models in the world in 2011!

All this after the jump.

But wait, if the world is too much for you to handle today, that’s fine because I have sales info for 160 countries for you to visit in my blog, all one by one. So don’t be shy and click away!

Back to the world.

Forbes said the Hyundai Elantra became millionaire last year. Not true. They must have added sales of the i30 in the mix or sumfin. Not fair.

So let’s get back to the beginning.

If the Toyota Corolla is confirmed as 2011 world’s best-selling car with 1,141,709 sales, a big disappointment is in store for Hyundai fans: the Elantra is far from threatening the Corolla for the pole position and is not millionaire in 2011 in spite of what Forbes told you. Even including the 3 generations of the model still in production somewhere in the world (especially in China), Elantra sales amount to 751,967 units, placing the model in 6th position…

In second place we find the now globally aligned Ford Focus with 882,541 sales…

…followed by the VW Golf at 864,452 units

…and the VW Polo with 788,789 sales, thanks to its success at every corner of the globe, from Europe to South Africa to China to India.

The Ford Fiesta comes in 5th position at 765,465 units ahead of the Hyundai Elantra.

Then, a crowded pack, consisting of the Wuling Sunshine with 731,689 sales and not the 900,000+ reported by Forbes, the Chevrolet Cruze (the best-selling passenger car coming out of a General Motors factory this year), Ford F-Series and VW Jetta. Suddenly it all makes sense, doesn’t it?

The Iranian Saipa Pride is at #13 – yes it doesn’t make any sense to add it to the 2012 Kia Forte as Forbes did: they absolutely have nothing in common. So I divorced them.

The best-selling SUV in the world is the Honda CR-V at #20 with an estimated 530,000 units.

World’s Top 30 best-selling cars in 2011:

But where’s the Top 100 I hear you ask? Fear not, You can check out 2011′s Top 105 best-selling models in the world here

Note this is not an official ranking but based on the country-by-country information, some official annual sales data by manufacturer and my best informed estimates.

Further down, the Toyota Hilux, #1 in 35 countries, is #22, while the Hyundai Tucson/ix35 excels at #28 with 420,649 sales. Excellent showing also of the Suzuki Swift/Dzire at #31 with 399,446 units.

The BMW 3 Series is the best-selling luxury model at #36 and 384,464 sales and should improve vastly in 2012 thanks to the new generation. It is followed in its category by the Mercedes C-Class at #40, the BMW 5 Series at #46 and the Audi A4 at #48.

Best year ever for the Nissan Qashqai at #38 and 382,741 units.

With the Peugeot 207 at the end of its career at #57, the 24 year-old Peugeot 405/Pars produced in Iran should be the brand’s best-seller this year at #52 and an estimated 306,000 sales!

Fiat’s top seller is the South American Uno at #54 with 297,234 units, above the Punto at #58 and the Palio at #63.

Dacia manages to place its 3 models within the worldwide Top 100 with the Logan at #44, the Sandero at #59 and the Duster at #99, compared to only two Renault models: the Clio at #26 and the Megane at #60!

Notice also the Nissan Juke above 215,000 units at #79, the FAW Xiali N3/N5 at #83 with an estimated 207,000 sales and the BYD F3 at #92 with an estimated 190,000 units.

Never had anyone compiled the Top 100 best-selling models in the world for any year. Until now. And you witnessed it. A moment of history. Now go boasting about it to your mates, go on!

This data is the result of my own estimates based on official sales in 60 countries in the world, some manufacturers’ official data and the hard work of Austin from Ford Inside News.

Matt Gasnier, based in Sydney, Australia, runs a blog named Best Selling Cars, dedicated to counting cars all over the world.

Over the past few weeks, I have taken you on trips to exotic and mysterious Eritrea, Chile, Georgia and Myanmar. The last 3 are only because of you because I have decided to now only take you to where you asked to go. And today we are going to Bolivia, simply because lilpoindexter asked for it.

If you are already South America’ed out after Chile, that’s ok because I have prepared 159 additional countries for you to explore in my blog. So don’t be shy and click away! Adelante!

Now to make this hard for me, once again you have chosen a country with no official sales data available.

Nice. Thanks for that. Oh wait…

I visited Bolivia back in 2005, so how about I tell you about that?

Over the last couple of weeks, your favorite travel agent has taken you on trips to Belarus, Eritrea, Chile and Georgia (mmm, am I really your favorite travel agent? I’m getting a little worried…). But you only have yourselves to blame: bFor the third week I’m only taking you where you asked to go. And today the destination is Myanmar (aka Burma). Why? Because SexCpotatoes (I really like your nick!) asked for it. I know, I know, it’s the 2nd time we follow SexCpotatoes suggestion, but no-one said you could only ask for one country!

Now if Myanmar is the last of your worries and you’d rather go to Malaysia this week, that’s absolutely fine because I have prepared 159 additional countries for you to explore in my blog. So don’t be shy and click away!

Of course Myanmar being the closed country we all know, there is no official sales data available.

But that’s when the fun begins! Or so I thought…

As you all know by now, when there is no data, in fact there is. Simply go to YouTube and search ‘Myanmar streets’ and you normally end up watching a flow of cars for hours and can make up a pretty good picture of actual sales. I even had people living in Sudan and Ghana telling me my YouTube guesses were pretty accurate! So there.

Except for Myanmar, all you get is footage of protests and other violent events. Let’s hope this country is on the right track now that there seems to be a little more freedom. Still, I managed to check out enough videos to be able to tell you that there are very nearly no new cars in circulation in the country.

Very high import taxes make new cars an out of reach prospect for most consumers, and in this context, the 1992 Toyota Corolla Station Wagon swarms the streets…

With the 1998 Nissan Sunny and 1993 Suzuki Wagon R also very popular.

A few extremely rare 2007 Toyota Corollas…

…and 2005 Toyota Hiluxes can also be seen.

And I’m afraid that’s all I have for you on Myanmar! At least now you know what the Burmese drive and you could even show off about your knowledge at fancy dinners.

Till next week folks!

You can see Yangon street scenes here.

This information is based on meticulous observation of recent YouTube videos of the streets of the capital Yangon.

Matt Gasnier, based in Sydney, Australia, runs a blog named Best Selling Cars, dedicated to counting cars all over the world.

Over the past few of weeks we have travelled to Israel, Belarus, Eritrea and Chile. Since last week you decide which country we go to next and today we make a stop to Georgia, the country, not the US State. Why? Because SexCpotatoes (cool nick!) asked for it.

Now you are sick of ex-USSR countries and have had too much vodka already, make sure you don’t drive and check out the 159 additional countries I have prepared for you to explore in my blog…

Georgia has no sales data available. So there will be no article… Just kidding.

By now you will be familiar with my methodology when there is no data available for a specific country.

It’s simple.

I go online and visit my old mate YouTube, check out recent videos of the streets of the main cities of that country and voila!

Georgian consumers have been very fast to shed their Soviet past: there are virtually no Ladas anymore in the streets of the capital city Tbilisi…

(no, not a BMW!)

Instead, chances are the Toyota Corolla is in the lead of the models ranking, making Georgia the only European country and one of 18 countries in the world where it is estimated to be in pole position.

Other popular models in Georgia are the Hyundai ix35…

Toyota Camry…

Nissan Tiida…

Toyota RAV4…

and Mitsubishi Pajero. If you go to Georgia in the near future you will also notice a lot of second hand 1991 Opel Astras and various Mercedes in the streets.

This speculation is based on the observation of recent YouTube videos of the streets of Tbilisi. If you do have official models data for this country make sure to get in touch…

Matt Gasnier, based in Sydney, Australia, runs a blog named Best Selling Cars, dedicated to counting cars all over the world.

In the last couple of weeks I have taken you to Oman, Israel, Belarus and Eritrea. Those of you that religiously read my column every week (endless thanks to you!) will remember that last week I also asked you which country you would want to travel to next. Well I have decided to grant not one, but ALL your wishes and the next few weeks will be dedicated to the countries you have requested.

Yes. I’m nice like that.

So this week we’re going to Chile, as per marjanmm’s wish. Why did I choose Chile? Because marjanmm was first to ask!

That’s right.

Now if you have ordered another country and couldn’t care less about Chile, I won’t get offended because I have prepared 159 additional countries for you to visit in my blog, so don’t sulk and click away!

In Chile, ‘Chevrolet’ and Nissan fight a very tight battle…

Yes I wrote Chevrolet like this – and apologies to anyone who works at General Motors – because the Chevrolet in question is the Sail and imported from China. But I’m getting ahead of myself…

The latest models data I have for Chile dates back to July 2011. No that recent but that’s all I have for you I’m afraid. You’ll get over it I’m sure…

Over the first 7 months of 2011, the Chilean market was up a massive 32 percent year-on-year to 187,736 units. Three models sit within 0.1 percentage point market share of each other on the podium… (hence the ‘tight battle’ tip above.)

The Nissan Tiida is the best-selling model in the country over the period with 7,739 sales and a 4.1 percent share…

…but it is closely followed by the Chevrolet Sail (yes, the one that’s imported from China) at 7,674 units. The Sail was even #1 over the first half of the year! Chile is therefore the Sail’s second-most important export country, together with Algeria where the Sail is delivering outstanding numbers, making the Sail the first true successful Chinese export…ever.

A second Nissan, the Terrano (aka Frontier, the previous generation Navara… wow, 3 names for one car. Bit much) rounds up the podium and leads the commercial vehicles ranking with 7,549 sales and 4 percent share. The Terrano has been the best-selling pick-up in Chile for the last 6 years.

A second ‘Chevrolet’ (mmm I can hear our friends at General Motors are getting a little bit annoyed), the Spark freshly imported from Korea I believe, is #4 at 6,979 units and 3.7 percent, ahead of the 2010 market leader, the Hyundai Accent down to #5 with 5,309 sales and a 2.8 percent share.

Notice also the Samsung SM3, unashamedly Korean, holding itself very well in 7th place at 2.5 percent share and the Suzuki Alto breaking into the overall Top 10 at 1.9 percent. In the SUV ranking, the Hyundai New Tucson (2,326 sales) and Santa Fe (2,226) dominate, while the Great Wall Hover ranks #10 at 975 units.

Chile All Models – 7 Months 2011

Chile Commercial Vehicles – 7 months 2011

Chile SUVs – 7 Months 2011

You can find more info on the Chilean car market here.

All data was sourced on www.anac.cl

Matt Gasnier, based in Sydney, Australia, runs a blog named Best Selling Cars, dedicated to counting cars all over the world.

In the last couple of weeks, we have been to Czech Republic, Oman, Israel and Belarus. This week I have decided to take you to one of the most obscure part of the world: Eritrea.

I know.

That’s why you have a map above, to help you locate this country of 6 million inhabitants located in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea declared its independence in 1993 but no national elections have been held since… In the 2010 Press Freedom Index, Eritrea ranked #178 out of 178, yes that is last, below North Korea at #177. Independent media being banned since 2001 didn’t help…

Obscure I told you.

But I wasn’t going to let that deter me to find out what cars sell best there…

The Eritrean car market is actually pretty easy to decipher because a handful of cars clearly dominate the streets.

In all likeliness and judging by the number of old gen models filling the streets, the Toyota Hilux should be the best selling vehicle in Eritrea.

The Toyota Corolla should follow.

Indeed around 60% of the cars in circulation in the streets of the capital Asmara are Toyotas: old gen Hilux, Corolla and Land Cruiser.

There is also a significant amount of old gen VW Beetles…

Picture by Eric Lafforgue. All rights reserved.

The taxis swarming the streets are either 2003 Kia Rio sedans…

…or 1992 Opel Vectra sedans.

And that’s pretty much all there is to say about Eritrean cars!

Come on, surely this entire article is a giant golden nugget that will make you shine during posh dinners!

And why don’t you tell me which country you’d like me to cover next week?

Thanks for listening.

Info for this article is based on recent YouTube videos of the streets of Eritrea’s capital Asmara.

Matt Gasnier, based in Sydney, Australia, runs a blog named Best Selling Cars, dedicated to counting cars all over the world.

Over the last few weeks, we have travelled to Germany, Czech Republic, Oman and Israel. Today we are stopping in Belarus, part of the USSR until 1990 and home to just under 10 million inhabitants.

Now if Cold War reminiscence, endless forests and Orthodoxy are not really your thing – well that’s not my business hey but I’ve got you covered: I have prepared 159 additional countries for you to visit in my blog, so don’t be shy and click away!

It took a while for Belarus to get rid of Russian influence but this year the best-selling car in the country is not Russian…

All the details after the jump…

The Belarus car market bucks all European trends this year and grows by 26 percent on 2010 to reach 16,275 registrations, that’s including Light Commercial Vehicles.

A significant event occurred in Belarus in 2011: the best-selling model in the country is not coming from Russia but from France or Romania, depending on which way you look at it: the Renault Logan (born Dacia) is up 6 spots and a massive 98 percent on 2010 to land in pole position with 630 sales and 3.9 percent market share, even though its facelift happened a few years back.

Belarus is third country in the world with Romania and Moldova where the Logan is #1 in 2011.

But the Russians are not far behind: in second position we find 2010′s best-seller, the GAZ Gazelle down a steep 62 percent to 475 units and 2.9 percent share…

…followed by the Lada Priora up 20 percent to 426 sales and 2.6 percent share.

Renault lodges another fantastic performance in 4th place: the Sandero is up 38 ranks and 405 percent year-on-year to reach 409 units sold and 2.5 percent, again very impressive given the Sandero has been around for a couple of years now.

A second Lada climbs in the Top 5: the 34 year-old 4×4 (aka Niva) with 382 sales, up 22 percent on 2010, an outstanding feat given its age.

Other great performers in the Top 10 include the VW Polo sedan landing directly at #6, the Ford Focus up 311 percent to #9 and the Mitsubishi Outlander up 78 percent to #10.

Below, the Hyundai Accent ranks directly #11 and the VW Touareg has a brilliant year, up no less than 50 spots and 468 percent on 2010 to #13 with 284 sales!

Belarus Full Year 2011 Top 30

You can see the 2011 Top 140 here.

You can also see the 2010 Top 80  here.

And now for your traditional golden nugget because I know you have come to expect it every week!

Whereas in neighboring Ukraine Chinese models are starting to do really well, in Belarus they’re just not there yet. The Great Wall Hover is still leading the pack but is down 16 percent on 2010 to a poor 102nd position with just 32 sales, followed by the Chery Tiggo at #136 and 17 units. The Chery QQ sells 11 units and the Great Wall Florid 6…

So now you can say in your next high society dinner (or at the pub): “But the Chinese have not spread across the entire ex-USSR just yet, only in Ukraine and Tajikistan“… You will definitely make an impact I’m sure.

And here you go: you are now an expert on Belarus car sales – I bet you didn’t expect that while turning on your computer today! But that’s the beauty of Best Selling Cars Around The Globe: you never know where you’re going to end up next!

Data sourced from www.domkrat.by

Matt Gasnier, based in Sydney, Australia, runs a blog named Best Selling Cars, dedicated to counting cars all over the world.

In the last couple of weeks, we have travelled to France, Germany, Czech Republic and Oman. Today we fly North to land in Israel.

Now if you’re already Middle East-ed out after one week in Oman, that’s ok because I have prepared 159 additional countries for you to visit in my blog, so don’t be shy and click away!

For those of you who have been meticulously reading my articles week after week you will remember that we have already been in Israel back in August last year. Oh yes but at that time the only ‘data’ I had access to was from 2010 and it was very incomplete. Plus a lot of change has happened since, with Mazda not dominating anymore!

So jump into it after the jump…

Over the Full Year 2011, the Israeli new car market reached the record level of 225,949 registrations, up 5 percent year-on-year. Surprise surprise: Mazda is no longer the best-selling brand in the country with Hyundai taking a definitive advantage at 33,060 units and 14.6 percent share vs. 21,145 and 9.4 percent for Mazda…

But Mazda gets a consolation prize: for at least the 7th consecutive year, the Mazda3 is the best-selling model in Israel, with Australia the only other country in the world where it leads. However while in 2009 it commanded 12 percent of the market, this year it is down to 5.2 percent and 11,642 sales…

…only 221 units above the Toyota Corolla, #2 at 11,421 units and 5.1 percent share.

The Hyundai i30 rounds up the podium with 8,901 sales and 3.9 percent, the first of 6 Hyundais in the Top 25! Compact cars are definitely the favourite car size in Israel with the Chevrolet Cruze at #4 with 6,909 units and the Ford Focus at #5 with 6,286 sales.

The Hyundai i20 is the best-selling small car at #6 and 6,098 units, followed by the Mazda2 at #7 and the Suzuki Alto at #8. The Kia Rio and Renault Fluence close the Top 10.

Israel Full Year 2011 Top 30

Two US imports otherwise pretty discreet in the region rank within the Top 70: the Chevrolet Malibu at #55 and Buick LaCrosse (instead of the Opel Insignia) at #63. You can check out the Israel Full Year 2011 Top 80 here…

But wait there’s more: in January 2012, the Israeli market has gone into a spin…

And this is your mammoth-size golden nugget for the week… If you won’t shine in post dinners this week with that one, you’ll get your money back:

For the first month of the year, the Israeli car market is up 3 percent year-on-year at 20,194 registrations, and both brands and models ranking are totally upside down! Brand-wise, Kia takes the lead with 2,126 sales ahead of Ford (2,104) and 2011 leader Hyundai (2,019). Toyota and Skoda also sell more than Mazda, down 65 percent on January 2011 and the uncontested favourite brand in the country up until 2010…

In the models ranking, the Ford Focus flamboyantly takes the top spot with 1,719 sales and a mammoth 8.5 percent market share, compared to #5 and 2.8 percent in 2011.

It is followed by the Seat Ibiza at 1,034 units and 5.1 percent vs. 1.7 percent and #13 in 2011…

…and the Skoda Fabia with 711 sales and 3.5 percent (vs. 1.1 percent and #26)! The Toyota Corolla is down to #4 at 3.4 percent, ahead of the Kia Rio and Skoda Octavia.

Leader for at least the last 6 years, the Mazda3 is down to a worrying 7th place at 526 units and 2.6 percent share. Kia places 3 models in the Top 10 with the Forte at #8 and the Sportage at #9 while Hyundai lodges 5 cars in the Top 20: the i25 (aka Accent) is #14, the i10 #15, the i20 #16, the i35 (aka Elantra) #17 and the i30 #19. Notice also the Nissan Juke up to a brilliant 11th position and the Ford Edge up to #46.

Israel January 2012

You can check out the Israel January 2012 Top 55 here

And now you’re even more of an expert on Israel car sales than you were last August!

Till next week…

Data sourced from es.autoblog.com

Matt Gasnier, based in Sydney, Australia, runs a blog named Best Selling Cars, dedicated to counting cars all over the world.

From the good old days of 2007…

“Is that yours?” Millions of car buyers spend billions of dollars hoping that this statement will be born of admiration rather than pity. When these words come out of a car dealer’s mouth at trade-in time, they can be especially hurtful– even if the salesman is as honest as their spiel is long. That’s the moment when most car buyers finally discover whether or not their automotive “investment” has walked off a cliff and fallen into the financial abyss known as depreciation.

Here’s how to avoid the freefall.

It simply can’t be stressed enough. Depreciation is the mother of all automotive operating costs. Even if gas soars to four bucks a gallon, depreciation STILL represents the biggest hit to the car owner’s wallet.

To wit: The average cost for a new car in these great United States currently hovers around $30k. After seven to eight years–  still a few years less than the ever-increasing average amount of time American new car buyers hold onto their whips– the car’s owner will be looking at a depreciation rate somewhere between 65 percent and 85 percent.

In other words, come trade-in time, they’re facing an average loss between $19,500 and $25,500. That’s before any considering of the “opportunity cost” (i.e. money lost by NOT investing the cash in a house/money market/alpaca farm). Or inflation.

Bottom line: if you want to avoid depreciation, forget about buying a new car… or even a near-new car.  Yes, a new car offers warranty-related peace of mind and late model vehicles can be purchased as certified pre-owned models. . But it’s an extremely expensive security blanket. A carefully-selected used car may need repairs. But in most cases, repairs of those expenses still cost a lot less than depreciation.

If you’re willing to forgo that new(ish) car smell, figuring-out your buying pattern is the next step. There are two basic buying types: Keepers (keep cars for the long haul) and Traders (trade them in after a few years).

Many Keepers are ready, willing and able to enjoy a vehicle for well over a decade. “Keepers” believe their car should be a cruising companion until the point where the perceived risk of owning it (usually the cash outlay for major repairs) outweighs the fact that ownership itself eventually costs them nothing/virtually nothing.

In the automotive world they are what we call “married.”

The key to being a successful Keeper: marry genuine quality, not reputation. Say what you will about “import bigots” and brand loyalty. The automotive market is a place where perceived reputation translates into dollars and cents.

Toyotas and Hondas routinely receive price premiums– even though many of their products fall far short in value and performance as compared to their peers. By the same token, overlooked or unloved models represent an excellent way to keep the hounds of depreciation at bay.

In most cases, car buyers get more bang for their buck (power, features, etc.), lower up-front costs, and lower depreciation costs simply by buying a used example of a less well known/accepted car. Mitsubishi, Suzuki, Buick– there are plenty of brands that sell excellent products that simply fail to capture the public imagination. The fact that these cars take a huge initial hit on depreciation works entirely in your favor, both buying and selling.

For example, if you’re looking at a midsized commuter, a 2004 Buick Century or 2004 Oldsmobile Bravada, both of which finished first in J.D. Power’s dependability study and received strong ownership ratings, will cost thousands less to purchase than a comparable Camry, Accord or Pilot. Remember: badge snobs must pay for the privilege.

The Trader is a different animal. They are looking at a shorter time horizon than the Keeper. They require a different strategy.

To avoid depreciation, Traders are best off buying a carefully vetted seven to nine-year-old car of their choice. At that point, depreciation has exacted the majority of its revenge.

With due diligence, Traders can get a superb return on their money. The average seven-year-old car kept for two years experiences minimal depreciation (20 percent or so). The average nine-year-old car experiences even less, and so on. It’s a simple but highly effective buying pattern.

And then there is the Sage. The Sage can buy nearly anything and make a buck at it. Yours truly has enjoyed hundreds of vehicles over the last few years– and it’s only taken huge chunks of my free time to do it. Mechanics, auto auctioneers, wholesalers, retailers and hobbyists will always have an edge when it comes to depreciation costs. We know what’s hot, and we know plenty of people who appreciate hotness.

Again, wisdom comes at a cost. Sages don’t pay for depreciation (much), but their insight requires years of hard work, money (mistakes are never free) and a feel for the auto biz’ cycles of fashion and fame.

Whether you’re a Keeper, Trader or Sage, remember: a car is an expense. It may excite you or be a daily nuisance, but it is still an expense. By minimizing depreciation you will avoid the single largest cost in the process. With that money you can save the world, buy groceries or save up for your next car.

Detroit had a big comeback last year. Let’s look how big. And let’s discuss whether Bloomberg is right when it predicts that “U.S. automakers led by General Motors Co. may lose share in their home market this year.”

U.S. Automakers By Market Share Gain/Loss 2011

These are automakers, ranked by their gain (or loss) of share in the U.S. market for the full year of 2011.  The big gainers are Chrysler and Hyundai (incl Kia,) followed by GM and Volkswagen. “Big gainers” is relative. Each of the carmakers on top of the list had double digit (in the case of Volvo even triple digit) growth rates. However, when the year was over, the ten carmakers that gained market share only dislodged a combined 4.4 percent of the market. Who lost it?

Let’s go to the bottom of the list. There you see the tsunami victims. Toyota lost a whopping 2.35 percent of the market, more than half of the total market share that had been gained at the top of the list. Toyota is followed by most of the Japanese makers. But oops, amongst the losers is also Ford. Ford gained 9.4 percent in 2011. But with an overall market gaining 10 percent, that gain translates into a loss of share. Market share is brutal. You need to grab it from someone else. And you need to make money while you do it.

The list also provides a partial answer to the question many people asked in private after March 11: Who benefits from the tsunami?

What about this year? Bloomberg asked five analysts that very question. Bottom line answer:

“The U.S. automakers may each increase sales by less than the total market’s growth this year, according to all five analysts surveyed. While falling unemployment, rising consumer confidence and the need to replace aging vehicles will drive demand, increased Japanese output and improved competition from Korean brands and Volkswagen AG will test Detroit’s discipline on protecting profit rather than simply selling products.”

The analysts think that the Detroit Three “may drop a combined 1.3 percent of U.S. market share in 2012.”

That may not sound like a lot. Consult the table, and you will see that it would eat up most of the gains two of the three made in 2011. Who will take that share away? Says Bloomberg:

“Asia’s largest automaker, Toyota, may capture 13.8 percent of the U.S. market this year, from 12.9 percent last year, and Tokyo-based Honda may take 9.5 percent, from 9 percent, analysts estimate.”

That’s already 1.5 percent. Volkswagen will grab 0.3 percent, Hyundai 0.1 percent, think the analysts. Who else than the Detroit 3 is in for a haircut? Except for Nissan, which is predicted to experience a 0.2 percent slide, no other losers are mentioned in the Bloomberg story.

Who do you think will gain or lose?

Over the past few weeks, I have taken you on trips through The Entire World (yep!), France, Germany and Czech Republic. This week we fly over to the Sultanate of Oman…

Now if sand, rocks, blue sky and very sugary candy are not your thing, I don’t believe you – but hey that’s fine because I have prepared 159 additional countries for you to visit in my blog, so don’t be shy and click away!

Oman consumers have decided: they will only buy one brand of cars…

…well almost.

168,789 new vehicles were registered in the Sultanate of Oman in 2011, that 61 per thousand inhabitants, compared to 41 in the USA.

For most of the year the Toyota Hilux was the best-selling model in the country, but a weak month of December due to Thai supply issues brought it down to #2 with 18,996 sales and 11.3 percent market share.

The massive Toyota Land Cruiser, an icon in the Persian Gulf region, finishes the year as the best-selling model in the Sultanate in 2011 with 19,444 units sold and 11.5 percent market share.

In third place we find a Toyota: the Land Cruiser Pick-up sells 13,896 units for a 8.2 percent market share

In 4th position is a… Toyota, the Prado at 6.3 percent,

The 5th best-selling model this year in Oman is a… Toyota, the Hiace at 3.8 percent. Did I mention Oman loves Toyota? No? That’s awkward because the #6 best-selling model is also a Toyota, the Corolla at 3.6 percent share…

… as well as the #7: the Camry at 2.9 percent.

Yes, you read it right! The 7 best-selling models in Oman in 2011 are all Toyotas! Talk about a love story…

But wait there are also non-Toyotas in the ranking: first of them is the Kia Cerato at #8 with 4,485 units and 2.7 percent but it is the Nissan Sunny (#9 at 2.3 percent) that reached the highest monthly ranking for a non-Toyota in Oman this year at #4 in December.

Notice also the Lexus LX at #13, bringing the Land Cruiser family’s market share in Oman to an insane 28 percent!

Oman 2011 Top 30

You can see the Oman 2011 Top 100 best-selling models Ranking here.

Now for the golden nugget so you can shine at posh dinners this year: Oman is one of four countries in the world with Bahrain, Qatar and possibly Somalia (my estimation on that last one) where the Toyota Land Cruiser is the best-selling model!

Over and out for this week!

Thanks for listening.

Matt Gasnier, based in Sydney, Australia, runs a blog named Best Selling Cars, dedicated to counting cars all over the world.

Over the past couple of weeks, we have traveled to Iceland, The Entire World (yep!), France and Germany. This week again we won’t go too far and cross just another border to land in the Czech Republic.

Now if beer, beer, Prag and beer are not your thing, I don’t believe you – but hey that’s fine because I have prepared 159 additional countries for you to visit in my blog, so don’t be shy and click away!

The Czech Republic is, logically, the kingdom of Skoda, but with Skoda’s range expanding every year the brand now has a stronger hold than ever on the best-selling models ranking…

Car sales in Czech Republic are up 2 percent in 2011 at 173,282 units and Skoda monopolizes the podium like in 2010:

The Skoda Octavia is the best-selling model in the country for the third consecutive years albeit with sales down 8 percent to 23,661 units and 13.7 percent share.

The Skoda Fabia stays #2 with 16,532 sales, up 6 percent…

… and the Skoda Superb rounds up the podium at 4,659 units, up 4 percent.

Both Korean in 2010, the Top 2 best-selling foreign models are German this year: the Ford Focus is up 4 spots and 26 percent on 2010, thanks to the new generation to #4 and 4,536 sales or 2.6 percent of the market…

…and the VW Golf is up 2 ranks and 7 percent to #5 with 4,128 units and 2.4 percent share.

They are followed by the Skoda Yeti down 1 spot and 7 percent at #6…

…the Kia Cee’d (-9 percent) at #7…

…and the Hyundai i30 (-16 percent) at #8.

The only two Skodas not ranking in the Top 10 are the Roomster at #13…

…and the all-new Citigo at #81 but already #15 in December.

Outside the Top 10, great 2011 performers include the Renault Thalia up 51 percent to #11, Hyundai i20 up 98 percent to #12, Dacia Duster up 344 percent to #17, Hyundai ix20 landing directly at #19 and Kia Sportage up 101 percent to #26.

Czech Republic Full Year 2011 Top 30

You can see the Full Year 2011 Top 150 ranking here 

For the golden nugget this week you will have to click here to discover Historical Data for Czech Republic and Czechoslovakia up to 1969! Obviously a Skoda model has led sales all the way since then…

Matt Gasnier, based in Sydney, Australia, runs a blog named Best Selling Cars, dedicated to counting cars all over the world.

Over the past couple of weeks we have traveled to New Caledonia, Iceland, The Entire World (yep!) and France. For this week, we are just crossing the border to go to Germany.

Now if sauerkraut, Oktoberfest, Mercedes and BMW are not your thing and you’ve had enough of Europe already, I’m surprised – but hey that’s ok because I have prepared 159 additional countries for you to visit in my blog, so don’t be shy and click away, ach ja!

Well this year in Germany for the first time ever a certain brand monopolizes the podium…

But before I delve into the results for 2011 in Germany, I’d like to do a quick newsflash on December sales in particular as something special happened in Germany.

The main event in December is the 22nd place of the VW Up! with 3,058 sales and 1.3 percent share for its first true full month of sales in the country. This means that the new Up! is instantly reaching a level that the Audi A1 took a full year to get to for example – albeit not in the same price range. It will be fascinating to follow the Up!’s sales throughout 2012 as this is a category VW has struggled with in the past…

…with the Fox…

…and the Lupo

Over the full year, car sales in Germany are up 9 percent on 2010 to 3,173, 634 registrations. The VW Golf leads for the 31st consecutive time with sales up 3 percent to 258,059 units, its third strongest volume of the last 10 years.

For the first time ever in Germany, Volkswagen monopolizes the year-end podium with the Passat up a massive 56 percent to 103,507 sales and 3.3 percent share at #2…

…and the Polo down 6 percent to 90,720 units and 2.9 percent share at #3.

The Opel Astra (+19 percent)…

and Mercedes C-Class (+11 percent) both lose one spot to #4 and #5 in spite of growing sales…

…the Opel Corsa is up 2 ranks to #6 and passed the Polo twice in the monthly ranking this year…

…the Ford Focus is up 14 percent to #9…

…and the BMW 5 Series up a very healthy 30 percent and 6 spots to #10. It is only the second time since the launch of the 5 Series nameplate in 1972 and the first time since 1990 that der Fünfer manages to rank within the German year-end Top 10!

The Audi A6/A7 has a fantastic year, up 45 percent to #18, and even managed to be the brand’s best-seller for a couple of months. However it is the first time since 2000 that there is no Audi in the Top 10 and only the 2nd time in 26 years…

Foreign models-wise, the Skoda Fabia (#16) and Octavia (#17) are in the lead again…

…but Skoda being 100 percent owned by VW, the first ‘true’ import is the Hyundai i30 at #26 (+7 percent) followed by the Nissan Qashqai at #27 (+35 percent) and Renault Megane at #31 (+4 percent).

Notice also the BMW X1 up 26 percent to #25…

…the Audi A1 landing at #30 for its first full year of sales at 28,932 units and 0.9 percent share, breaking into the Top 20 in November…

…the Ford C-Max up 175 to #33…

…and the Peugeot 508 the best-performing all-new model at #92.

 Germany’s Top 30, full year 2011

You can also see the Top 300 here

 Germany’s Top 30, December 2011

You can also see the Top 50 here

Now for the traditional golden nugget: In the luxury segment, the Mercedes CLS multiplies its sales by 5 to 6,248 units at #117, the Porsche Panamera is up 27% to #148, the VW Phaeton up 47% to #161, BMW 6 series up 130% to #182, Mercedes SLS AMG up 40% to #206, Ferrari 458 Italia up 55% to #247 and Rolls Royce as a whole is up 66%.

And there you are, a total expert on the German car market look at you!

Source: www.kba.de, www.autobild.de

Matt Gasnier, based in Sydney, Australia, runs a blog named Best Selling Cars, dedicated to counting cars all over the world.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Over the past weeks we have flown into Zimbabwe, New Caledonia, Iceland and The Entire World (yes Sir!), this week it is time to stop in my own country, France. Yes I know I am confusing you, I am based in Australia but come from France… Only the French…

Now if Paris, baguettes, berets and grumpy old men are not your tasse de cafe au lait that’s ok, rest assured I won’t be offended because I have prepared 159 additional countries for you to visit in my blog, so don’t be shy and click away, oui oui!

Well this year in France the best-selling model had not been in that position in 5 years…Oh la la!

French car sales are down just 2% in 2011 at 2,204,065 in 2011, which is an outstanding performance in the current economic context. For the first time since 2006 the Renault Clio 3rd generation is the best-selling car in the country with 123,827 sales and 5.6 percent share, stable on last year. Boosted by heavy promotions on its petrol version, the Clio hit the 3rd generation’s highest market share in September at 9.4 percent.

It is the 13th time in the nameplate’s 20 year-life that the Clio finishes the year in pole position in France, making it the 2nd most successful nameplate below the Renault 5/Supercinq (14 times). The first year the Clio was #1 was 1992 when it sold 233,209 units for a 11.1 percent market share - See all the years the Clio ranked #1 here.

Losing its crown for the first time in a full year (it was #1 since its first full year in market in 2007), the Peugeot 207 is #2 with 103,321 sales and 4.7 percent share, down 19 percent. A difficult year for Peugeot’s best-seller but its successor the 208 has already been unveiled and will go on sale in March 2012.

Helped by the new generation of the model now if full swing, the Citroen C3 is up 8 percent on 2010, climbing up to #3 with 79,364 sales and 3.3 percent share. It is the first time a Citroen ranks on the French podium in 26 years! Since the Citroen BX was #3 in 1985 with 7 percent of the market…

The C3 is only the 6th Citroen to claw its way onto the annual French podium since 1945 with the Traction Avant, 2CV, Ami 6, GS and BX.

It is followed by 3 Renaults: the Mégane at 78,861 units (-1 percent)..

Twingo at 68,265 sales (-26 percent)..

and Scénic at 66,360 units (-12 percent).

Boosted by a light facelift, the Peugeot 308 is up one spot to #7.

Best-selling foreign model for the 2nd year in a row, the VW Polo takes advantage of a fantastic end of year to gain 10 percent and 4 spots on 2010 to #8 at 53,582 units and 2.4 percent share. This is the highest year-end ranking reached by a foreign model in 15 years! Since the Ford Fiesta ranked #8 in 1996…

The next two models make their first appearance ever in the French year-end Top 10: the Peugeot 3008 continues to progress at +7 percent and +2 spots on 2010 to #9 with 53,297 sales and 2.4 percent share. It broke into the monthly Top 5 for the first time in May at #5.

The Dacia Duster is the success story of the year: it sells 51,612 units for its first full year, landing at #10. This is the first time in the history of the automobile in France that an SUV/4WD ranks within the year-end Top 10. The Duster ranked #1 for one week in April and broke into the monthly Top 5 for the first time in November at #5.

The new generation Citroen C4 ramped up all through the year to break into the Top 10 in December, finishing 2011 at #12.

Excellent performance of the Citroen DS3 up to #17 with 33,015 sales and 1.5 percent share…

…and the Nissan Qashqai breaking into the French year-end Top 20 for the first time at #19, up 17 percent. It is one of only 5 foreign models in the Top 25 below the Polo, Ford Fiesta, VW Golf and Opel Corsa (Owned at 100% by Renault, Dacia is considered a French brand). It is also the first time ever Nissan manages to place a model in the French year-end Top 20.

All-new this year, the Peugeot 508 lands directly in Top 20 with 28,507 sales, already leader in its category ahead of the Citroen C5 (#24), Renault Laguna (#26) and VW Passat (#36). Further down the ranking, the Ford C-Max up 67 percent to #27, the Nissan Juke landing directly #32 and already flirting with the monthly Top 20 and the Audi A1 the brand’s best-seller straight from its first full year at #45.

France Full Year 2011 Top 30

You can see the Full Year 2011 French Top 392 here

You can see each year’s best-selling models in France since 1949 here. (Scroll down to the table and click on the year to see the detailed ranking)

And now for the golden nugget: the Renault 4CV you can see in the video at the start of the article was the first mass-produced car in France and the first one to pass the 1 million units mark. It was unveiled at the 1946 Paris Motor Show, started production in August 1947 and already sold over 50,000 units for a mammoth 29 percent market share in 1950! See the Top 15 best-selling models in France in 1950 here.

Matt Gasnier, based in Sydney, Australia, runs a blog named Best Selling Cars, dedicated to counting cars all over the world.

Click here to view the embedded video.

In our whirlwind journey across the planet, over the past couple of weeks we stopped in South Africa, Zimbabwe, New Caledonia and Iceland. This week I will make it easy for you and will cover the entire world all at once…

Yes it is possible.

Now if this is way too much for you to absorb, that’s ok too because I have sales info for 160 countries for you to visit in my blog, all one by one. So don’t be shy and click away!

Back to the world.

Forbes has recently released its estimated list of the world’s best-selling models in 2011. As I spend my time counting cars all around the globe I’m sure you can imagine how hard it was for me to mask my excitement when I discovered that list…

Yes but.

There are a few things in their list that I am not too sure about…so follow me please over the jump.

#2

The main event in 2011 is the fact that the Hyundai Elantra, outside the Top 10 in 2009 and 2010, is now the second best-selling nameplate on the planet with over 1 million units sold (1.01 million to be exact)…only 10,000 units below the Toyota Corolla! Yes sir, who would have thought the Elantra, with the new generation only one year old, would already threaten the Boss itself… Remember though that included in this figure are the two generations of the model that were on sale this year.

Now selling more than 1 million units in a single year is a feat not many cars have achieved in the past, and it is the first time a Korean model does so! A very, very significant benchmark indeed. Other millionaire cars that come to mind include the Ford Model T, VW Beetle, Chevrolet Impala, VW Golf, Ford F-Series and of course the Toyota Corolla.

#1

So yes, Corolla still #1 in spite of tsunamis and floods that disrupted its production, but just. Moreover, it is unclear whether that 1.02 million figure includes the Auris hatchback, sold in some markets (Australia, South Africa) as a Corolla… If it does include the hatchback, then the Hyundai Elantra is the runaway leader.

#3

In third place worldwide we find the Wuling Sunshine with 943,000 units sold. The Wuling Sunshine is a commercial minibus and the best-selling vehicle in China. Now I have reservations on this number because the Sunshine would have sold around 740,000 units in China this year and I’m not sure where the additional 200,000 sales come from…

#4

Then in 4th position is the Ford Focus, now with a unified design all around the world, with 919,000 sales. This in spite of a slow start for the new generation that ranked 7th in Europe.

#5

At #5 we have the Kia Rio/Pride with 815,337 units. This is an interesting one: yes, as a nameplate the Rio sells that much, but this figure is composed of 3 very different cars. Approximately 500,000 units are of the 1987 first generation Pride sold in Iran under a joint-venture with Saipa where it leads the market by far, the rest is a mix of 2005 Gen 2 and 2011 Gen 3…

#6

#7

#8

#9

At #6 comes the Ford Fiesta with 781,147 units, ahead of the VW Jetta at 745,000, Toyota Camry at 726,000 and Chevrolet Cruze at 691,000.

Here again the Jetta figure is composed of very different models: the 1984 second generation in China (pictured above), the 1998 fourth generation in China (called Bora) and Mexico (called Clasico) and the 2010 6th generation everywhere else…

The Cruze figure, nearly double that of last year and making it #9 in the world, is very impressive and reflects its success in as varied markets as the US, China and Australia.

#10

Leader in Europe, the VW Golf is only #10 with 648,000 units, a far cry from the million units it used to sell worldwide around 10 years ago.

Now the Ford F-Series didn’t appear in Forbes ranking but based on US and Canada sales and the fact that it doesn’t sell much outside those 2 countries I have estimated it to be #11 with around 645,000 sales, ahead of the VW Passat and Honda Civic.

Best-selling nameplates in the world in 2011 (according to Forbes)

Now I need to give you ammunition in case people challenge you when you share this ranking at posh dinners…

I’m sure you will notice the absence of such successful nameplates as the Toyota Hilux, Honda Accord, Opel Astra, Opel Corsa or VW Polo and the fact that there is no French car in the ranking.

Here are the explanations:

The Honda Accord sold around 230,000 units in the US, down 14%, and America is still by far its strongest market as the model doesn’t sell well in Europe or Asia, so no chance.

The Opel Astra, Corsa and VW Polo, although very successful in Europe where they sold between 280,000 (Astra) and 360,000 units (Polo), are not exceptionally strong anywhere else, preventing them to reach the highest ranks.

As for French models, again they are only truly popular in Europe, moreover both the Renault Clio and Peugeot 207 are at the end of their career, with their replacement both due in 2012 so even their European figures are not flash this year.

Last but not least, the Toyota Hilux. If you are an avid reader of my weekly updates you will know that the Hilux is estimated to be the best-selling model in no less than 33 countries around the globe. So the logic would dictate that you should at least see it in the worldwide Top 10, right?

Yes but 22 of these countries are in Africa where the volume are really low, with Thailand being its highest volume earner at around 100,000 units. So at maximum you are looking at 350,000 to 400,000 sales worldwide for the Hilux, which could possibly get it a spot in the Top 20, but certainly not in the Top 10…

There.

The world’s best-selling models have no secrets for you anymore.

But please feel free to fire any questions you have, I will do my best to answer them.

Figures were sourced on Forbes, except for the Ford F-Series which is my estimate.

Matt Gasnier, based in Sydney, Australia, runs a blog named Best Selling Cars, dedicated to counting cars all over the world.