Mclaren Car Company Results : 2024 (H1)

Mclaren Holdings Ltd runs four model ranges, Ultimate (Solus GT - picture below), Supercar (750S - picture above - and Artura), GT (GTS) and Motorsport (720s GT3 and Artura GT4). All are available in key markets except China (Artura only). Interim results show a loss in H1 2023 has turned into a modest profit in 2024 with a shift toward higher priced models stated as the reason. Final results are yet to be delivered. 

There were five regions in Q1 2024 but that has been trimmed to four by H1. The reason is China is presimably now part of Asia / Pacific. The economy isn't in great shape in China and heavy dependence by any car manufacturer on that market will be affected. 

So to see a sales rise of 27% despite the setback in China is impressive. North America is up 55% and Europe 49%. Mclaren has resisted having an SUV in its range, unlike all its competitors. A hybrid model is apparently in the pipeline though. It had to happen.  

Data source: Mclaren Holdings

Slovenia Passenger Car Sales : 2024 (Jan-Sep)

Registrations were up 10% in September and 7% YTD. Compared to many other European countries, an upbeat result. VW is clearly the most popular brand here and has been since 2014. Before that it was Renault and it is having a good year in making up some lost ground. 

Top selling models are the Škoda Octavia (1,315), Renault Captur (1,270), Peugeot 2008 (975), Škoda Kodiaq (958), Dacia Duster (926) and the VW Tiguan (848), Toyoya Yaris Cross (814) and VW T-Cross (802). 

Data source: ADS.

Ukraine Passenger Car Sales : 2024 (Jan-Sep)

 Even in war torn countries, business still goes on and people have to buy cars. Sales for September were up 1% and for the YTD +21%. Toyota leads comfortably although with some lost market share. VW and Škoda did even worse. Renault, BMW and especially Nissan did well though. 

Getting data from Ukraine isn't easy and as best as I can tell an accurate list. What is here does give us a snapshot of passenger car registrations in the country. 

Picture sources: Toyota & Renault Ukraine.

Canada Car/Light Truck Sales : 2024 (Jan-Sep)

Sales data from Canada is poor these days, not the sort normally associated with a country with Canada's status. As for the figures, some are from the manufacturers, some from other sources and others are estimates. So take them as a reasonable guide only.

Brazil Passenger Car Sales : 2024 (Jan-Oct)

Registrations were up 15% in June and 16% YTD so consistent. The top selling brands all had falls in share which is unusual. I think the arrival of Chinese brands and their recent success has been a contributor to that although with the market up 16%, a case of increasing but not strongly enough to maintain their share. 

BYD (+268%), Chery (+70%) and Haval (+144%) lead the charge for China. Ford ceased production here which saw sales plummet but are now on a rebound if not enough to return to former glory. Import duty will see to that. 

Best selling models are the VW Polo (57,862 -  pic above), GM Onyx (43,603 - pic below), Hyundai HB20 (42,696), Fiat Argo (39.624) and the Fiat Mobi (32,240). Not covered below as it's a commercial model is the popular Fiat Strada pick up (56,597). 

Anfavea, Abeifa, Fenebrave. 

Nissan Leaf UK Production Figures

The Nissan Leaf started being produced in the UK circa 2013. In 2018, it was replaced by the second generation and volume took a notable upturn. In 2024, the model was phased out with a delay until its replacement emerges from the Sunderland plant in 2025. The Ariya model will carry the torch in the meantime.

Nissan is making the Sunderland plant fully electric by 2030, a bold move that many other car makers are backing away from. The rapid growth in sales for BEVs is over. Norway will be an important export market but it isn't a large one overall so I assume production volume at the plant will be lower when it goes all electric in about six years from now.

Car manufacturers have to plan well ahead and the market can move swiftly so anticipating its direction is a challenge. Too conservative and risk getting left behind. Being bold can give an advantage over the competition but also turn into an expensive mistake. 

Perhaps the UK could get behind cars made locally and make sure it is a huge success. Only joking. 

Pics: Nissan UK. 

Morocco Passenger Car Sales : 2024 (Jan-Sep)

Registrations were up 25% in September and 4% YTD. That's a nice increase for the month when in many places sales are struggling. A few Chinese brands have arrived but a little way to go yet to make a noticeable impact. There are some luxury marques missing from the chart below but the main players are there. 

Dacia and its parent company Renault dominate proceedings here. They established that through manufacturing in the country. They currently harvest over 40% of all sales between them. Dacia took the lead in 2010 and hasn't looked back. Some of the brands immediately below them have lost some share to varying degrees.

Data source: AIVAM. Pics: Dacia & Renault Facebook.

Porsche Global Model Sales : 2023/24 (Q1 - Q3)

Deliveries were down 7% after nine months of 2024. Difficult conditions in China and poor electric car sales weighed deliveries down. 

Models: The Cayenne was up 21% which is good for the company as it would be a profitable model. It was also good for sports cars, with the 911 and 718 models increasing. 

The Macan and Panamera were both down 20% but nothing like the electric Taycan which halved its sales. The electric revolution seems to increasingly lack spark. Porche acknowledged this problem and their timeframe in transitioning to BEVs has been put back. 

Data & pictures Porsche.

Region: Europe and the Rest are the regions in positive territory, up 4 and 3%. Germany was up 8% with the rest of Europe up 1%. North America was down slightly but China was the big disappointment with sales down by 29%.  

Takeaways: The drive to electric cars has hit a speed bump and car brands promising to go 100% BEV hopefully have an exit strategy on that. Some ICE vehicles in the range will be required unless taking a hit on volume isn't a worry. E-Fuels is also an option Porsche is pursuing strongly.

China was the goose that laid the golden egg but any manufacturer that put too many eggs in that basket will have to be careful how they proceed from here. With China's economy weakening and local consumers being wooed by local brands, it will be interesting to see where it will lead. 

Proton Model Sales : Q1-Q3 2024

Proton is a brand with a long history in Malaysia, going back to mid 1980's and producing rebadged Mitsubishi cars. It has moved on to produce its own cars as well as some rebadged ones. It currently exports to Asian and African markets. 

From 1996 to 2017, it was the owner of Lotus cars which helped improve among other things the handling characteristics of Proton cars. It recently celebrated the making of 5 million vehicles. Geely is now a shareholder of Proton. The figures below compare a complete 2023 with nine months of 2024.

There are eight models listed the the right although the Exora is no more. The small Saga saloon car has been around since 1985 and is currently in its third generation. The first edition was a rebadged Mitsubishi.

The S70 (since 2023) is a saloon car too but medium sized and based on a Geely vehicle. The X50 compact crossover (2020) is also a Geely product. 

The Persona compact car (2003) is in its third generation and for the first generation was named the Wira in its home market. The rest of the range is of limited volume. 

The pictures are from Proton and as with many Asian car companies cameras are not used but rather computers and the result is in my opinion tacky. I assume the locals like it that way. 

The top impression is of the S70 and the lower one the X50.

India Passenger Car Sales : 2024 (Jan-Sep)

A heavily protected market means few brands selling most of the vehicles. Is the protection really necessary to this degree? Absolutely not but it remains anyway. Suzuki offers value and reliable motoring with a wide range of small cars and would do so without import tariffs. The next three combined fail to equal the volume of Suzuki. 

Hyundai was being caught by Tata but that has stopped with the latter just short of the number two spot. Mahindra seems to have more of the momentum than Tata but moving on to a higher level but how far that will go only time will tell. Toyota shot past Kia with Renault and VW passing Škoda. 

The data is from varying sources, in some cases wholesale and in others retail. Some smaller brands aren't listed and some of the totals by brand may be a tad conservative. The numbers are not perfect but close and it does paint a reasonable picture of the market. It appears as if total sales are down in September but varying sources have differing figures so I won't be emphatic on that. 

Data source: BHP & manufacturers. Photos from manufacturers. 

VW Group Global Deliveries : 2024 Q1-Q3

Total deliveries were down 3% for the nine months YTD. Mainstream car/lcvs were 0%, Premium -11%, Sport/Lux -7% and Trucks -2%. Nothing out of the ordinary although one would expect any manufacturer wants to increase deliveries. Still, there are so many factors that sales alone don't paint a complete picture. So a chart to show how the deliveries have gone by division.

Regional deliveries: The Americas did well but China and the Asia/Pacific region were the telling factor in global deliveries being down, albeit only 3%. China in particular is a large market for the company and that decrease alone more than offset gains elsewhere. Depending on where sales in China go from here will determine much, such is the volume involved. Less dependence on China isn't a bad thing. 

USA Car/LCV Sales : 2024 (Jan-Sep)

Most of the data below is from the source, ie the manufacturer but some are estimates that can usually be identified by a rounded figure. Toyota and Ford are the two main nameplates, the former holding a slim lead. The top seven are the same as last year when comparing ranking with the complete 2023. 

There weren't many big winners but Land Rover did OK (if the number is correct) but start ups near the lower end of the list went very well. In such a large and mature market, change tends to be gradual. The Brightdrop delivery van (left) from GM is one such.

Overall sales are up 1% but were down 12% in September. That's a good result for the year but the trend may be concerning.

It's unique in the fact that in countries where no official source releases data you don't get any. In the US manufacturers in the main do so voluntarily. Canada has the same issue but with less openness so creating something like this is all but impossible. 

Data source: Manufacturers, estimates. 

Mexico Car/LCV Sales : 2024 (Jan-Sep)

Registrations were down 1% in September but up 11% YTD. Nissan lead the way as usual with a slight loss of market share but with a sales volume gain. The five brands immediately below it all increased their share. 

A group of new Chinese brands have arrived on the scene, some late last year and others this year. Great Wall Motors covers most of them. It will be interesting to see how they fare in the future. Cupra is just the Formentor model. 

Data source: AMDA.

Lucid Deliveries/Production : Q1-Q3 2023-24

Lucid's deliveries were up 91% for the Q3 period of 2024 to 2,781 units. This was in sharp contrast to production which was up just 16% at 1,805 units. 

I assume the leaning toward deliveries is reflective of the fact that stock levels need to be kept in check but it may be other factors at work.  

YTD deliveries are up to 7,142 and 67% compared to 4,267 in 2023. Even comparing three quarters of 2024 with a complete 2023 (6,001) as seen below deliveries have already been passed by 19% so the growth will be much higher once 2024 is completed. 

Production is currently down 33% but Q4 should bring that close to parity. It will be interesting to see how Q4 production goes. 

Data source: Lucid. 

Austria Passenger Car Sales : 2024 (Jan-Sep)

Registrations were up 0.3% in September and 4% YTD so a solid if unspectacular result. VW not only matched the increase but added 6% on top of that. The three below couldn't quite go with that as the gap widened. Peugeot and Suzuki are going well as is Mitsubishi. The latter may have talked a while back about leaving Europe but that stance seems to have been reneged on. 

Data source: Statistik Austria.

Luxembourg Passenger Car Sales : 2024 (Jan-Sep)

Registrations were down 7% in September and also down 6% YTD. It's a market that VW has led for so long but BMW is pressing for change. It's obviously an affluent place with so many premium marques figuring prominently although Mercedes-Benz and Audi aren't having a great year so far. The Hyundai and Kia siblings are both up but the Stellantis trio Peugeot, Opel and Citroën are not. 

Smaller markets are more volatile so things can change rather quickly. A trend I've noticed in 2024 for Europe is SEAT improving but its spinoff brand Cupra not so.

Data source: Statistiques Luxembourg.

Volvo Global Sales : Q1 - Q3 2024

Global registrations were up 1% in September and for the year so far +10% when compared with the same period in 2023. That's a good result for the marque. So let's break things down.

By Model: The XC60 remains the top selling model with 29% of the range. The gap between it and the XC40 has widened, now six percentage points apart. 

The XC90 is to be replaced by the fully electric EX90. Ambitions in that regard have to be monitored as changes in the market dictate direction and timescale.

The new EX30 is off to a good start and has added impetus to the growth. The new EM90 electric MPV has just arrived and will be an interesting addition to the range. The new electric EM90 is pictured at the top of the article and the EX90 - XC90 replacement is below. 

By Region: Europe has become an even more important region for Volvo with half of all sales being achieved here. Everywhere else had a reduced share of the pie. It is getting imbalanced and I would have thought it not ideal. 

Going Electric: The company has backed off its 100% BEV (electric) goal by 2030. Now it's just 90% BEV and PHEV (hybrid). BEVs are not popular everywhere and in some cases won't be any time soon. 

To emphasise that point, as things stand at present, nearly 80% of Volvo's BEV sales for Volvo are in Europe. I find China's shrinking BEV sales unusual, thinking such vehicles would be more popular there.