Mclaren Regional Sales : 2020-22

There aren't many super luxury sports car manufacturers with reasonably large volumes. Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Martin and Mclaren are four that spring to my mind. Mclaren is the new kid on the block, with its first car the F1 in 1992. Only 106 were built but it was so good, it put the marque on the supercar map instantly. 

It then made the Mercedes SLR Mclaren before releasing the MP4-12C which has since expanded to become a range of cars. It has had some growing pains in that process too as you would expect. It's reached a point where it could expand further but that needs managing carefully. Or it could settle for where it is and consolidate. One thing it is steadfastly sticking to is that it won't do an SUV. Brave.

The chart below shows deliveries by region from 2020 to 2022. 2020 wasn't good with numbers down 64% and all regions feeling it. 2021 was much better, with deliveries rebounding by 29%. 2022 was slightly up on 2022 with China down 14% and now accounting for less than 19% of all sales. North America and Europe both did well, the Rest OK and Asia/Pacific slightly down after a fine 2022.

Data source: Mclaren.

Stellantis & China

The figures discussed and presented here are for vehicles assembled in China. Stellantis was formed in 2021.

PSA has had a long and successful time in China, Citroën in particular. The latter was one of the best selling brands in China during the early 20th century. Peugeot came in a little later and eventually overtook its sibling in 2014. 

Fiat was also an early success in China but pulled out of local assembly in 2007 before returning in 2012. Jeep started assembly in 2015 although nearly 60,000 imported vehicles were sold in China in 2013. It was the largest market outside of the US for Jeep so the logic of avoiding import duty and going to manufacturing in China made sense. 

By 2015 Peugeot production in China exceeded 400,000 units and Citroën was just under the 300,000 mark. That equates to 700,000 units (maths is my strong suit). On the Fiat-Chrysler side, Fiat sales slumped over 50% in 2015 but the cavalry had arrived to save local production in the form of Jeep. 

From this point, things started to unravel for PSA with production in steep decline. Fiat disappeared and Jeep took off but that didn't last long either. By the time Stellantis was formed, its combined presence in China was minimal. There has been a slight upturn recently for Peugeot and Citroën but it's still small time stuff.

For Stellantis ending production in China and only importing is a possibility. The problem with that is import duty. Amazingly China doesn't face the same duty when exporting to Europe. Why did the EU play hardball with the UK while allowing such an imbalance with China? 

The answer is the UK had a weak bargaining position and China has a strong one. Car makers - notably German - make big money manufacturing in China and they don't want to risk that by matching China's import duty. German car companies have openly stated they don't want to upset China, saying that they simply can't afford to. 

So while Carlos Tavares has stated publically there should be an even playing field with tariffs, that seems unlikely. Chinese cars are starting to pour into Europe and putting up import duty to stem the flow would have the German car makers in a hot sweat. Stellantis would find exclusively importing into China a tough assignment. Losing sales to Chinese imports in its backyard only adds to the problem.

Nissan Sunderland's New Battery Plant

Stellantis has come out and said that its commitment to electric vehicles made in the UK is under threat due to an EU edict. It is that all cars exported from the UK to the EU must eventually have 65% UK/EU content or face 10% duties. I don't know why such a rule was insisted upon. 

What is of interest is that Nissan is pressing ahead with electric vehicle production in Sunderland, UK despite the machinations of politicians. How is Nissan achieving this? Through a battery plant built adjacent to the car assembly facility. Make no mistake, this is a substantial commitment by Nissan and its project partners. 

Nissan has made the Leaf model in the UK since late 2012 and making batteries for it at its Sunderland plant. This new initiative will take battery production capacity to another level. A new crossover electric model is to be produced at the plant with up to 100,000 units to be made per annum. 

It all comes down to the scale of production that allows for such investment. Stellantis' production in the UK isn't large and importing batteries is the way for them. JLR has been courted by Spain to acquire batteries from there but a plant to be located in Summerset, UK may now be the more likely outcome. Perhaps Stellantis could be involved with that. 

As for the Leaf, over 250,000 have now been built in the UK. The chart shows annual production volume and one would think that the push for electric cars in the UK and Europe would ensure continued healthy production for the Leaf as well as the future crossover model. Battery plants are needed and Nissan Sunderland has that box ticked.

Australia Model PU Sales : 2021-22

Australia used to make large cars and they were popular there. Gradually the public started switching to pickup trucks, mostly sourced from Thailand. A trade deal was struck for vehicles between the two countries. In came pickups but it was all one way traffic and soon the Australian car industry was gone.

Today pickup models are among the best selling in Australia. The majority are Japanese brands with the Toyota Hilux leading the way. Five of the best selling brands in this segment are from Japan. Ford does well with the Ranger at second and then China chirps in with the GWM ute. 

The RAM pickup range is next, thanks to a thriving right hand drive conversion industry. The Chevrolet Silverado also gets the same treatment and the Ford F-150 will be next. I'm surprised at the demand for these large trucks, especially as the conversion cost is not insignificant. 

The European originated LDV brand (now Chinese owned - picture above the eT60) and the VW Amarok are solid sellers and the last two of note come from Korea and the US of A (Jeep Gladiator below).

China Sales : 2022

Registrations for 2022 were +8.5% as best as I could ascertain. I tried to minimise figure distortion by including imported cars for premium marques. Local brands are unaffected but foreign ones can be. Luxury sales are excluded. 

Increases or decreases below refer to market share change.VW has been falling for a few years now but for 2022 largely arrested the decline. BYD came from well down to the second spot very quickly. It seems Toyota sales listed elsewhere include Lexus but I've separated them here. 

The Chinese market still has a feel of the wild west, with brands suddenly coming from nowhere and others just as quickly disappearing into nowhere. I thought it may have matured enough to settle down by now but not as yet. The transition into electric cars hasn't helped in that regard. 

China Premium Sales vs Imports Comparison : 2020-22

One of the reasons I don't get too excited about the Chinese car market is that all sales are for locally made only. Due to high import duty, most sales are only for domestically manufactured cars. I would like to see real figures released with imports included but if they are sourced from a manufacturing association, I guess that isn't going to happen. 

For mainstream brands, the percentage imported would be negligible but what about premium brands where margins are higher and duty can be better absorbed? I needed to do some digging so I decided to check out what sales were for local versus imported premium cars.

Using BMW/MINI as an example, in 2022 665,000 sales were officially sold according to local reports, but BMW said they sold 792,000. That means for the year 16% of BMW and MINI sales were for imported cars and 84% would be of cars made in China. That's down from just over 20% for 2020 and 2021.

Mercedes is almost identical but Audi is a good half lower for imported volume. Volvo is very similar to Audi. Land Rover isn't as heavily involved with Chinese manufacture and about half of Land Rovers are imported. That makes local sales figures for LR look much poorer than they are.

Jaguar's figures are strange. They were around 20% imported but in 2022 importing cars seemed to end. The -2% figure would indicate that the local figure is slightly wrong as I'm sure Jaguar would know how many they sold. 

Now for the two US brands. Cadillac doesn't import cars according to the data below but a 21,000 unit discrepancy in 2022 presumably shows the local figure is too high. Lincoln started manufacturing in 2020 so that would account for the drop of imported cars. 

If you are wondering where Porsche is, they import 100%  so they will not appear on local sales charts. That also applies to luxury marques too of course. Lexus sales seem to be included with Toyota in Chinese sales releases. Acura has recently left and I didn't find Infiniti import sales for 2022. 

In summary, I expected more imported volume for Audi, Cadillac and Lincoln. For the most part, however, local sales releases aren't too far off the mark for most premium brands, with Land Rover and Porsche the exceptions. 

Mexico PU Truck Sales : 2020-22

Mexico doesn't have a protected market for pickup trucks so have more variety than its northern neighbours. On average they are not as large either. Brand preferences are quite different too. Due to these factors, the makeup of the pickup market is quite different. 

Top of the pops is the Nissan Frontier/Navara model and by some margin. Then again, Nissan is the biggest brand here so not really a surprise. The Toyota Hilux is increasing consistently which looks ominous. The top US model is the Ram PU and it also is improving consistently. The Mitsubishi L200 isn't sold in either Canada or the US but is a solid performer here. 

European and Chinese offerings can be observed further down the list below, another unique feature in North America. It also means that the 90 to 95% share enjoyed by US brands up north is much lower in Mexico, just over a third of total sales. The JAC Frison is a model making great strides (picture below). 

Canada PU Truck Sales : 2020-22

Canada is very similar to the US in many ways and vehicle purchasing is very much one of them. The differences with pickup trucks are some models switch places, GMC is more popular (not in volume of course) and US brands run at 95% share, rather than 90% in the US. That last point of difference did surprise me.  

Overall, pickup truck sales account for 11% of the US market and 14% of Canada's. I can't say that surprised me simply because I didn't know enough to have an opinion. If anyone wants to enlighten me more on the subject, please leave a comment. You don't have to register to do so but they don't appear immediately nor will they appear at all if being used to advertise something.

Honda & Mitusbishi European Market Share : 2006-2023

The European car market is competitive and crowded with many brands. Japanese brands arrived many years ago and had reasonable success but it seemed to plateau. Now there are challenges regarding the  accelerated move to electric cars, something Japanese brands initially embraced then stalled on. Chinese brands are now entering Europe with electric cars as their forte.  

Where does all this leave Japanese brands now and in the near future? Some like Toyota and Nissan have manufacturing facilities there and are committed. Smaller players like Honda and Mitsubishi have manufactured in Europe but no longer. 

Of the two, Honda was the bigger player in Europe, but its market share has been falling fairly consistently since 2007. Honda's position in Europe is now marginal and apart from simply retaining a presence it's hard to know why the company would stay in the region. Time will tell where Honda will go from here. 

Mitsubishi has been more even but recently having noticeably fallen with few models on offer and leaving some markets entirely. Mitsubishi may leverage some of Renault's vehicles and production facilities to reinvigorate its European operation. Again, we will see.

Please note: The 2023 percentage figures are for the first three months.

Thailand PU Truck Sales : 2021-22

Thailand is a country in love with the pickup truck. Maybe they are ideally suited to the country or the versatility they offer is the attraction. They are also made locally and with stiff import duty, are no doubt benefitted by avoiding it.

Two brands dominate, the Isuzu D-Max and Toyota Hilux. The Ford Ranger and Mitsubishi Triton are trying hard but the rest feed on the crumbs dropping from the table. Due to protection, the number of models available is limited, unless some importers are not reporting sales.

Global Premium Brand Sales : 2022-23

I put together a list of premium marques, rounded to the nearest thousand. It excludes those I'd consider luxury although at times there is overlap between them. Many of the figures come from the manufacturer while some others are based on sales I do know with the balance estimated.  

BMW is the largest of all the brands and with MINI added clearly the leading marque. Tesla has achieved fourth place for two years now and not that far away from improving on that. The semiconductor shortage hit many brands, especially JLR, but Tesla didn't seem to suffer in that regard. 

The most interesting part for me was further down, with long standing names rubbing shoulders - or about to - with upstart start ups. One of the newbies in terms of volume has been around since 1958. Any guesses? 

Hongqi (top picture) made its first car in 1958 although it hasn't been continuously produced since then. It reminded me of the now defunct Zil marque from Russia. It was large and premium but made for local consumption and for officials. How many were made I can't say but nothing like the numbers being produced now. 

Neither Acura (the red car above) nor Infiniti had a strong 2022 but early signs for 2023 paint a rosier picture. It's been a tough road for Rivian and Lucid and 2023 will be important for both of them. Alfa Romeo  (picture to the right) will do much better with the new Tonale. With a lessening of the chip shortage, manufacturers will be hoping for improved sales for 2023. 

Nio

                                    You may not have heard of the Nio car brand but it's a Chinese electric car manufacturer. It uses battery swapping in booths that take less than five minutes to replace a depleted battery with a fully charged one. It started making cars in 2018 and has progressed quickly. 

There were six models up and running by the end of 2022, a crossover, three SUVs and two passenger cars. An exclusive sports car has also been made (the EP9) but they are not road legal so not registered and less than a hundred have been made as I understand it. 

Exports are still in their infancy but the company is now entering new markets at an accelerated pace. I did find the data below confusing. The Nio Annual Report lists the data as deliveries which I assumed are global figures. Yet a Chinese website lists the same number of sales as domestic ones. There have been some exports, albeit on a limited scale. 

Renault / Dacia Euro Market Share Graph

Dacia started out making older model Renaults as a value brand. Eventually, Renault took control and continued with that value strategy but with its own models rather than older Renault cars. Has it worked?

Renault has yielded market share to position itself at a sustainable level rather than chase volume for the prestige often associated with higher market penetration. Dacia is in a very different position, in an area of the market that has been ignored by other car makers. Dacia's progress has been done in a profitable way too.

After three months of 2023, the brands are almost equal in terms of sales. Renault has an abundance of competition whereas Dacia doesn't so that shouldn't be surprising. I like what Dacia offers, no frills motoring. That appeals to me. 

Below the numbers on each side of the graph represents the percentage market share in Europe. 

Tesla's Amazing Feat

I recall reading opinions a few years back when some thought Elon Musk didn't know how to run a car company. Car making is a complicated and expensive undertaking and he was underestimating its difficulty. 

I admit I was wondering the same things myself but wasn't emphatic as I didn't have enough knowledge to be such. I did think he was overconfident but that may have been his way of assuring investors. Others' efforts to turn ideas and dreams into reality have struggled to deliver. It takes a lot of money to go from zero to hero in the car industry. 

Yet, it seems Tesla is making it. They got the funds needed. They charge heavily for add ons that are not very costly to implement. Production plants are tailored to making electric cars, therefore more efficient than mainstream competitors. The range is not excessive and complicated so materials and componentry are bought in volume and at competitive prices. 

All this leads to an important end product. Profit. I have read that profit margins are the highest in the industry. If so, talk of price realignments out of desperation is well wide of the mark. Factories running at full capacity are the best way to go, provided all the fundamentals mentioned above are in place. 

I must say the cybertruck looks hideous (futuristic amateurism) and a rush job. See the picture below if you doubt my opinion on aesthetics. It has been delayed to get issues sorted. Attractive design it is not but otherwise it has to be a well executed vehicle to succeed in a challenging but profitable segment of the industry. 

Tesla is surviving and by many accounts doing very nicely thank you. Mistakes have been made but they are not ignored and that has kept the reputation of Tesla cars intact. Elon doesn't make friends with everyone but that won't stop people from buying his cars. Nor his solar roofs (see picture above). 

An Alternate Site

There aren't many car sales sites that are not behind a paywall. There is only one that doesn't have advertising that I know of and you're here already. One that is up to date is in Spanish and it has advertising too but if neither of those bothers you, then click here. It called Los Coches Más Vendidos. 

If you know of others that cover the auto industry that readers may enjoy, please leave a comment. You don't have to register to do so but I moderate comments to filter out the spam. You are welcome to leave comments regarding any of the articles. I respond to them as well!

For regular readers of this site, it's nice to have you along. Take care.