Best Selling Cars Around The Globe – World December 2012 Roundup: Has The Chinese Invasion Started?

Matt Gasnier
by Matt Gasnier
Yesterday I ran you through the best-selling cars around the globe in November, and today we are getting one step closer to a final worldwide models ranking, with our much anticipated monthly rendezvous: the World roundup for December 2012. If last month, all spotlights were on Brazil where Hyundai broke new ground with its locally-produced HB20, in December the focus is on Chinese carmakers abroad with an event that the car industry had never seen before…You can check out previous World Roundups here for August 2012 (“The Subaru XV topples a legend in Switzerland”), September 2012 (“Ford Focus strong in China”), October 2012 (“One Japanese in the Chinese Top 50″) and November 2012 (“When Hyundai cracked Brazil”).Not interested? That’s ok, you can check out the best-selling models in 171 countries and territories on my blog. Enjoy!Back to the roundup.
DongFeng S30 In Venezuela, on the back an unprecedented 4,000-unit batch specifically exported to the country, the DongFeng S30, distributed by Civetchi, takes off and gains huge 25 spots on November to take the lead of the models ranking there with 583 sales and 7.1% share!
Great Wall SteedBut wait there’s more: in Bulgaria, now that Great Wall has established its very first European factory in the country, the Great Wall Steed jumps to #1 in the Bulgarian models ranking thanks to a very impressive 161 sales for a 6% market share.
Geely CK Finally in Ukraine, while we thought its July performance would be an exceptional one-off, the Geely CK manages to climb into the models ranking pole position once again in December thanks to an outstanding 907 sales and 4.4%, over one percentage point above the the Skoda Octavia, #1 in the country over the Full Year…
BMW 1 SeriesJust as its archenemy the new gen Mercedes A-Class is starting to get traction, the BMW 1 Series takes the brand into uncharted territories this month. First at home in Germany where it is up to a best-ever #2 and 3.2% share, enabling BMW to place two models in the German podium for the first time ever with the 3 Series at #3. Then in the UK where the 1 Series is up to a record 5th place after already beating its ranking record in October (
BMW 3 SeriesHere too BMW breaks a record as a brand, placing two models in the Top 6 (like Ford and Vauxhall!) for the first time ever in the country. As a result the BMW 3 Series manages to climb into the overall European Top 10 for the third time this year after April and June but only the 4th time in the last 4 years after December 2008, up 21% year-on-year to #8 at 15,171 units, its highest European ranking in over 5 years, since September 2007 exactly…
Dacia SanderoRenault continues to thank the heavens for its low-cost range, kicking goals again worldwide this month: the Duster breaks into the monthly Russian Top 5 for the first time this month, the new generation Sandero is back within the French monthly Top 10 for the first time since August 2010 at #7 is also up to a record third place in Spain. The Sandero could surprise many in 2013 and rank much higher than the #11 spot I have predicted for France…The Fiat 500L, already one of the worldwide stars in November, goes further up this month: it ranks #6 in Italy with 2.248 sales and 2.6% share – only 82 units below the ‘normal’ Fiat 500! It has however not popped up very high in any other European market so far… The Ford Focus is the best-selling Passenger Car in China for the 5th month in a row and the 6th time in the last 7 months with an enormous 36,868 sales, its 2nd highest monthly volume after the 38,362 units it sold in November. In the UK, the Focus manages to take the lead for the 2nd consecutive month, the third time this year and only the 5th time in the last 3.5 years. In Russia, the Focus he Ford Focus climbs onto the podium for potentially the first time since 2007 at #3 with 9,831 sales and 3.9%, passing the Hyundai Solaris to become the best-selling foreign model in the country for the first time since March 2011.The new generation VW Jetta (specific to the country and actually based on the VW Polo platform) is up to a shiny 2nd place in China at 24,056 units.In other Chinese news, after struggling for the last 3 months as a result of China-Japan tensions, Japanese brands are back in the game in December: the Honda CR-V is up 18 ranks to #6 at 18,977 units, its 2nd highest ranking after the #4 it hit last March, the Nissan Sylphy is up 22 to a best-ever #7 with 18,610 sales, the Toyota Corolla EX up 19 to Toyota Corolla up 14 to #23 and the Toyota Camry up 7 to In the US, the Ford F-Series lodges its highest monthly volume in over 5 years ( since August 2007!) at 68,787 units, the Chevrolet Silverado delivers a huge 50,699 units, its first time above 50,000 monthly sales since August 2008, and the Honda Civic lodges another outstanding month, holding the title of best-selling Passenger Car in the country for the 2nd month running and only the 3rd time ever after May 2008 with 33,118 sales, up a massive 61% year-on-year. In Brazil, the Hyundai HB20 is up 32% on November to #7 with 10,665 sales and 3.1% and to my knowledge the very first time a Hyundai model manages to sell more than 10,000 units in a single month in Brazil, and the highest ever monthly ranking for a Hyundai in the country… Up to #6 at mid-month, the Chevrolet Onix retracts somewhat to finish December at still up 3 ranks and 42% on last month with 10,500 sales and 3.1%.The Peugeot 208 reclaims the top spot in France, grabs the pole position for the first time in Spain jumps into the podium in Greece for the first time and is up to #5 in the Netherlands, resulting in a best-ever second spot overall in Europe in December behind just the VW Golf with 19,407 sales.The VW Up! continues to win new customers, landing directly #4 in the Imports ranking in Japan over the last quarter of the year – already head of all other models from Volkswagen there, #1 in Denmark for the 6th time in the last 7 months and up to a record #5 in Switzerland. In Australia, the Toyota Camry remains the country’s best-selling locally produced model for the third time in a row and only the 4th time ever after January 1995, now a huge 1,388 units above the Holden Commodore. In Italy, the Toyota Yaris climbs on the podium for the first time since December 2008, while the Renault Clio IV helps the nameplate reach a 10-year high at #4. In Japan, boosted by very strong sales of the XV variant, the Subaru Impreza is up to a record the highest ranking lodged by any Subaru model in the country in over 13 years, since the Legacy hit #4 in July 1999…The Dacia Lodgy and Dokker are starting to get good traction at home in Romania, reaching world-bests #7 and #27 there respectively while in South Africa, the Ford Ranger beats its ranking and market share records, up to #5 and 3.5%. Brand-wise Volkswagen places 6 models in the Top 6 in Austria, a performance it had never achieved before in any country in the world including Germany. It also monopolises the podium in Croatia, whereas in South Korea there are 5 Hyundais in the Top 5.You can check out the previous World Roundups here: World November 2012 Roundup: When Hyundai cracked Brazil World October 2012 Roundup: China, Japan and Austria in focus World September 2012 Roundup: Ford Focus shines in China World August 2012 Roundup: Subaru XV topples almighty Golf in Switzerland World July 2012 Roundup: Geely CK writes history in Ukraine World June 2012 Roundup: Hyundai Santa Fe and Ford Focus shine World May 2012 Roundup: GM and Toyota Etios make headlines World April 2012 Roundup: Maruti Swift and Mazda CX-5 impress World March 2012 Roundup: Toyota Prius breaks a legThat’s all for this month! Hope you enjoyed…Matt Gasnier, based in Sydney, Australia, runs a blog named Best Selling Cars, dedicated to counting cars all over the world.
Matt Gasnier
Matt Gasnier

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  • ToolGuy Weather was cooler yesterday and there was a slight noise on startup several hundred miles from home. We better add 'water pump' to the watch list for the daily driver. Can you remind me when we get home? Thanks.
  • ToolGuy Is it pronounced BMW (-"uh") or BMW (-"eh")?
  • Tassos This makes zero sense. IF Stellantis' dismal showing is indeed HIS fault, why keep him another 14 months AT LEAST? The Billions of extra losses will be 100 times more than the few millions they would give him for early termination. But I am pretty sure it is NOT his fault, but the DISMAL PRODUCT he had to work with. ..................Maybe it will take more than 14 months to find a DECENT REPLACEMENT for him?
  • 3SpeedAutomatic 66 yr old retiree. Had ‘12 Ford Escape at $780 each six months. Recently replaced with ‘22 Passport $900 each six months. Liability at max ($250k), plus comp/collision on each due to many in Louisiana without auto insurance. Could not afford uninsured motorists for that would double premium.Latest scam are those with temporary license plates on older cars. Sign that they don’t have insurance. Temporary tags are easily duplicated. Getting out of hand. 🚗🚗🚗
  • ToolGuy That red and white 1963 would be a nice candidate for an EV conversion. (I am not the first person to think of this; one sold at Barrett-Jackson last year)
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