South England Passenger Car Sales : 2020

This region includes the South West and South East of England plus London. The top 30 makes are tabulated for the whole of the UK, then listed by region. This means the list may not be a top 30 for everyone. So below are the 30 best selling UK brands and this is how those brands in the south of England fared. The UK average was -29% for the year so -31% was a bit down.

Ford was unceremonially bumped off the top spot to third three years ago and may not be able to retain that place much longer. To call the south of England German car industry obsessed would be like saying the sky is blue, so I won't say it. Clearly, supporting UK-made isn't a high priority down here. 

Data source: DTI UK.

Midlands/East England Passenger Car Sales : 2020

 This region includes the West and East Midlands plus the East or East Anglia area. The top 30 makes are tabulated for the whole of the UK, then listed by region. This means the list may not be a top 30 for everyone. So below are the 30 best selling UK brands and this is how those brands in the middle and east of England fared. The UK average was -29% for the year so -31% was a bit down.

Ford has been consistently top since 2012 and maintained a clear margin in 2020 despite a -38% result. BMW moved into second, just shading VW. Toyota again had another good performance. Both land Rover and Jaguar didn't do so well, in a region where many of the vehicles are made.

Data source: DTI UK.

North England Passenger Car Sales : 2020

This region includes the North West, North East and Yorkshire. The top 30 makes are tabulated for the whole of the UK, then listed by region. This means the list may not be a top 30 for everyone. So below are the 30 best selling UK brands and this is how those brands in the north of England fared. The UK average was -29% for the year so -26% was OK.

BMW somehow manages to be the top brand, displacing Ford two years ago and going on the show it wasn't a fluke. Neither did well in 2020 with sales down over 30% for both of them. Toyota, Nissan and Volvo did well considering the trying conditions. 

Data source: DTI UK.

Wales Passenger Car Sales : 2020

The top 30 makes are tabulated for the whole of the UK, then listed by region. This means the list may not be a top 30 for everyone. So below are the 30 best selling UK brands and this is how those brands sold in Wales. The UK average was -29% for the year so -24% was quite good.

Green shows an increase (just two), purple fewer sales but market share gain and yellow negative on both counts. Ford has been top since as far back as I can go. Perhaps a Ford engine plant at Bridgend helped. The plant recently closed and Ford dropped a place. Does that have any bearing? A real coincidence if not. 

Vauxhall amazingly managed to actually increase sales and is now the best selling brand in the Principality. MG is particularly popular here and now commands a top ten ranking. 

Data source: DTI UK.

Scotland Passenger Car Sales : 2020

Social distancing in action with the Nissan Juke Car Club

                                                                                                                                  The top 30 makes are tabulated for the whole of the UK, then listed by region. This means the list may not be a top 30 for everyone. So below are the 30 best selling UK brands and this is how those brands sold in Scotland. The UK total sales were -29% for the year so -28% was about the same.

Green shows an increase (just three), purple fewer sales but market share gain and yellow negative on both counts. Ford displaced Vauxhall from the top in 2019 and Ford maintained its position into 2020. It wasn't a great year for the top three. Toyota had a good year all things considered. I think it's safe to say Jeep isn't in the top 30. 

Data source: DTI UK.

Northern Ireland Passenger Car Sales : 2020

The top 30 makes are tabulated for the whole of the UK, then listed by region. This means the list may not be a top 30 for everyone. So below are the 30 best selling UK brands and this is how those brands sold in Northern Ireland. The UK total sales were -29% for the year so -30% for NI was ballpark.

Green shows an increase (just two), purple fewer sales but market share gain and yellow negative on both counts. Ford has been top since 2008 and that continued into 2020. It wasn't a great year for the blue oval brand but second placed VW wasn't much better. Toyota has been steadily climbing up and is now third. 

Data source: DTI UK.

Land Rover Sales By Plant : 2015-2021

Global NCAP

Safety is an important part of motoring. Drivers need to develop skills but also operate within their capability and view motoring as a serious responsibility. The cars themselves need to be engineered to be as safe as possible. 

The issue with safety in emerging nations is that to put full safety features in them pushes the price up and therefore out of reach for many buyers. Without emphasis placed on safety by the public nor government, a manufacturer could be tempted to cut back on engineering costs regarding safety to make a car more affordable. The new owner is happy to have a cheaper new car. 

A car needs to have good structural strength and sensible passive safety features too. I don't think a car needs say lane departure warning. Simplify the controls of a car and let the driver concentrate on where he is going, not wading through sub-menus on a touch screen. Madness. Getting back on track, are cars made for customers in less affluent countries safe enough or death traps for unwary buyers?

I quote: 'Global NCAP’s serves as a platform for co-operation among new car assessment programmes worldwide and promotes the universal adoption of the United nation’s most important motor vehicle safety standards worldwide'.

Latin NCAP: The new Hyundai HB20 and Ford Ka both received zero stars under what I assume are less stringent standards than western NCAP testing demands. Both cars are/were produced in Brazil and proved to be very popular. 

SafercarsForAfrica: The Great Wall Steed pick-up got a zero score. The Mahindra XUV300 SUV picked up the first 5-star rating under the Africa testing regime.

SaferCarsForIndia: the Mahindra Thar SUV got 4-stars for adult and child occupation. Meanwhile, the Suzuki S-Presso got a zero-star rating, a car that has featured on photographs on this site. I certainly do not endorse it as a suitable purchase. The Hyundai Grand i10 got 2-stars for adult and child protection. The Kia Seltos received 3 for adult protection and 2 for child protection. The TATA Tigor/Tiago was awarded 4 and 3 stars respectively.

The manufacturers may have something to say about the results. They would be welcome to write to me and I would add their comments. In the meantime, I'd say well done to Mahindra and TATA for putting more safety into your cars than Maruti/Suzuki seem to be doing. They may massively outsell you but you haven't dropped standards to meet the competition. 

The Great Wall Steed is no surprise as far as many Chinese carmakers go. Ford has pulled out of Brazilian manufacturing which may be just as well, while I expected a lot more of Hyundai.

I have taken this information from the globalncap website. You can view it by clicking on the name. 

Japanese Brand Domestic Imports : 2015 - 2021

 When a model is made outside its home market, it is often imported to its domestic market (the general exception is if it is made overseas to avoid import duty). Considering how many cars are made outside Japan, it's always amazed me that so few make their way into the country. 

A classic example I know of is the Nissan Qashqai, designed in Europe for Europe. The first series was made in the UK and Japan (as the Dualis). It sold outstandingly in Europe but was never as popular in Japan. Peak annual sales in Japan were just over the 20,000 mark. 

For the second series, it was not made in Japan as the volume presumably didn't justify the tooling up. The model was dropped from sale in Japan but sold elsewhere. Why not import instead? There was reasonable interest in it.

Against that backdrop, we see below imports for Japanese brands into Japan. Despite Nissan's not importing Qashqais, it still is the main importer of cars. For 2021 (Jan-April), 73% of such imports are by that company. It's only for one model too. Honda comes in at 18%, possibly the Civic hatch. The rest virtually nothing. Toyota has a policy of making 3 million vehicles a year at home, which it has kept for years. With falling domestic volume, that may not be possible in the future. 

What is interesting is that nearly all brands that import have increased in 2021, Nissan +720% leading the way. Surely it makes sense to utilise overseas plants for models where the volume wouldn't justify local assembly. Nissan seems to be the only one who has accepted that. Maybe others will follow suit in due course. 

Data source: JAIA.