Malaysia Top 10 Sales (make & model) : 2024 (Jan-Jun)

With import duty, local manufacturers dominate the scene. Local brand Perudua (Daihatsu based cars) has a commanding lead over compatriot Proton. They are followed with other Japanese makes with a couple of Chinese and German ones. 

Perodua has five of the top six models with Proton one at fourth. A couple of Honda and Toyota models fill out the list. Perodua has a good product range suited to the local market. That has earned them the popularity they enjoy. 

Data source: Data Gov. Picture source: Perodua.

Liechtenstein Passenger Car Sales : 2024 (Jan-Jun)

Registrations were down 12% in June and also down 5% YTD. It's a country with some affluence looking at how brands sell here. VW has been top for decades apart from 2020 when BMW made a cameo appearance at the top spot. For now, Mercedes-Benz has taken over as the most popular marque. 

With numbers so small, change can happen quite suddenly so at the end of the year, we will see if and what has changed. The source also does model data annually. 

Data source: Liechtensteinische Landesverwaltung.

Slovakia Passenger Car Sales : 2024 (Jan-Jun)

The country that produces more cars per capita than any other. It had a 4% increase in registrations YTD with Škoda delivering one in five of them. Škoda is based in neighbouring Chechia but the local populous to the east clearly still relate to the brand.

Toyota and Hyundai lost ground to the leader although VW made up a little ground in passing Kia. Nissan, MG, Lexus, Subaru and Land Rover had notable gains. Peugeot, Opel and Audi not so.

Some of the best selling models were the Škoda Octavia with 2,611, Hyundai i30 (2,045), Škoda Fabia (1,918), Kia Sportage (1,270), Dacia Duster (1,269) and the Škoda Kamiq (1,212).

Data source: ZAP. 

Mercedes US Model Sales : 2023/24 (Q2)

If there is one thing German marques do well in and that's complexity. It is at least partly fueled by intense competition and entering every niche they can think of. 

Looking at the list to the right bears this out and not all models available are here. Merecedes-Benz can point to the success they enjoy as justification and I can't deny that. It's a complex world and I believe at some point that becomes inefficient. 

Moving on, the GLE and GLC are the best selling passenger vehicles. Vans are combined and collectively they up there with them. The A-Class is being phased out by the company and it looks all but finished in the US already.

Sales for the H1 period are down 5%, with a mixture of ups and downs with models. The GLC (picture above) is up 28% and the GLA down 32%. The CLE (picture below) has arrived in 2024. 

Data & pictures: Mercedes-Benz.

Vinfast Deliveries : H1 2023-24

Vinfast is a Vietnamese car company that started out in 2022. Some of its earlier forecasts proved optimistic as is usually the case with newbies. The car industry is complex and starting up is fraught with difficulties, including initial questions raised over assembly quality and software glitches. 

The chart to the right shows 2024 as being down 38% but that compares half of 2024 with a completed 2023. It's actually up 92% comparing H1 periods. 

The full 2024 target is 80,000 units, or an increase of 130% which on the face of it is a sizable jump on first half deliveries of 21,747. How can they reach that? The new VF3 (picture below) is about to be released and has a large domestic order bank to deal with so I assume that's where much of the increase will come from. 

A plant to be built in the US has been scaled back timewise to manage the planned growth in a more measured way. A case of not so fast Vinfast and this is the best policy as reputation is so important. 

Data and picture source: Vinfast.

Global Premium Marque Sales : 2023

Total global sales of premium cars was up 14.6% for the ones listed below. It excludes luxury marques and brands. There are possibly some brands that would like to consider themselves premium and if you can think of worthy candidates missing, please drop a comment below. Numbers that are rounded are estimates based on information gathered. 

The BMW Group retains its leadership with over 2.5 million sales. Adding MINI puts a considerable distance between it and second placed Mercedes-Benz.  Audi's third place looks increasingly at risk with Tesla now breathing down its neck. 

Below then is a gap to Lexus and Volvo and then another to JLR and then it cascades down from there. JLR will do well to grow from here with Jaguar being turned into a boutique brand and Land Rover about where they want to be. 

Cadillac is facing headwinds in China but is hoping to enter new markets but retaining the same volume will be a challenge. Acura looks good but came off an unusually poor 2022. Polestar has hit a very low ceiling which isn't what they expected. They will be trying to rectify that. Fisker will disappear as quickly as it arrived.

China wants to enter the premium arena and already has a few in that field. Brand equity is very important at the premium level so nurturing that is what new entrants need to cultivate with care. 

Taiwan Car/LCV Sales : 2024 (Jan-Jun)

The figures below are compiled from more than one source. Registrations are down 6% in June and -1% YTD. There is import duty as protection but not suffocatingly so like virtually all other Asian countries with local manufacturing. 

Toyota leads and by a huge margin. Lexus is a popular marque here but to see it as the second best selling is remarkable. The fact that Mercedes-Benz is third shows that this is a reasonably affluent country. 

Some of the best selling models (rounded figures) are the Toyota Corolla Cross (14,100), Toyota TownAce (10,700), Toyota RAV4 (9,900), Toyota Yaris Cross (8,350) and the MG HS (8,250). 

Pictures Toyota Taiwan. 

Russia Car/LCV Sales : 2024 (Jan-Jun)

The AEB or the Association of European Business has been the source of sales by brand in Russia. As manufacturers abandoned plants in Russia and importers officially stopped importing, Lada and Chinese brands filled the passenger car void and Russian LCV manufacturers did the same in that segment.

An unusual aspect was that perhaps some sort of black market emerged where cars were still entering the country of brands that had officially left. They weren't broken down into marques but the numbers were not unsubstantial. 

Now the AEB is only reporting the top ten LCV sales by model, which are Russian brands. They also let us know that 703,765 car / LCV sales were sold for the six months of the year. 50,862 were unofficial imports through "alternative supply channels" for a total of 754,627. 

Why are sales of even official imports by brand no longer given? Well, they were all from Chinese manufacturers who maybe didn't want to be seen as selling cars in Russia. I'm speculating there but I can't think of another reason. 

So what we do know is that the best selling LCV in Russia is the GAZ Gazelle with 3,618 units sold, down from 3,923 in 2023. The UAZ Classic Commercial registered 1,228 units (1,211), the GAZ Sobol (1,009, up from 693) was next and so it goes down from there. Riveting stuff.  I can't see the point of future reports about Russia unless the data improves or an interesting development takes place. 

Toyota Global Sales : 2022-24 (2024 Q1-Q2)

For June production was down 12.9%, in Japan down 18.8% and the rest of the world a 9.9% decrease. YTD is -5.-%, -8.2% and -3.4% respectively. Not a good look but there's not enough data to explain why. Mind you, Toyota always finds a way and this will be no more than a blip on the radar. 

Asia made 62.6% of all Toyota's, North America 23.3%, Europe 9.4%, Latin America 3.7% and Africa 1.1%. Japan accounted for 51.9% of Asian assembly and China 22.2%. That's down nine percentage points which is huge! Cambodia has joined the Toyota family. 

The USA makes two thirds of North American Toyotas made in the region and Europe has four countries after its Russian exit. Brazil and Argentina are both very active but Africa relies on South Africa and that country isn't doing well economically. 

Data & picture source: Toyota Group.