Subaru Worldwide Production By Nation : 2012

The BRZ sports car - jointly developed with Toyota

Subaru is an everyday brand that isn't big enough to go it alone. Therefore in 1968, Nissan acquired a 20% share of Subaru at the direction of the Japanese government. Then in 1999, when Renault and Nissan got together, the Nissan stake was sold to GM. In 2005, Toyota bought into Fuji Heavy Industries (who own Subaru) and GM sold its share of the car maker. Currently Toyota own close to a fifth of FHI.

If that wasn't all to confusing, it says much about how things are done in Japan, competition and cooperation finely balanced. Subaru only makes cars in two plants in Japan and one in the USA. Japanese production rose 36% and the US was up 14%, for a combined increase of 30%. Subaru's not manufacturing in China will surely change in the not too distant future.

Subaru appeal to some is its being different. The boxer engine configuration and 4wd give the brand uniqueness, something smaller brands need to be to survive. It is 22nd on the worldwide ranking of car/LCV makers.

				2011	Shr	2012	Shr
			Japan	418,545	72.1%	568,537	75.5%
			USA	161,716	27.9%	184,783	24.5%
			Total	580,261	0.8%	753,320	0.9%

Data source: Thanks to OICA.

The Forester model

Do New Cars Cost Too Much?

How many cars will you buy in your lifetime? That's a lot of depreciation.

I say yes, with a qualification. The fact is that what you get for in a car and how much it costs mean they are better value than ever before. Still I say yes, they are too expensive. How does that work?

Models sell in larger numbers, are built in larger factories and much of a car is made by machinery such as robots. So cars should be much cheaper. So what holds the price back from dropping?

Extra safety does, but we don't want to compromise on that. The other thing is there are too many car makers duplicating costly car design over too many models. Car makers realise this and are trying to save in this area. Car platforms are increasingly shared within a company, and new ways of making them more usable across different sized models are being used. Yet there is much duplication within the industry.

The answer is greater cooperation between brands. As an example PSA and Mitsubishi have done some sharing of models, but limited. Why not have PSA design all cars and small vans while Mitsubishi does SUVs, a large van, pick up truck and electric car. They make them for each other, with body variances to look different. That is an obvious one. VW bought a stake in Suzuki but little or nothing has been done to share anything that I can see. So what is the problem?

Probably working together takes compromises on each side and it doesn't work out. Professional pride. Also losing brand uniqueness may be a fear too.

The reason I write this is the new car I bought eight years ago is getting near to replacement. Low kms means an OK trade in price, but I don't want to spend a large amount on what is simply personal transport. The price, depreciation, insurance, road license not to mention fuel and maintenance makes mobility expensive. I'm not a big earner and have better things to do with my hard earned money.

Over to you car makers....

Land Rover Exports By Nation: 1964

Are you sure this is the right way Chaps?

Back in 1964, Land Rover made just one model, what is now known as the Defender. It was a very popular vehicle in many nations, especially in the British Commonwealth. It's a shame manufactures don't release old data like this, as it cannot be commercially sensitive anymore.

In the list below, colour coding is according to region. Yellow: Asia/Pacific, Gold: Africa, Blue: Europe, Grey: Americas, Green: Middle East. The percentage at the end is based on my estimate of 42,500 vehicles produced that year. The list has about 20,400 cars, another 22,000 others went elsewhere. Britain was a obviously a major market, but many more went to numerous other nations.

Some of the names are unusual, such as 'French West and Equatorial Africa' and 'Port West Africa', which I assume is Angola today. An amazing glimpse into a distant time, and quite a different world.

	1	Australia	4,160	9.8%
	2	South Africa	1,840	4.3%
	3	French Eq Africa	1,160	2.7%
	4	East Africa	1,120	2.6%
	5	Switzerland	1,010	2.4%
	6	USA	950	2.2%
	7	NZ	920	2.2%
	8	Port West Africa	890	2.1%
	9	Malaysia	860	2.0%
	10	Persian Gulf	720	1.7%
	10	Indonesia	720	1.7%
	12	Thailand	695	1.6%
	13	Chile	670	1.6%
	14	Rhodesia	655	1.5%
	15	Nigeria	655	1.5%
	16	Libya	600	1.4%
	17	Saudi Arabia	525	1.2%
	18	Algeria	520	1.2%
	19	Iran	475	1.1%
	19	Ghana	475	1.1%
	21	Yemen (Aden)	430	1.0%
	22	Lebanon	375	0.9%

Top 10 Models/Brands Denmark: 1987

The Ford Sierra was 5th in 1987...

In October 2013, all of the top ten car models sold in Denmark are very small, or tiny. I wondered if it is the very high cost of ownership that causes this. Is it because of  environmental concerns? Northern Europeans do seem to like bigger cars than other parts of Europe, so why are such small vehicles so popular in Denmark? I found car sales for 1987 and thought that may provide an answer.

			By Model	Sales			By Make	Sales
		1	Toyota Corolla	7,491		1	Opel	17,969
		2	Opel Kadet	6,951		2	Toyota	14,808
		3	Mazda 626	5,174		3	Ford	13,861
		4	Ford Escort	4,592		4	Mazda	11,543
		5	Ford Sierra	3,924		5	VW	8,239
		6	Mazda 323	3,820		6	Citroen	7,804
		7	VW Golf	3,164		7	Fiat	7,060
		8	Fiat Uno	2,882		8	Nissan	6,371
		9	Citroen BX	2,865		9	Peugeot	5,905
		10	Peugeot 405	2,683		10	Volvo	4,429
							Total	124,097

I noticed there is only one small car listed back then, the Fiat Uno. Some are quite large such as the 626, Sierra and 405. So Danes did used to buy larger cars than they do now. Certainly the environment is more important now than '87, but I think that the cost is perhaps the main factor in the move to small.

As for differences in brand sales, VW is now up to 1st from 5th back then. Ford and Toyota have swapped places, while Peugeot is up from 9th to 4th. Skoda have entered the top ten (now 5th), Citroen are placed the same (6th), and Kia are new in (7th). Renault are now 8th, Hyundai 9th, and Opel have fallen from 1st to 10th. Mazda (now 19th), Fiat (12th), Nissan (11th) and Volvo (21st) are currently off the top ten list.

Summary: Nothing stays the same and just as the size of cars sold in Denmark has reduced greatly, so too the ranking of models is quite different. 

...while the Peugeot 405 was 10th.

Top 10 Models/Brands Belgium: 1987

VW Golf

Many of the model names below are not used in 2013. For those that remember them, no doubt it brings back nostalgic feelings. So what has changed?

Back in '87 the three French brands did well, but today even better. Renault is now 2nd, Peugeot 3rd and Citroen 4th. US brands were stronger then but today Opel is 5th and Ford 9th.

Only one German premium brand made the list here, but in 2013 BMW is 6th, Audi 7th and MB 8th. Belgians are much more affluent today it seems. Toyota and Nissan are 11th and 12th now, but back then 6th and 8th. Hyundai has now squeaked in at 10th, but in 87' was well down on that (not sure of the exact figure).

		By Model	Sales			By Make	Sales
	1	VW Golf	27,271		1	VW	49,621
	2	Opel Kadet	22,413		2	Opel	49,066
	3	Peugeot 205	17,313		3	Ford	44,776
	4	Toyota Corolla	16,332		4	Renault	44,016
	5	Ford Escort	13,571		5	Peugeot	38,370
	6	Renault 5	13,401		6	Toyota	29,273
	7	Audi 80	13,112		7	Citroen	27,480
	8	Opel Corsa	12,766		8	Nissan	20,286
	9	Peugeot 405	11,436		9	Audi	16,998
	10	Ford Fiesta	10,770		10	Fiat	15,865
						Total	439,756

Opel Kadet

For the Top 16 Belgium 1990, please click here.
For the Top 10 Belgium 2003, simply click here.

Toyota NZ By Model: 2001-12

In 2001, Toyota was third in NZ for passenger car sales, but since then it has been first each year. It has done this with a reliable product and strong fleet sales.



The success is built around the Corolla model, as well as SUVs such as the RAV4, Highlander and Land Cruiser. Large car sales are of the Camry, Aurion and Avensis Wagon. The other column basically features sports car, something Toyota went out of. The recent arrival of the 86 model has been a long overdue addition to the brand.

Market share for Toyota is nudging 20%, and it also leads commercial vehicle sales too. Overall NZ is a successful market for Toyota, one they plan to stay top in indefinitely.

Yr	Corolla	SUVs	Large	Yaris	Prius	MPV	Other	Total	Shr
01	3,500	1,800	2,700	1,000	-	475	90	9,565	16.5
02	4,275	2,375	2,850	1,275	-	600	50	11,425	17.8
03	4,375	3,000	2,575	1,525	25	500	25	12,025	17.1
04	4,900	3,000	2,575	1,550	150	325	25	12,525	16.8
05	5,050	2,925	2,675	1,475	225	300	-	12,650	16.3
06	5,300	2,325	2,575	1,800	225	250	-	12,475	16.2
07	5,075	2,750	3,100	1,600	250	325	-	13,100	16.9
08	6,650	3,250	3,075	1,350	375	275	-	14,975	20.4
09	4,700	2,100	1,900	1,475	425	100	-	10,700	19.7
10	4,900	3,575	2,025	1,400	300	225	-	12,425	20.0
11	4,175	3,700	1,775	1,900	200	50	-	11,800	18.4
12	5,325	4,350	2,200	2,250	600	125	150	15,000	19.5
Avg	4,852	2,929	2,502	1,550	278	296		12,389

Data source: LTSA NZ, without whom sales data by model in NZ would be negligible.

Ford NZ By Model: 2001-12

The very popular Falcon

Ford has always been a popular marque in NZ. Back in the days of the Escorts and Cortinas, it was the best selling brand. Unfortunately I don't have data for those days, but do for the 21st Century. So how has Ford NZ been doing over this period?

Below you can see models listed and the green column is the best selling model. The big Falcon has been the mainstay of the brand for the 2001-12 time frame. The medium sized Mondeo too has been popular, number two on the list. The Laser was a rebadged Mazda 323, which has been superseded by the Focus, the top model in 2012. Then I have listed three medium SUVs together, now just the Territory model being sold. Finally the small Ka from Europe has been replaced by the Fiesta over the years listed.

The 'Shr' column is the market share Ford achieved for passenger cars in NZ. This excludes pick up trucks, classed as commercial vehicles - Ford does quite well in this sector. In fact, the brand has always been number two in the country for this period of time if commercial sales are added. The 'Pos' column represents the position Ford took for passenger cars in the total market.

Yr	Falcon	Mondeo	Laser/	Esc/Expl	Ka/	Other	Total	Shr	Pos
			Focus	Terr	Fiesta
01	4,350	2,600	1,300	1,150	375	75	9,850	17.0	2
02	4,500	3,000	825	1,250	225	50	9,850	15.4	3
03	6,525	2,250	1,450	925	100	70	11,320	16.1	2
04	5,600	2,300	1,125	2,025	550	100	11,700	15.7	2
05	4,575	2,075	1,350	2,875	800	100	11,775	15.1	2
06	4,200	1,725	2,000	2,375	575	100	10,975	14.3	2
07	3,200	1,225	2,275	1,900	750	100	9,450	12.2	2
08	2,975	1,775	2,025	1,025	575	75	8,450	11.5	2
09	2,250	1,450	1,275	550	700	25	6,250	11.5	2
10	2,400	1,225	1,325	800	1,025	25	6,800	10.9	2
11	1,425	1,175	1,025	1,050	1,150	50	5,875	9.2	4
12	1,175	1,625	2,150	1,375	1,050	275	7,650	10.0	3
Avg	3,600	1,875	1,500	1,450	650	90	9,150

A big change has been the move recently to smaller cars in NZ. Fuel prices and the improvements made in comfort and engine power of these more compact offerings has minimised the benefits of big cars. The jump in the 'Other' column in '12 is due to the Kuga model finally being released, which was virtually the full 275 sales.

Data: LTSA NZ, without whom we would be in the dark about sales by model. Therefore a big thank you to them for making this list possible.