UK Auto Sales By Brand - June 2011

Britons acquired 183,125 new vehicles in June 2011, down 6.2% from June 2010, SMMT says. 13.6% of the 183K were Fords. 36% of those Fords were Fiestas.

The British car market loves premium brand vehicles. What makes a vehicle "premium" isn't easy to determine. Take the Audi A1 as an example. Its base price of £13,420 is more than £2000 less than the Ford Focus's MSRP. Can that possibly be a premium car? Assuming that it is, that anything badged with a BMW propeller or Mercedes-Benz tri-star or Maserati's trident is a premium car, and the British new car market was 22% premium in June. In the United States, premium brands owned 11% of the new vehicle market. There's no such thing as an Audi A1 in America, no Volvo C30 with 115 horsepower and a price that's lower than the Volkswagen Golf.

This is the twelfth consecutive month that the British car market has been in decline. Much of that has to do with the old scrappage scheme, but the economy's not exactly in a state of bliss. Some people don't have jobs. The unemployed don't buy cars. The abundance of red font in the table below shows how far the tentacles of decline have flung. Ssangyong's downfall was the worst in June. Subaru's struggles were mighty, as well. Jeep's June improvements were striking, but seven other brands posted gains greater than 20% last month. 

Rank	Automaker	June 2011	%  Change	Year To Date	YTD  % Change
#1	Ford	24,461	+3.1	144,481	-8.8
#2	Vauxhall	23,613	-21.8	127,459	-4.5
#3	Volkswagen	16,447	+0.6	94,332	-1.8
#4	BMW	12,419	+16.3	60,606	+18.1
#5	Audi	10,701	+19.8	61,921	+9.6
#6	Peugeot	9471	-6.3	51,267	-14.2
#7	Nissan	8763	-15.6	48,671	+6.9
#8	Mercedes-Benz	7400	+5.3	41,692	+10.8
#9	Renault	7205	-18.5	36,814	-30.2
#10	Citroen	6261	-8.5	35,985	-5.0
#11	Mini	5917	+20.1	24,620	+10.6
#12	Toyota	5664	-33.6	38,312	-22.3
#13	Hyundai	5351	+29.4	31,576	-18.5
#14	Kia	5097	+22.3	27,281	-20.4
#15	Skoda	5096	+19.9	24,234	+6.7
#16	Fiat	4741	-11.0	23,126	-22.6
#17	Mazda	3362	-16.6	17,463	-29.8
#18	Honda	3308	-47.4	26,023	-25.5
#19	Volvo	3237	-7.9	17,831	-18.1
#20	SEAT	3072	+32.1	18,500	+6.8
#21	Land Rover	2583	-15.8	19,960	-9.4
#22	Suzuki	1671	-10.0	10,599	-9.2
#23	Chevrolet	1301	+16.5	6942	-12.7
#24	Jaguar	1214	-18.0	6888	-19.4
#25	Alfa Romeo	988	+33.3	6488	+69.1
#26	Mitsubishi	912	-51.7	6112	-3.6
#27	Lexus	582	-5.1	4114	+14.5
#28	smart	544	-31.2	2798	-32.5
#29	Porsche	478	-41.2	2959	-11.1
#30	Saab	265	-62.4	3509	+39.4
#31	Jeep	238	+158.7	1047	-7.2
#32	Bentley	113	+34.5	587	+11.0
#33	Abarth	104	-13.3	694	-5.6
#34	Subaru	91	-79.4	1494	-34.0
#35	Aston Martin	80	-12.1	585	+8.1
#36	Chrysler	59	-35.2	313	-60.8
#37	MG	48	+140	127	-29.8
#38	Perodua	45	-32.8	295	-35.0
#39	Maserati	41	-21.2	213	-10.1
#40	Proton	32	-45.8	287	-37.6
#41	Lotus	18	-72.7	218	-20.7
#42	Infiniti	9	-30.8	162	+195
#43	Ssangyong	1	-90.0	10	-94.3

Source: Automakers & SMMT

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
UK Auto Sales By Brand - July 2011
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - June 2011
UK Auto Sales By Brand - 2010 Year End
New Vehicle Market Share By Brand In The UK - June 2011
U.S. Auto Sales By Brand - June 2011
Canada Auto Sales By Brand - June 2011

Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - June 2011

With 5917 total sales Mini was Great Britain's 11th most popular brand in June 2011. 1139 of those sales occurred on the Countryman side of the showroom. The remaining 4778 sales were of the regular Mini hatch, and that was enough to move the Mini up from eighth to seventh on this list of the 10 best-selling cars in the UK. BMW had two other properties on the best sellers list, the 3-Series (up 4% in June, year-over-year) and the 1-Series, the only entrant on June's list that wasn't present on May's.

The Volkswagen Passat, therefore, has been knocked off. Volkswagen's Golf moved from third to sixth even as, compared with June 2010, Golf sales jumped 23%. Though the British new car market fell 6.2% in June, according to SMMT, Vauxhall's hit was even harder. The British GM division slid 21.8%. That decline is apparent on this best sellers list where Vauxhall's two most popular models, the Corsa and Astra, were down 19% and 46%, respectively. The Insignia, a Buick Regal twin, was up 45% and moved from ninth position on this list last year to fourth in June 2011.

And, as per the norm, the Ford Fiesta was Britain's best-selling car in June. Sales of the Fiesta were up 7%. The #2-ranked Focus's gains were even greater at 17%. The Ford brand was up 3%.

Rank	Car	Status	June 2011	June 2010	Year-To-Date
#1	Ford Fiesta	↔	8829	8279	51,643
#2	Ford Focus	↔	8055	6895	43,825
#3	Vauxhall Corsa	↑	7805	9642	38,597
#4	Vauxhall Insignia	↑	5929	4090	25,950
#5	Vauxhall Astra	↔	5722	10,525	32,883
#6	Volkswagen Golf	↓	5503	4486	33,118
#7	Mini	↑	4778	4925	18,619
#8	BMW 3-Series	↓	4534	4363	21,866
#9	BMW 1-Series	↑	4077	n/a	n/a
#10	Nissan Qashqai	↓	3918	5636	19,992

Source: MTI, SMMT

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - July 2011
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - May 2011
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - April 2011
UK Auto Sales By Brand - June 2011 & Year-To-Date
Top 20 Best-Selling Cars In America - June 2011
New Vehicle Market Share By Brand In The UK - June 2011

Large Luxury Car Sales And Large Luxury SUV Sales In America - June 2011

Buyers of large luxury cars, the executive limos of the world, have few options to choose from. Yet all six candidates are worthy of their attention. Admittedly, every rich friend in your gated subdivision already seems to have a Mercedes-Benz S-Class or BMW 7-Series, but that's just added reason to go whole hog and opt for the $122,600 Alpina B7. Search for exclusivity and you'll find it.

The Lexus LS hasn't been treated kindly by the press in recent years, but it's not ugly, and it is certainly refined. Flick a switch - or in this case, close a door - and shut out the world. The Porsche Panamera is ugly, but it's most certainly the sports car of the bunch. Does it get any more avant-garde than the new Jaguar XJ? And have you seen the Audi A8's interior? Yowzah.

3913 of these large luxury cars were sold in the United States in June. Respective market share ranges from 29.9% for the S-Class Benz to 16.7% for the next-best-selling Jaguar XJ, 15.6% for the Panamera, 13.9% for the 7-Series, 12.3% for the A8, and 11.7% for the worst-selling Lexus LS, sales of which fell 38% last month. That wasn't as bad as the BMW's 68% drop. That was bad enough to find the 7-Series on June's 10 Worst-Selling Cars list. You won't find another vehicular segment where sales are shared so equally. 

It costs money to build large luxury cars and large luxury sport-utility vehicles. It's not as though every dollar a customer hands out goes right back to the manufacturer. There are sales personnel, dealership principals, shipping companies, and parts manufacturers that need a cut. In the end, selling a $79,685 Land Rover Range Rover in Orange County, California, doesn't net Land Rover HQ in Gaydon, or its Tata bosses in India, $79,685.

But let's imagine for a second that it does. If every Range Rover sold in the United States in June 2011 was a base model - no options, no supercharger - Land Rover would collect $7.4 million. Sure, a lot of money changes hands in this transaction, but one thing's for sure, Land Rover's per vehicle costs don't run up to $80K. 

$7.4 million sounds like a lot, sure. The less prestigious Mercedes-Benz GL-Class SUV brings in even more for its parent company. So far this year, Mercedes-Benz has sold 11,036 GLs. Even if they were all basic $60,950 GL350 BlueTec sport-utes, that would still mean $672 million for Mercedes-Benz, or $157,555,750 in June alone. Again, we all know that money gets split up a thousand ways, not the least of which is repaying the debts a company owes itself for the cost of researching and developing the vehicle before a single example is even built, but that is serious coin. 


If you've been wondering how luxury automakers can afford to sell models at such low volume, consider that using this equation for the $15,100 Honda Fit results in earnings of just $74 million in June for American Honda, less than half what Benz did with the GL. And you can be certain the profit margins on the Fit aren't as good as they are on the GL-Class Benz.

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Large Luxury Car & Large Luxury SUV Sales In America - July 2011
Large Luxury Car & Large Luxury SUV Sales In America - May 2011
Luxury Auto Market Share In America - June 2011
U.S. Auto Sales By Brand - June 2011
Top 30 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In America - June 2011
Small Luxury SUV & Midsize Luxury SUV Sales In America - June 2011
Small Luxury Car & Midsize Luxury Car Sales In America - June 2011

Luxury Auto Market Share In America - June 2011

In June 2011, the U.S. luxury auto market, valued at just over 114,000 sales, was half-German. Mercedes-Benz led the way with nearly one out of every five premium brand sales, very healthy market share. BMW was very close behind. Audi had a stellar month as sales rose 17% to 10,051, only 722 sales behind Lexus.

Poor Lexus, Acura, and Infiniti are having trouble getting over the damage inflicted by Japan's March earthquake-inflicted disasters. Moreover, Lexus has had some recent recall issues you may, er... recall. Acura, meanwhile, has a lineup filled with challengingly-styled products. And Infiniti's showroom is small. Terrific, yes, but small. There's one coupe on offer; two sedans; a wagonesque utility vehicle that's forced to compete with the excellent Audi Q5; the love-it-or-hate-it FX, and the mostly hate-it jumbo QX56. That's it. Mercedes-Benz, meanwhile, sells 13 different models, 14 if you include the Sprinter.

Do the math and you'll discover that American luxury brands, Cadillac and Lincoln, combined to own less of the premium brand market in America last month than Mercedes-Benz or BMW. That news comes even as Lincoln sales jumped 17% and Cadillac topped Lexus. GoodCarBadCar.net's Luxury Auto Market Share chart for June 2011 is below.

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Luxury Auto Market Share In America - July 2011
Luxury Auto Market Share In America - May 2011
U.S. Auto Sales By Brand - June 2011
New Vehicle Market Share By Brand In America - June 2011
Top 30 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In America - June 2011

Popular Car Market Share In America - June 2011

41% of America's new vehicle market in June 2011 was owned by the 20 most popular vehicles on sale. 11 out of every 100 vehicles sold was one of four domestic full-size trucks: the Ford F-Series, Chevrolet Silverado, Dodge Ram, and GMC Sierra. 

The six most popular nameplates in June were American, three Fords and three Chevrolets. Only two in the top 10 weren't American, the Kentucky-built (but Japanese badge-wearing) Toyota Camry and the Korean (but Alabama-built) Hyundai Elantra. 

13 of the Top 20 best-selling vehicles in America in June 2011 were passenger cars in the traditional sense, only three were SUVs, all three being soft-roaders. As you know, more than half of all vehicles sold in the United States last month were Detroit Three products, up from 44% in June 2011. Thus, to see this list dominated by U.S. trucks, two of Detroit's SUVs, and five of its cars isn't surprising. But for the factories that assemble these vehicles, it's awfully encouraging. 

The market share chart for America's 20 best-selling vehicles from June is below.

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Market Share Of America's 20 Best-Selling Vehicles - July 2011
Popular Car Market Share In America - May 2011
U.S. Auto Sales By Brand - June 2011
New Vehicle Market Share By Brand In America - June 2011
Top 20 Best-Selling Cars In America - June 2011

Small Car Sales, Midsize Car Sales, Large Car Sales In America - June 2011

The Chevrolet Cruze, the model you already know to be America's best-selling car in June 2011, is clearly going to be the best-selling car in its small car segment. As we await release of the 2012 Sonic, sales of the Chevrolet Aveo dropped 33% in June. 

At this time last year the Ford Fiesta was just getting into gear. Thus, a sales improvement of 438% isn't surprising. The Focus is the far more successful Ford, anyway, as sales rose 41% to 21,385. The Focus still trailed the Cruze by some measure, and that's without Chevy offering a hatchback variant as Ford does with the Focus. Year-to-date, the Cruze is nearly 25,000 units ahead of the Focus. Behind the Focus, but ahead of the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla, you'll find the Hyundai Elantra. Sales of June's most popular Hyundai climbed 40% even as the new-to-market 2012 Accent fell 22%.

Trailing the Chevrolet Malibu, Toyota Camry, Ford Fusion, and Nissan Altima was the Hyundai Sonata. Ahead of the Accord the Sonata may've been, but its gains were slight at just 5%, less than the year-over-year increase in the overall size of the U.S. new vehicle market. 

True improvement was achieved by the Buick Regal which was, as you'll recall, newly introduced at this time last year. Regal sales were up 1001% in June. The Kia Optima also posted huge gains, up 573%, and the Mitsubishi Galant of all things was up 76%. No other mainstream midsize car did any better than the Nissan Altima's 23% push.

You'll notice a new entrant in the large car chart below. The Chevrolet Caprice, sort of a reincarnated Pontiac G8 police car from Australia, found 42 buyers in the United States in June. Could this have anything to do with Crisswell Chevrolet in Maryland? Who cares - you won't be getting your hands on a Caprice in the near future. Buyers of big Chevrolets have no problem flocking to the value-oriented Impala, anyhow. Sales were up 13% in June.

The Impala, priced from $24,495, more than doubled up on the next-best Dodge Charger, a car that's at least $3000 more expensive. In fact, if a big traditional car is what you want, you won't find anything cheaper than the Impala. The $33,195 Toyota Avalon is only $1400 less than a BMW 328i, for goodness' sake. Sure, they're chasing different customers, the Avalon and 3-Series. But, ummm... if I may be so blunt, who exactly is Toyota chasing? Avalon sales fell 23% to 2171 in June 2011.

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Small Car Sales, Midsize Car Sales, Large Car Sales In America - July 2011
Small, Midsize & Large Car Sales In America - May 2011
Top 20 Best-Selling Cars In America - June 2011
U.S. Auto Sales By Brand - June 2011