29 September 2015

US Car Production By Make : 1990-99

The first US assembled Subaru, the Legacy

The 1990's were a continuation of the previous decade, with US car makers losing production volume as the Japanese companies moved in. The truck/SUV side of the industry was roaring ahead and profits were better there too. That is where the US automakers were heading, increasingly leaving the car side to foreign brands. So production numbers are not as bad as they look if you factor in the swing away from the traditional car.

Honda moved to third and Toyota fourth, with Chrysler now fifth. Nissan was one brand going the other way, with production shifting to Mexico, another trend to affect car making numbers in the USA. VW made all its cars south of the border.

Below numbers are in thousands so three zeros need to be added.

Yr GM Ford Hon Toy Chry Nis Mit Sub Maz BMW Total
90 2,613 1,389 435 322 717 96 64 32 91 - 5,759
91 2,909 1,645 451 299 703 134 82 58 91 - 6,372
92 2,466 1,334 458 346 582 171 83 58 89 - 5,587
93 2,457 1,593 404 356 533 292 98 47 116 - 5,896
94 2,720 1,661 499 390 583 313 122 54 133 - 6,475
95 2,513 1,396 552 517 597 333 116 81 99 12 6,216
96 2,198 1,426 634 545 529 278 122 99 96 51 5,978
97 2,258 1,290 648 554 452 280 110 102 91 62 5,847
98 1,985 1,211 695 539 434 223 97 104 94 55 5,437
99 2,151 1,225 686 517 432 168 119 93 87 48 5,526

28 September 2015

US Car Production By Make : 1980-89

The Honda Accord was the first US made car for the company

Things were changing in the 1980's. Trucks were making a mark (which are not included here) and the Japanese manufacturing invasion was underway. Total car sales were declining and AMC had gone, leaving just the three local car makers. While Ford and Chrysler actually managed small increases, GM's production volume was much lower.

While the four Japanese car brands that had entered domestic production were still in their infancy, the writing was on the wall. They had a better reputation for reliability and were now using US production to gain acceptance. They were no longer taking jobs, but creating them.

Production numbers below are in thousands, so you need to add three zeros.


Yr GM Ford Chrys Hon Toy Nis Maz AMC Total

80 5,053 1,584 770 - - - - 200 7,607

81 4,133 1,396 795 - - - - 137 6,461

82 3,516 1,163 594 1 - - - 102 5,376

83 3,511 1,244 739 55 - - - 169 5,718

84 4,682 1,814 1,176 139 - - - 209 8,020

85 4,491 1,736 1,315 145 65 44 - 150 7,946

86 4,351 1,810 1,169 238 206 65 - 65 7,904

87 3,711 1,601 1,306 324 187 117 4 42 7,292

88 3,182 1,911 1,104 366 75 110 144 - 6,892

89 3,385 1,747 974 362 231 116 51 - 6,866

26 September 2015

Å koda Worldwide Production Car/LCV By Nation : 2011-14


Å koda is a brand that is going well. At 21st for worldwide production, there is plenty of scope. Volumes are not helped by the fact that it is only strong in Europe and China. I think parent VW has missed an opportunity by not using it more. Renault has benefited immensely with Dacia and while Å koda isn't the same sort of budget brand, it still is more low cost than VW.

With over 60% of production in its home nation and much of the rest in China, Å koda is limited in its spread. It seems VW is the brand that the parent company wants to push more. Yet Å koda is more profitable and I believe that some within VW are not happy about. I read somewhere it was to do with the belief that Å koda was getting VW technology too cheaply.

It will be interesting to see how the emissions scandal will affect the Czech make as its diesels are affected too.

11 12 13 14 Nation 2011 2012 2013 2014 %
1 1 1 1 Czech Rep 630,285 571,541 596,347 639,207 60.9
2 2 2 2 China 218,945 230,481 255,222 277,138 26.4
3 3 3 3 Russia 43,725 58,741 67,217 80,476 7.7
5 4 4 4 Slovakia 1,072 38,574 42,971 41,974 4.0
4 5 5 5 India 19,806 35,555 15,310 10,887 1.0




Total 913,833 934,892 977,067 1,049,682 1.3

Data source: OICA.

Daihatsu Worldwide Prod Car/LCV By Nation : 2011-14


Coming in at 20th is Daihatsu, part of the Toyota Group. It was a world player years ago but has steadily been pulled back to the point it is now only sold in Asia. I guess that it overlaps with Toyota cars anyway to a large degree and marketing small vehicles profitably is a challenge.

Daihatsu cars are also made by a Malaysian firm Perodua and are very popular in that nation. Just under 200,000 of them rolled off the production line in 2014. I don't add them to the Daihatsu figure as Daihatsu are a minority shareholder, so they are made under licence by Perodua. The combined the total would pass Mitsubishi's worldwide total, which shows how popular the big D is in Asia. It doesn't even rely on China to help its production numbers.

Daihatsu is a very reliable car make too, so a shame they have pulled out of so many markets. I bought a new one ten years ago and the salesman said it would only need routine servicing, they don't break down. I thought he exaggerated, but it hasn't had one problem in that decade. Mechanical simplicity is part of the reason.

11 12 13 14 Nation 2011 2012 2013 2014 %
1 1 1 1 Japan 609,657 774,406 774,949 782,195 71.2
2 2 2 2 Indonesia 191,043 222,179 270,650 316,016 28.8
3 3 3 3 Venezuela 978 870 410 60 0.0




Total 801,678 997,455 1,046,009 1,098,271 1.31

Data source: OICA.

25 September 2015

Mitsubishi Worldwide Prod Car/LCV By Nation : 2011-14

A lot rides on the Outlander's shoulders

The 19th largest car producer is very much a made in Asia brand. It used to share a plant in the Netherlands with Volvo but found going it alone too much and closed that. It also had a plant in common with Chrysler in the US but now that it tries to keep it going without a partner is again not cost effective, so the US plant is to go as well.

That will leave virtually all capacity in Asia. That isn't a disaster but will work against the company being a global success. There are benefits to having factories in a region that you want to be a big selling car maker. Countries such as Thailand will be an important part of the picture as an exporting hub.

However, Mitsubishi is a stand alone car maker and its hard to see where it goes from here. Maybe Asia/Pacific will be enough to keep it viable with marginal presence in other regions. Only 1.5% of all cars/LCVs made is challenging for profitability in this cash hungry, volume driven industry.

11 12 13 14 Nation 2011 2012 2013 2014 %
1 1 1 1 Japan 600,164 512,873 578,329 639,673 50.7
2 2 2 2 Thailand 209,003 356,750 357,627 323,273 25.6
3 7 5 3 China 109,463 21,527 61,891 75,564 6.0
7 6 3 4 USA 37,145 36,974 67,344 69,173 5.5
4 3 4 5 Indonesia 53,316 62,860 63,480 58,986 4.7
5 5 7 6 Taiwan 50,088 40,644 35,886 37,545 3.0
6 4 6 7 Brazil 37,350 40,950 39,090 26,730 2.1
9 9 8 8 Philippines 12,778 13,455 13,722 16,483 1.3
- - 9 9 Russia

3,783 9,453 0.7
13 10 10 10 India 497 810 1,980 1,380 0.1
- - 13 11 Venezuela

422 918 0.1
12 11 12 12 Vietnam 602 601 601 871 0.1
10 12 11 13 Tunisia 1,860 300 1,560 540 0.0
- 13 14 14 Bangladesh 176 162 536 0.0
8 8 - - Netherland 23,808 19,516
11 - - - RSA 778






Total 1,136,852 1,107,436 1,225,877 1,261,125 1.5

Data source: OICA.