24 September 2020

Denmark Pick Up Sales : 2015-19

Somewhere in rural Denmark...

Vehicles are very expensive in Denmark and pick-up trucks would be very pricey. I assume cashed up farmers would be the most likely candidates. I don't get many visits from Denmark but if anyone knows anything about this, please leave a message.

The leading model has become the Ford Ranger, jumping two placings in the process. The Hilux was finally pushed into second spot while the VW Amarok was third. Mercedes-Benz' tried its luck and its effort here wasn't bad. However, as far as pick-up trucks are concerned, it is now beating a hasty retreat out of this sector. Ram has done well here, which surprised me.


Denmark Pick-Up Sales

Make Model 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015

Ford Ranger 188 183 151 119 83

Toyota Hilux 172 200 255 210 205

VW Amarok 158 153 167 96 120

Nissan Navara 145 198 241 254 77

Mercedes X-Class 82 70 - - -

Isuzu D-Max 77 72 56 72 50

RAM P/U 39 29 21 21 13

Mitsubishi Triton 29 43 57 90 73

Fiat Fullback 25 43 20 35 -

Ford F-Series 5 4 - 1 3

GMC Sierra 4 2 - - -

Chevrolet Silverado 2 4 2 - 2

For more on pick-ups, try these if you wish.

2019: Australia/New Zealand/South Africa 

2015-19: Belgium Denmark France Iceland Italy Sweden United Kingdom

Argentina Brazil Indonesia Thailand

2015: World Top 50

23 September 2020

Inappropriate Car Names - Daewoo Le Mans / Cielo

Heaven, I'm in heaven, 
And my heart beats so that I can hardly speak 
And I seem to find the happiness I seek
When I drive my little Daewoo down the street

Daewoo  Le Mans / Cielo.

- A famous car race
or
- Spanish for sky, heaven. 

In some countries, the car was labelled Le Mans and elsewhere the Spanish word cielo. The car used an Opel Kadet platform, which sounded a good move but the platform was dated and it was sold as a basic car, a value for money proposition.

If you haven't worked it out already, the names chosen were optimistic. In NZ, it was marketed as the Pontiac Le Mans and the advertising took the angle that it was an exciting car to drive. The reality was that the word Le Mans should have gone nowhere near it. Any supposed sporting credentials were well short of the mark.

As for Cielo, any connotation with the sky or heaven was just as misleading. The car was average, not sky high or heavenly. The only link to sky or heaven I can think of was the idea was pie in the sky. The fact that many in a non-Spanish speaking country wouldn't have known what the moniker meant was its only saving grace.

In places where names such as the Nexia were used, fair enough. There is a place for a car offering value and on that basis, surely, there were happy owners. However, I do think the two names highlighted here were inappropriate to say the least.

Alternative name suggestion: Daewoo Terra Firma.

Picture source: https://www.favcars.com/

21 September 2020

Snapshot : Canada 2000

The new Dodge Caravan came out in 2000.
It was the best selling model for the year

We go back in time to the beginning of the century. Below are sales by all the main brands, the 60 best selling models and a bonus section of the 23 best selling premium models. The data is as accurate as I can get, but sources can vary. For readers from Canada, it will surely bring back memories of brands since deleted but very much part of the landscape back then.

Brands: The US provided fourteen brands, unsurprising back then but different from today. Plymouth was on the way out and others would follow soon enough. Japanese brands were well established and the Korean duo were much the same. Europeans were trying with some success.

Models: The U.S. had 40 of the of top 60. Dodge was top with its Grand Caravan MPV. Ford closely followed with its popular F-Series and the locally made Honda Civic was third.

Premium: Japanese marques did very well here, Acura in particular. Lincoln and Cadillac had a couple of entries each.

Brand Model
1 Ford 270,353 USA 1 Dodge Grand Caravan 87,737
2 Chevrolet 201,038 Brands 2 Ford F-Series 71,115
3 Dodge 147,936 14 3 Honda Civic 60,407
4 Toyota 118,339 Models 4 Ford Windstar 49,636
5 Honda 114,765 40 5 Ford Focus 48,598
6 Pontiac 114,479
6 Chevrolet Cavalier 45,966
7 Chrysler 94,218 Japan 7 Chevrolet Silverado 41,236
8 GMC 71,713 Brands 8 Pontiac Sunfire 41,098
9 Mazda 52,070 10 9 Toyota Corolla 40,692
10 VW 43,138 Models 10 GMC Sierra 35,159
11 Nissan 43,063 15 11 Chrysler Neon 31,351
12 Hyundai 39,066
12 Mazda Protege 30,701
13 Oldsmobile 30,156 Europe 13 Dodge Ram P/U 29,124
14 Jeep 26,491 Brands 14 Ford Taurus 27,291
15 Buick 23,687 9 15 Pontiac Montana 26,906
16 Saturn 22,449 Models 16 Pontiac Grand Am 26,876
17 Acura 19,901 3 17 Chevrolet Venture 24,759
18 Subaru 14,609
18 Honda Accord 24,635
19 Kia 13,343 Korea 19 Toyota Echo 24,615
20 Mercedes 12,457 Brands 20 Chevrolet Malibu 24,389
21 BMW 11,022 3 21 Ford Explorer 23,201
22 Suzuki 10,575 Models 22 Chrysler Intrepid 22,935
23 Volvo 8,539 2 23 VW Jetta 22,455
24 Lincoln 6,417
24 Saturn L-Series 22,449
25 Cadillac 6,042
25 Hyundai Accent 21,948
26 Audi 5,992
26 Toyota Camry 21,816
27 Mercury 5,812
27 Dodge Dakota 18,124
28 Lexus 5,257
28 Oldsmobile Alero 17,347
29 Infiniti 4,340
29 Jeep Grand Cherok 15,842
30 Daewoo 4,011
30 Chevrolet Impala 14,784
31 Jaguar 2,325
31 Pontiac Grand Prix 14,771
32 Saab 1,555
32 Ford E-Series 14,534
33 Porsche 1,292
33 Honda CR-V 13,613
34 Isuzu 1,253
34 Honda Odyssey 13,512
35 Land Rover 1,015
35 Nissan Sentra 11,998
36 Plymouth 143
36 Chrysler PT Cruiser 11,091
Premium 37 Toyota Sienna 11,042
1 Acura EL 7,997 38 Buick Century 10,964
2 Volvo 80/70 Ser 6,270 39 Chrysler Cirrus 10,851
3 BMW 3-Series 6,047 40 Chevrolet Blazer 10,423
4 Acura TL 5,714 41 GMC Jimmy 10,169
5 Mercedes C-Cl/CLK 4,612 42 VW Golf 10,003
6 Mercedes M-Class 4,147 43 Nissan Pathfinder 9,481
7 Acura Integra 3,781 44 Mazda MPV 9,115
8 Audi A4 3,371 45 Nissan Maxima 8,534
9 Cadillac De Ville 3,013 46 Hyundai Elantra 8,045
10 Lexus RX 2,663 47 Dodge Durango 8,015
11 Infiniti QX4 2,296 48 Acura EL 7,997
12 Volvo 40/50 Ser 2,105 49 Ford Mustang 7,936
13 Mercedes E-Class 2,012 50 Ford Ranger 7,854
14 BMW 5-Series 2,000 51 GMC Yukon 7,760
15 Lincoln Town Car 1,963 52 Nissan Altima 7,579
16 BMW X5 1,840 53 Subaru Legacy 7,477
17 Audi A6 1,722 54 Chevrolet Astro 7,432
18 Cadillac Seville 1,603 55 Buick LeSabre 7,283
19 Lincoln Navigator 1,521 56 GMC Safari 7,254
20 Mercedes S-Class 1,459 57 Oldsmobile Intrigue 6,991
21 Infiniti I 1,439 58 Chevrolet Express 6,674
22 Jaguar S-Type 1,250 59 Chevrolet S10 6,573
23 Acura CL 1,217 60 Volvo 80/70 Series 6,270