18 April 2019

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.

15 April 2019

Å koda Global Model Production : 2017-18


Å koda has a winner in the Octavia car, which commanded over 30% of all production, despite it losing some volume. In fact, Å koda lost ground with all of its cars in 2018, but thankfully its SUV range was able to rescue things. SUVs have jumped to over a quarter of the total, both with impressive increases.

15 16 17 18 Models 2018 % +/-
2017 % +/-
1 1 1 1 Octavia 400,210 31.1% -5% 420,802 34.2% -6%
3 2 2 2 Rapid 195,270 15.2% -7% 210,002 17.0% -3%
2 3 3 3 Fabia 186,213 14.5% -11% 209,471 17.0% 3%
4 5 6 4 Karoq/Yeti 173,816 13.5% 112% 81,963 6.7% -14%
- 7 5 5 Kodiaq 155,499 12.1% 25% 123,982 10.1%
5 4 4 6 Superb 136,985 10.7% -7% 147,103 11.9% -1%
6 6 7 7 Citigo 37,095 2.9% -4% 38,749 3.1% -6%

Total 1,285,088
4% 1,232,072
7%

With regional sales, we see the limited scope of Å koda. It sells strongly in Europe and China, but that's about it. Of course, it has the volumes to be successful where it is currently so expansion seems to be mainly in the Asia/Pacific at present.

15 16 17 18 Region 2018 % +/-
2017 % +/-
1 1 1 1 Europe/Other 880,308 70.2% 3%
851,840 70.4% 9%
2 2 2 2 Asia Pacific 372,438 29.7% 4%
356,950 29.5% 5%
3 3 3 3 Sth America 1,254 0.1% 4%
1,210 0.1% 7%




Total 1,254,000
4%
1,210,000
7%

Data source: VW Group.