Subaru Car Production : 2017/18 (April-March)

Subaru reports its sales from April to March, which is what this data is based on. Sales passed the one million mark for the second time in its history. Volume is based around three main model groups.

The 5th generation Impreza, XV and WRX that came out in 2016 is the best selling with over 400,000 units sold.

The 6th generation Legacy and Outback models came out in 2014 and 290,000 found homes.

The 5th generation Forester has been released but hasn't had an impact on sales listed here as yet, as these sales are up to March 2018. It still managed to amass 280,000 units sold.

The 'Mini' is actually a group of Kei cars sold in Japan. Models names the Chiffon, Dias Wagon, Justy, Pleo and Stella (all Toyota/Daihatsu models) barely pass 30,000 sales. Then comes the Levorg, a medium to large wagon that is the wagon variant of the Legacy. OEM stands for original equipment manufacturer, an ambiguous term I'm unsure the meaning of in this context.

17	18		2018	%	+/-		2017	%	+/-
2	1	Imprez/XV/WRX	424,412	39.8%	23%		344,187	32.3%	12%
1	2	Legacy/Outback	291,174	27.3%	-15%		344,404	32.4%	15%
3	3	Forester	278,992	26.1%	-6%		297,007	27.9%	9%
4	4	Mini	30,889	2.9%	-5%		32,542	3.1%	-3%
5	5	Levorg	25,255	2.4%	-17%		30,598	2.9%	-2%
6	6	BRZ	9,339	0.9%	5%		8,880	0.8%	-5%
7	7	Exiga	3,498	0.3%	-18%		4,284	0.4%	-5%
8	8	Tribeca	1	0.0%	-86%		7	0.0%	-79%
		OEM	2,889	0.3%	40%		2,066	0.2%	134%
		Others	480	0.0%	-15%		567	0.1%	13%
		Total	1,066,929		0%		1,064,542		11%

It's hard to believe that the US and Canada buy so many Subaru cars. In fact close to 70% of the total. The brand is a minor player in its home market. Australia takes many more cars than the whole of Europe too. Its also not reliant on China like many companies are. Certainly a unique car manufacturer. 

17	18		2018	%	+/-		2017	%	+/-
1	1	North America	727,751	68.2%	1%		720,674	67.7%	14%
2	2	Japan	163,444	15.3%	3%		158,935	14.9%	9%
3	3	Australia	55,674	5.2%	13%		49,106	4.6%	10%
5	4	Rest	52,960	5.0%	16%		45,574	4.3%	-12%
4	5	Europe	40,228	3.8%	-13%		46,253	4.3%	11%
6	6	China	26,872	2.5%	-39%		44,000	4.1%	-1%
		Total	1,066,929		0%		1,064,542		11%

Data source: Subaru.

World Car Awards : 2019

Awards are subjective. Even those knowledgeable in any field of human endeavour can and do often disagree. However, people love them so here are the 2019 World Car Awards:


World Urban Car: Suzuki Jimny.

This award surprised me but if interior space isn't an issue, then this will be a funky town car to own and scoot around in.

World Luxury Car: Audi A7.

Audi are known for doing nice interiors and that's going to go a long way in the luxury segment. I'm sure it's  a pleasant place to spent time in.

World Performance Car: Mclaren 720S.

A worthy winner in my opinion as this company seem to be making the best super cars. They are even refusing to build an SUV (shock, horror), keeping their focus on what the do - super sports cars.

World Green Car: Jaguar i-Pace.

Not a surprise here as it is a great car to drive and yet - depending how power is generated - is not burning fossil fuel.


World Car Design of the Year: Jaguar i-Pace.

How a small marque like Jaguar managed to put a vehicle engineered as an electric car onto the market first was a real coup. It looks like a regular car but in many people's eyes attractively styled. It also has features like air sent over the rear window, negating the need for a rear wiper.

World Car of the Year: Jaguar i-Pace.

Err, that's number three for one model. That's right, judged the best car of all. Nothing can be added except to say well done Jaguar. Sometimes fortune favours the brave.

VW Production Summary & Brand Profit : 2017-18

The production figures below covers all car brands and also includes heavy vehicle brands MAN and Scania, both of which are part of the VW Group. MAN made 138,000 units and Scania 101,000. Most of the Group's production goes to Europe and Asia. All the data below requires three zeros to be added to make sense. The only exception is '€ Per Car', which is the full number.

15	16	17	18	Region	2018	%	+/-		2017	%	+/-
1	1	1	1	Europe/Other	4,739	43.5%	0%		4,731	43.9%	2%
2	2	2	2	Asia/Pacific	4,640	42.6%	2%		4,527	42.0%	4%
3	3	3	3	Nth America	925	8.5%	-7%		992	9.2%	2%
4	4	4	4	Sth America	596	5.5%	13%		526	4.9%	25%
				Total	10,900		1%		10,776		4%

Now looking at brand profit. Most of the data below requires three zeros to be added to make sense, the only exception is '€ Per Car', which is the full number. China is excluded from whats shown below, which in some cases could make some difference.

Porsche is very profitable at €16,000 per unit sold, with Bentley falling to a €28,800 per unit loss. That may be affected by China's exclusion. For that reason, it is to be taken as a guide, not absolute.

Year	2018			2017			2016
Brand	Sales	Mill €	€ Per Car	Sales	Mill €	€ Per Car	Sales	Mill €	€ Per Car
Porsche	253	4,110	16,245	248	4,003	16,141	239	3,877	16,222
Audi	1,467	4,705	3,207	1,530	5,058	3,306	1,534	4,846	3,159
VW LC	469	780	1,663	498	853	1,713	478	455	952
Škoda	957	1,377	1,439	937	1,611	1,719	814	1,197	1,471
VW Car	3,715	3,238	872	3,573	3,301	924	4,347	1,869	430
SEAT	608	254	418	595	191	321	548	153	279
Bentley	10	-288	-28,800	11	55	5,000	11	112	10,182

Data source: VW Group.