Rolls Royce Global Deliveries : 2023-25 (Q1-Q3)

The name Rolls Royce is often attached to something that is the best quality you can obtain. The cars are known for exceptional craftsmanship, prestige and engineering. 

Deliveries were often around the thousand mark until 2010, when they took an upward turn. They peaked in 2022 and 2023 at 6,000 and slipped back to 5,700 in 2024. 

2025 is going well and depending on Q4, should reach or exceed last year. Not that volume is the thing for RR. Customer demand will dictate the number made. 

Regional sales are not provided by the owner BMW. I'm assuming China is down and was the reason for 2024's slightly lower figure. 

BMW MINI Global Deliveries : 2023-25 (Q1-Q3)

Retro models rarely last too long. An initial flurry and then it's over. The MINI has lasted very well and still sells strongly. In an industry where models grow with each new generation has been less successful. 

MINI hit 300,000 deliveries in 2012 and stayed above that until 2022 when it slipped just below. 2023 did likewise and then a drop in 2024, one that you have to go back to 2010 to see it lower. 

Was the grim reaper sharpening his scythe? No. The fourth generation has arrived and sales are going up, but not to the heights it has achieved in the past. It is still a popular car that's fun to drive.

BMW doesn't post regional sales for MINI. Europe and North America are major destinations for shipments. I don't know how the US's tariffs are going to affect sales there. For now, at least, 2025 is looking much better than the year before. 

Bentley Global Deliveries : 2024-25 (Q1-Q3)

Bentley cars have always been and still are known as high-performance, luxury vehicles that are well-crafted, powerful but still retaining a classic elegance. I should have a job at Bentley's media centre. 

After years of exceptional growth, the last couple of years have seen reduced volumes. The heights they reached were probably not sustainable and the current levels are.

After nine consecutive quarters of a reduced number of deliveries, Q3 2025 saw a healthy 24% increase on what was an admittedly poor Q3 2024. Predictions about Q4 2025 sales are difficult with global economic uncertainties but Q4 is usually good for the marque.

Bentley does anticipate a sales increase due to the release of redesigned, high-performance hybrid models of the Continental GT and Flying Spur. However, the current and future focus is on "value over volume".

Models: Continental GT deliveries were 3,356 (+14%), the Bentayga was 2,767 (-20%) and the Flying Spur 1,770 (-18%). The Continental GT contributed 42.5% of the total, the Bentayga 35% and the Flying Spur 22.5%. 

Regions: Europe is the big improver here, up from 23% to 31%. The USA is slightly down but now below Europe. China is off by nearly a quarter and 'Others' are -16%. 

Data source: Audi. Photo source: Bentley. 

Lamborghini Global Deliveries : 2024-25 (Q1-Q3)

Things are going well for Lamborghini. Up 10% in 2023, up 6% in 2024. Down so far in 2025 by 3% but in the current climate a good result. 

Looking to the chart to the right, we see the last two years in quarters. The only negative would be the trend downward over the last two quarters. 

Light at the end of the tunnel could be that Q4 2024 wasn't that strong. We will have to wait and see. 

Models: Urus deliveries were 5,679 (+15%), Revuelto was 1,520 (+8%), Temerario 83 (+69%) and the Huracán just 4 (-99.9%). The Urus contributed 78% of the total. 

Regions: Europe has moved up to 40% of total deliveries. The US and China are both well down which brought the total into negative territory.

I've never really understood the popularity of the marque. Clearly, many see it differently. It certainly has a uniqueness of overstated styling although the new Temerario (photo below) looks more conservative. 

China is one place where Lamborghini isn't that popular. Not a bad thing, as China is increasingly difficult for many overseas brands. 

Data source: Audi. Photo source: Lamborghini.

Audi Global Deliveries : 2024-25 (Q1-Q3)

Audi has been cutting back on volume for a few years now. 1.9 million in 2023, 1.67 million in 2024 and maybe 1.58 million by the end of 2025. 

As we can see to the right, there have been decreases for seven consecutive quarters. 2023 was all quarterly increases. Deliveries are down 5% YTD.

For the 2025 calendar year, Audi has stopped reporting deliveries by model.

Regions: 'Others' are up nicely but everywhere else is down, China and the USA in particular. Overall, not too much variance. 

Production: In Germany it was 455,500 (+10%) and all other countries 747,000 (-12%). Production in China was 416,800 (-11%) and it now second behind Germany in terms of volume. Production in Belgium and Brazil has ended and assembly has commenced in Malaysia. In China there are a few assembly plants but they are now a combined figure. 

Data & photo source: Audi.

Aston Martin Global Deliveries : 2022-25 (Q1-Q3)

Aston Martin is a marque of distinction, not hurt by its connection with the most famous of secret agents. It has also been a company that found profitability to be elusive.

A car company that low volume and labour intensive needs to charge for the exclusivity and quality. There are only so many people buying such cars and there are several vying for customers.

To the right are quarterly deliveries for the past four years. They have been very consistent with Q4 always being an upward spike in volume. 

2025 will need that spike although Aston Martin is focused on a sound business model rather chasing volume to look good. I'd say 2025 will be down but not by too much. 

Regions: All the regions are down with Asia/Pacific the most. China would be the main reason but relying on that market is increasingly challenging for many reasons.

Aston Martin has to deal with tariffs and consumption taxes that exist around the world and they are getting worse and not better. 

Every country claims to be a champion of fair trade but for many countries it is nothing more than hypocritcal posturing. Sometimes trade has to be regulated to balance the books but at other times manipulated to selfishly generate large trade surpluses. This is something that hurts companies like Aston Martin.  

 

Models: Sports cars are holding up well but the DBX SUV a little less so. The Valhalla will be introduced in Q4 of 2025 and Aston Martin hopes to deliver about 150 in Q4 2025 and a further 500 in 2026. The Vanquish Volante, DBX S, Vantage S and Volante 60th Anniversary models are all coming out in late 2025. The DB12 S is planned for the first half of 2026. Plenty of things happening. 

Mercedes-Benz Vans Global Deliveries : 2024-2025 (Q1-Q3)

It seems an odd fit for the premium marque M-B to also have a van range but they do and it is successful. Their brief foray into pick up trucks was a spectacular flop so they retreated back to what does work for them. 

To the right are quarterly wholesale deliveries for delivery vans and vans with seating with become MPVs. 2024 was down 9% and 2025 may exceed that and that doesn't sound too good.  

 

To better understand the situation, regional figures are to the right. Total deliveries are down 13% YTD. 

Europe (without Germany) is up 17% and Asia (without China) are up 30%. North America and China have pulled things down. 70% of sales are in a combined Europe/Germany.  

Commercial vehicle vans account for nearly 83% of the volume and passenger vans 17%. The Sprinter contributed 135,000 sales, the Vito/V-Class 104,000 and the Titan/T-Class 21,000. 

M-B is to end the Titan/T-Class range in 2026 and focus on the more profitable larger vans. 

Conclusion: M-B has a strong brand image and the van range does that no harm at all. Moving away from small vans is a smart move, something the company is also doing with its car range.  

Data & photos: M-B. For passenger cars, simply click here.

Mercedes-Benz PC Global Deliveries : 2024-25 (Q1-Q3)

M-B has two divisions, Car and Van. Here we consider the former. How is it managing in a somewhat volatile environment?

To the right, there is a chart showing quarterly wholesale delivery figures. Quarterly volumes don't vary much at all. 

In 2024, there were slight decreases except for Q4. In 2025, the three quarters so far have all been down and increasingly so.

M-B divides model deliveries into three main categories, Entry, Core and Top End. The Entry level is where most of the decrease is occuring. As it's the least profitable, not so bad.

The Core is also down with the Top End about the same. The most profitable part of the business holding up well. Again, the best place to have it. Mercedes is moving away from lower priced models to focus on its higher margin cars to increase profitability. I never understood why they went to the lower priced end.

This adds up to an 8% drop in volume so far this year. How are the regions faring? Only the Rest is up. 

Germany is about the same, Europe (less Germany) is down ever so slightly at -2% and Asia (less China) -3%. North America is down 10% but the real negative is China. 

This is no surprise, as China has adversely affected German car companies in recent times. In the long term I think it is better to be less reliant on China.

Moving on to electric cars. The chart to the right shows the last seven quarters. They were down 9% in 2024 but up 4% YTD in 2025. 

Planning ahead for this area of the market has not been easy. Their adoption hasn't been as great as expected and has many manufacturers pulling back on how much they commit to this area, both in model development and production levels.

Overall, they are up 4% YTD 2025. Fully electric cars (BEV) are down 13% but plug in hybrids (PHEV) are up 21%, which is quite typical.

In conclusion, M-B is in the same situation as many other car makers. Volumes are down and there is a trend to move more up market. Chinese competition has arrived and even premium car makers are cautiously watching developments. 

Data & photos: Mercedes-Benz. For M-B vans, simply click here.

SAIC - GM : 2009-2025 (Q1-Q3)

SAIC and GM established a joint venture agreement to manufacture and sell cars in China. In 1999 Buick Regal cars started rolling off the assembly line. The data here picks up from 2009 with three brands being assembled by SAIC-GM. This excludes imported vehicles but that would be minimal at best. 

The 2025 figure is for nine months only but all the others 12 months. The Total column is from SAIC so is untouched. The brand volumes are from other sources and they don't always quite align with each other. They also at times vary slightly from the SAIC figure. In such cases, the Chev figure is adjusted as it is the one that is the issue.

We will briefly discuss each brand separately. 

Buick is a popular brand here. When the banks were insisting on GM reducing its number of brands, Buick was spared due to its popularity in China. Over 700,000 were assembled in 2009 and from 2015 to 2018 sales exceeded one million. 

From there, sales consistently slipped downward until 2024 when they almost halved. With three months to go in 2025, sales will surely increase if not by much.

The Excelle model (photo above) has been the biggest selling model for most of the joint venture's history. When sales ended in 2022, the Envision took over as the best selling model by default but in no way compensated for the loss of the Excelle. 

Cadillac: It played a bit part for a while then came good around 2016. The inevitable slump came in 2024 but 2025 will be better. The XTS, XT5 and currenly CT5 have been the strongest selling models. 

Chevrolet: It may surprise some that Chevrolet has never outsold Buick in China. It got close in 2014 but then lost that battle. In 2024 sales collapsed and there is no revival coming in 2025. Speculation is rife that Chevrolet will be withdrawn from the market, but there is nothing official on that.

Some popular models have been the Lova, Cruze (photo below), Monza and Cavalier. 

Data source: SAIC and others. 

Conclusion: With competition heating up in China, the SAIC-GM joint venture has been badly affected. It is rallying in 2025, so future prospects are positive despite the recent downturn in sales. 

SAIC IM Sales : 2009-2025 (Q1-Q3)

IM Motors is an electric car joint venture between SAIC and Chinese technology companies Zhangjiang Hi-Tech and Alibaba Group. IM means "Intelligence in Motion". Its Chinese name is Zhiji Motors. I'll be calling it IM here.

IM started delivering cars in late 2022 and has quickly established a range of four models with a fifth due on November 2025. The current models are the IM6 mid to large SUV, the IM5 mid to large sedan, MS7 large SUV and the L7 large sedan. The LS9 large SUV is the fifth model.

Customer reviews indicate performance, styling and features are strong points. Build and materials quality plus software glitches are at times criticised. Sales haven't been exceptional. Being a new brand trying to establish itself isn't easy with stiff competition.   

Distribution of IM cars is through either stand alone or MG dealerships. There are many premium electric brands from China as well as globally. Anyone in the market for such a vehicle is spoiled for choice. 

Data source: SAIC. Photo source: IM.

SAIC Global Sales (China Production) : 2009-2025 (Q1-Q3)

SAIC is a state owned car company with its headquarters in Shanghai. It was founded in 1955 and found much success in joint ventures with foreign car companies VW (since 1984) and GM (1988). 

It also eventually acquired MG Rover technology without the Rover name. They instead created their own similar sounding brand, Roewe (photo above). It still runs the SAIC Motor UK Technical Centre. 

So what is covered by SAIC Motor here? Roewe (commenced 2006), MG (2007) and Rising Auto (2020 - briefly as the R brand / photo below). Sales were 90,396 in 2009 and they rose substantially up to 230,020 in 2013. Then it was up and down but overall going up. 

The peak was 2023 at just under a million but then hit a speed bump the following year, down to 707,015. 2025 will see an increase as the 2025 figure to the right are for nine months. 

MG would fill the value for money base brand, Roewe is considered upper mainstream and Rising Auto as a more premium electric subbrand of Roewe. 

Lexus UK Sales : 2024-25 (Q1-Q3)

The registration figures are for nine months of 2025 and twelve months for 2024. Overall a solid 2025 with some models not doing too well, such as the UX and ES (photo below). The LM is well up though, on modest numbers.

The LBX (photo above) has excelled itself however. It has already passed the 2024 figure, so it will be well ahead by the time 2025 has concluded. It now accounts for 42% of total UK sales, up from 33% last year.

Lexus isn't a strong marque in Europe but it has carved out a niche for itself in the region. It does better in the UK than other major European markets. In the UK it's around 0.8% penetration, France 0.4% and Germany 0.2%. 

Data & photo source: Lexus UK.