BYD's Miracle

BYD has been around for a while with reasonable success but its sales have recently surged. Most of its deliveries are in China but is aiming for half its sales to come from outside of China by 2030. Considering it sold 4 million cars in China in 2024 and may increase this figure by 2030, that is a challenging target. It's in a hurry.

I wrote about recent sales for 2023-24 and Q1 2025 which can be seen by clicking on the dates. I was impressed about the progress BYD was making. 

A leaked e-mail in late 2024 showed BYD asked suppliers for a 10% reduction in prices which sounded arbitrary to say the least. Once prices are negotiated, they should be honoured until the next round of negotiations. BYD responded at the time by saying the price cut wasn't mandatory. Still, it set off an alarm bell for me.

Now comes confirmation of something far darker. BYD decided to build its first plant outside of China in Brazil. However, work was stopped there late last year. Now The Public Labour Prosecutor's Office in the state of Bahia says 220 Chinese workers were rescued and is suing BYD and two of its contractors. Why? They said the standard of accommodation, work hours and some issues around workers rights were unacceptable. 

One would like to think this was an exception but we don't know. I mentioned earlier that the company seems in a hurry. That always concerns me as a hasty desire for success should never be at the expense of human rights. I know that sounds idealistic in this world where abuses in this regard are not uncommon. But having a major work construction closed down is serious and hopefully lessons are being learned. 

Whoever is responsible for this situation will be held accountable and I don't know who knew what. But either way BYD is ultimately responsible as they must make sure nothing like this happens in any of their operations. Would I buy a BYD? Not for now at least. They need to make sure they are building dreams responsibly.

Photo source: BYD NZ.

Buick China Sales : 2010-2024

Buick has a long history in China and has been a popular brand. When GM entered bankruptcy protection in 2009, decisions had to be made regarding restructuring. Buick was saved due to its strong position in China. We will see how that decision was vindicated by considering sales of the marque in China from 2010 to 2024. 

The figures include only cars made in China but I assume that is the vast majority if not all anyway. Import duty makes that a necessity. Sources can vary as to the numbers involved but in larger volumes of data it's not much of an issue. The chart figures need three zeros added so for example 900 equals 900,000.

2010-14: The chart to the right shows Buick sales went up from just over 500,000 to over 900,000. That was an increase from about 4% market share to just over 4.5%. 

In comparison, for the USA Buick increased from 155,000 to 225,000 with around 1.4% share. That's quite a difference with China well ahead. 

2015-19: Sales went from just over a million to above 1.3 million and then under 900,000. That had Buick reaching 5% market penetration, then falling to around 4.1%. In the US, sales were just over 200,000 per annum and 1.2% share. So the brand was still far more popular in China but the gap was closing. 

2020-24: From just over 900,000 units it plunged to barely over 300,000 by 2024. Its slice of the pie went from about 4.5% to 1.2%. Back home sales were about 170,000 and 1.1% market share. China was still the more important numerically but its share was now similar to the US. I wonder which was now the more profitable.

So what happened? Part of the reason was the Excelle model (photo at top). In 2014 it contributed over 500,000 units to the total (or 60%). By 2020, it was 300,000 (33%) but then the model was phased out and nothing fully took its place, the Envision and GL8 doing their best. 

In 2024 all models fell, some substantially. I assume that was due to giving up on chasing market share at the expense of profit. The issue was also that the market was changing and Buick wasn't keeping up. Electric cars are growing strongly in China and local brands are doing a good job of catering to that shift. 

Buick has introduced an electric brand (Electra, photo below) to cater to the swing toward new energy vehicles as they are referred to in China. How the Buick brand will go in future I'm unsure but then Electra may be the future for Buick in China. 

Austria Car Sales : 2025 (Jan-Apr)

Registrations were up 16% in April and up 7% YTD. So things are ticking along nicely. 

VW has been the leading brand as far back as I can go and I assume the Golf has been the top selling model for most of that time. 

Škoda Octavia is currently top so a change may be happening as Golf sales have been falling quite rapidly in recent years.  Of course, there are eight months for that to change but for now a major shift. 

Škoda has been the second most popular band here since 2017 but is finding VW a tough nut to crack. On a negative note, Opel was second as recently as 2016 but is currently 14th. Ford was third in 2018 but now lies in 11th spot.  

Both SEAT (picture above) and Cupra are well supported marques here. Asian brands are not as strong but BYD (picture below) arrived during 2023 and already is making a splash with models like the Seal. 

The top selling models were:

Škoda Octavia -2,723

VW Golf - 2,481

SEAT Ibiza - 2,025

BMW X1 - 1,951

Dacia Duster  - 1,657

Dacia Sandero - 1,604

Škoda Fabia - 1,519

Škoda - Karoq - 1,515

Cupra Terramar - 1,498

VW Tiguan - 1,401

Toyota Yaris - 1,367

Audi Q8 - 1,229

VW Polo - 1,209

BYD Seal - 1,190

SEAT León - 1,019

Renault R5 - 1,017

For the 2024 article, simply click on the link below:

By brand. 

Data source: Statistik Austria.

Switzerland Car Sales : 2025 (Jan-Apr)

Registrations were down 7% in April and down 8% YTD. So things are a bit subdued down at the local car dealer. 

VW overtook long time leader Opel in 1999 and has led ever since....until 2025. Of course, there are eight months for that to change but for now a major change. 

It's hard to believe that Opel is now 22nd but they are not the brand they were last century so in that sense not surprising. 

Apart from the strong Germanic presence, Japanese and Korean do quite well but China has had little impact so far. 

The top selling models were:

Mercedes-Benz GLC - 1,445

VW Tiguan - 1,322

Audi Q3 - 1,289

Škoda Kodiaq - 1,223

VW Golf - 1,139

Škoda Octavia - 1,126

Tesla Model Y - 1,113

Škoda - Karoq - 1,112

BMW X1 - 1,069

Škoda Fabia - 990

Toyota Yaris - 963

BMW X3 - 912

Dacia Duster  - 893

Dacia Sandero - 888

Audi A3 - 888

For 2024 articles, simply click on the links below:

By brand. 

Top 50 Models.

Data source: Auto Swiss.

Japan Car Sales : 2025 (Jan-Apr)

Registrations were up 13% in April and 13% YTD as well. Import brands were +12% and +6% respectively. 

Import brands made up 5.6% of total registrations. In an open market such as this, it defies what happens anywhere else. 

Toyota and Daihatsu suffered in 2024 due to scandal but both are returning to normal volumes again. 

It was Japanese competition that benefitted and they are now the ones slipping back. Mazda is an exception with market share up although it is a small player here.

Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi have lost share so far but VW and Porsche are currently well up. Land Rover and Tesla are both up too, the latter is a reasonably accurate estimate. 

The top selling models were:

Honda N-Box - 73,712

Toyota Yaris / Y Cross - 63,243

Suzuki Spacia - 60,399

Toyota Corolla - 57,386

Daihatsu Tanto - 45,316

Toyota Sienta - 41,082

Honda Freed - 35,355

Toyota Alphard - 35,511

Daihatsu Move - 32,686

Toyota Prius - 32,426

Nissan Note - 30,881

Suzuki Hustler - 31,721

Toyota Aqua - 30,816

For 2024 articles, simply click on the links below:

By brand. 

Top 50 Models.

Data source: JAMA, JAIDA.

The NSU Ro80

Sometimes a good idea ends up being anything but. The NSU Ro80 is a classic case of that as we will see. The focus here is car manufacturing, not bikes NSU also made. 

The company started making cars in 1905 but it didn't work out and they ended up assembling Fiat models instead, the brand name Neckar being used from 1957. That same year, the company started making its own cars again under the NSU brand name, the first car being the Prinz. 

The company started using the Wankel engine and in 1967, it made it into the Ro80. This was an advanced car in many ways and was given design awards as a result. Such acclaim didn't result in success. 

Production went from 1967 to 1977 but the the extreme dates were partial years so ten years was the length of time it was made. 37,400 were made or 3,700 per annum. From 1968 to 1970 the production numbers were around the 7,000 mark annually but fell away sharply after that. 

The main issues were reliability and fuel consumption. The engine was also expensive to make so along with warranty costs, it was hurting the company badly. Volkswagen took NSU over in 1969 and NSU was gradually wound down and absorbed into Audi. 

Audi seemed to take on the design of the Ro80 and allowed it to influence their products. Not a bad thing as the style of the Ro80 was a strong point, as was the driving experience. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough out outweigh the negatives.  

Luxembourg Car Sales : 2025 (Jan-Apr)

Luxembourg is a multilingual principality with French being the most common language. Ethnically they are mainly Germanic as is their preference in cars. French brands do well here too. 

For April, registrations were down 1% and YTD up 1%. As the economy is strong, premium marques are well represented toward the top of the list to the right.  

Volkswagen overtook Renault in 2006 and remained at the top ever since. The top two have lost some market share so far this year but not enough the threaten their respective positions. 

Overall European brands dominate, with Korea having some success. Japanese makes aren't that strong and the Chinese push hasn't been that effective here so far. 

The top selling models in March were:

VW Golf - 264

VW Tiguan - 229

BMW iX2 - 214

Mercedes-Benz EQA - 204

Hyundai EV3 - 198

Opel Corsa - 177

Renault 5 - 166

Fiat 600 - 154

Hyundai Kona - 151

VW T-Cross - 139 

I wish there was greater access to the above.

For 2024 articles, simply click on the links below:

By brand. 

Data source: Statistiques Luxembourg.

Photo source: VW Luxembourg.

Slovenia Passenger Car Sales : 2025 (Jan-Mar)

Formerly part of Yugoslavia, the Republic of Slovenia is known for its beautiful scenery, the architecture in the capital Ljubljana and for wine production. I've not been there but I'd like to visit.

For March passenger car sales were up 5% but the same as last year for the three months thus far. 

Volkswagen overtook Renault in 2014 and remained at the top ever since. In recent times, Škoda has been swapping second spot with Renault and in 2025 is winning that duel.

The top selling models were:

Škoda Octavia - 468

Renault Captur - 438

Renault Clio - 432

Škoda Kamiq - 416 (photo above)

VW Golf - 391

Škoda Kodiaq - 362

Peugeot 208 - 327

Citroën C3 - 310

Hyundai Tucson - 295

VW T-Roc - 273

For 2024 articles, simply click on the links below:

By brand. 

Top 50 Models.

Data source: ADS.

Tesla Deliveries & Production Figures : 2025 (Q1)

Tesla deliveries were 336,681 for the first quarter of 2025. That was down 13% in the corresponding period of 2024. Q1 2024 was also down (9%) so it's too early to say how the full 2025 will end up. Production for 2025 was also down, by 16%.

What can be noted is that while 2023 deliveries were growing strongly, 2024 was flat despite the assistance of the Cybertruck. There are only so many customers wishing to buy an electric car and the competition is intense. 

To me, other products are looking fresh and up to date while Tesla's passenger car range is starting to look dated. In the case of the Cybertruck, its styling is different but also weird and has had too many issues. 

In 2024 I had to adjust the figures as the quarterly numbers didn't match the end of year totals. Tesla has now adjusted their figures as the shortfall was an error with Q1 2024. I find it surprising that I could see the figures not balancing and Tesla only picked it up in April 2025!

Data source: Tesla. The 2023/24 article can be seen by clicking here.

Peugeot Global Model Sales : 2023-24

Brands within Stellantis are data shy, perhaps it's due to the fact that they aren't doing that well. Peugeot is perhaps the strongest brand within the company and the only one seemingly sharing data. Coincidence? Possibly. 

Global sales were just under 1.1 million, down 2%. That is a good result, especially considering the Stellantis Group is badly in need of revitalising. They currently have an interim CEO while the search for a new one is underway.

Models: 14% don't make the cut in 2024, a shame. The other 86% are below, led by the compact 208 with 275,000 sales. The compact 2008 SUV comes in next with 214,000 units. The Partner van includes the Rifter passenger version and together they came in at 133,000. 

Data source: Peugeot.

Regions: Many of the Stellantis brands are regional rather and limited in their global reach. 75% of Peugeot sales are in Europe as an example. The Middle East/Africa took 11% of the volume, Latin America 8%, Asia/Pacific 3.8% and North America (read Mexico) 1.7%. 

Jaguar Sales : 2025 Q1

JLR in its infinite wisdom decided to end Jaguar sales until it is 'revitalised' as a luxury marque as opposed to a premium one. I personally felt they could have kept the F-Pace and i-Pace going through the transition period. 

It's a shame that this new direction will take Jaguar away from the existing loyal customer but I see the marque cannot straddle both. They will be hoping to woo new customers and being fully electric there seems less loyalty and more willingness to move to something new and exciting. Jaguar needs to deliver on that and from a styling point of view the teasers don't impress me. Hopefully reality is kinder.

Models: The F-Pace is still on top but currently has 35% share of Jaguar deliveries, The i-Pace has actually managed to increase by 7% and is now up to 29% of the total. The XE and XF are mainly sales in China but they too are petering out. Overall an expected 60% reduction. 

Data & photos JLR.

Regions: With the UK having an unusually high Q1 last year and now stopped supplying dealers in 2025, the 74% fall isn't surprising. North America did better than most but I'm not sure how long stock will last. I think they were trying to keep sales going longer than the UK.

The 'Other' did amazingly well, perhaps being for the most part further away from production points may have been responsible. They may have also stocked up a bit too, not wanting the extreme situation the UK went with. 

Land Rover Sales : 2025 Q1

In 2025 Land Rover pulled out of the passenger car market in France. 11,200 LRs passenger vehicles were sold in France in 2024 with some extra sales as stock was cleared. Still, that was quite a substantial market for LR. A few commercial vehicles are still being sold there though. 

It appears its to do with larger vehicles being taxed out of the market to improve emissions. Fortunately, French brands aren't duly affected as is so often coincidentally the case with this sort of move. 

Despite that loss, deliveries were up 5% for Q1. The Defender leads the way with 30% of LR sales, passing 30,000 units. The Range Rover Sport reached nearly 21,000 and the Range Rover 18,600. The Evoque was just shy of 14,000 deliveries. The three lesser models all slipped, the Velar down the most at -25%. 

Data & photos JLR.

Regions: North America remained the largest region, the majority of the deliveries to the US. With LR pausing shipments there for April due to the tariffs that will be applied, one would have to assume that Q2 will be somewhat lower. 

With the UK/US having a balanced trade and a close relationship, it's hard to fathom but I'm not into politics so must have missed something. There would have to be a good reason.

The UK is doing OK with 23,000 sales but I'll give it a B- as it could be better considering it's the local market. Europe is satisfactory, having lost the French market. China is in a poor way economically although a 24% drop was more than I expected. It was Land Rover's number one market as recently as 2023.

'Other' is very strong with over 18,000 units finding homes. That would make it the third best region if it was one, but it's not hence why it's at the bottom of the list. 

Xpeng Deliveries/Production : 2023 - 25 (Q1)

2023 started slowly, with sales down on 2022 but the G6 medium large crossover and the X9 large MPV (photo above) arrived. By the end of the year, deliveries were up 17%. 

The new models helped achieve a 171% increase for Q4 which ensured the year ended positively.

For 2024 deliveries were up 34% with a very healthy Q4 to thank for that. The P5 medium saloon car ended its run and was replaced by the Mona M03. 

Then the 2024 P7+ large saloon was introduced but didn't replace the existing P7. The Plus is less expensive but slightly larger than the P7 and will sell along side each other.

Q1 2025 was up 331% on the comparable quarter a year before. It was only slightly up on Q4 2024 however. A new model - the G9 medium large crossover - is about to be released as a Tesla Y competitor (see image below). We will track the year to see how things pan out. 

For the years 2019-2022, simply click here.

Xpeng : 2019 - 2022

Xpeng or Guangzhou Xiaopeng Motors Technology Company is an electric car company. It introduced its first vehicle, the small G3 SUV (picture above) in December 2018 and 29 were delivered that year. 

In 2019, 12,728 cars were sold, for me with volume uncertainty for the first half of the year. I put in numbers of a similar amount to arrive at the correct total. The year itself was a time of settling, averaging just over 3,000 deliveries. 

2020 started in a similar vein to 2019 but the arrival of the P7 large saloon car gave things a boost and for Q4, deliveries exceeded the entire previous year albeit from a low volume. 

2021 followed the 2020 template with the P5 medium saloon car being introduced and having the same effect as the previous year. Deliveries soared 263% to 98,000.  

In 2022 the G9 medium large crossover came along but deliveries reduced as the the year progressed. Covid was surely the culprit although by the end of the year, nearly 121,000 units were sold. 

Part two (2023-25) will reveal how things progressed. Just click here to find out.

Data & photograph source: Xpeng. 

Germany Passenger Car Sales : 2025 (Jan-Mar)

Registrations were down 4% for March and -4% YTD.  That doesn't sound too much but 2024 was already down some way below some of the better year's averages. 

VW leads the way and it is gaining ground. Sales were up 6.4% YTD so nearly a 10% gain in market share. Mercedes-Benz and BMW have almost held their share while Audi has gained slightly on them but still somewhat behind. 

Škoda is up slightly as is Ford. Toyota has been dropping around Europe and in Germany has dropped three places to eleventh. 

Chinese companies are here but are yet to make much of an impact. The British brand MG is back on 24th and BYD 26th, the latter on minimal volume despite it's overall success. Much of that is in China still.

Some Cupra sales are counted with SEAT but not that many. If only they were treated as separate brands. Genesis is counted within Hyundai but at least easier to get a true picture. 

The top selling models were:

VW Golf - 22,000

VW T-Roc - 7,313

VW Tiguan - 6,241 (pic above)

VW Passat - 4,671

Škoda Octavia - 3,798

SEAT (Cupra) Leon - 3,728 

BMW X1 - 3,999

Cupra Formentor - 4,417

Opel Corsa - 3,858 (pic below)

VW ID.7 - 3,225

For 2024 articles, simply click on the links below:

By brand.

Top 50 Models.

Data source: KBA.

Picture Sources: VW, Stellantis.

BYD Deliveries : 2025 (Q1)

I've been waiting for BYD to hit a ceiling but I'll have to wait a little longer. Deliveries of electric cars (BEVs) was up 39% in the first quarter of 2025. With Tesla's slipping 9% downward, BYD managed to go the other way and dramatically so. 

Combining hybrid sales, nearly a million were achieved. That's up 58%! At a time when many manufacturers would be content with maintaining volume, BYD is aggressively pushing forward. It will be interesting to see whether this growth will continue through the year. 

Data & picture source: BYD

Škoda Production : 2023 / 24

I used to get data for Škoda from the VW Group but this year I couldn't find it and assume they have ceased the practice. So I have gone to Škoda Auto and it has more detail too, although some of that won't be used here anyway.

Summary: 

Twelve models were manufactured in 2024, up one from a year earlier. 925,000 units were made, up from 888,000 in 2023 and up 4%. Škoda take pride in the photography of their cars, not something that could be said of all car makers.

Model highlights: 

The Octavia (picture above) is what I call a medium sized car available in liftback and combi (estate or wagon) configurations and it is the most popular with 214,000 produced. The small crossover Kamiq is next with 125,000 made. 

The compact Fabia hatchback (bottom picture) was next with 121,000 assembled. The medium/large Kodiaq SUV accounted for 117,000 units followed by the medium sized Karoq SUV. The small crossover Enyaq reached 80,000 with two body styles, a hatchback and coupé. 

The Kushaq small SUV was made in India but is being discontinued however the small Slavia saloon continues on but with falling volume. 

Data & picture source: Škoda Auto.

Production by country: 

90% of Škoda's production is in Czechia (Czech Rep). It was only 64% in 2019 but it has climbed primarily due to China no longer being an important market for Škoda. While there has been talk of exiting China, Škoda is remaining for now at least.

The new Kylaq crossover (picture right) will take the brand into a popular segment in India which it hasn't competed in before. 

The difference between total production by model and country is the latter includes cars made for SEAT which are classified as 'Others' below. They are manufactured in the Czechia. 

UK Passenger Car Sales : 2025 (Jan-Mar)

Registrations were up 12% for March and up 6% YTD. That's still at a level below the best years but good compared to recent history. 

VW is now well established at the top, a position it took in 2021 from Ford. BMW retains its second placing, just ahead of Kia. Ford has made a comeback, moving up a place compared to 2024. 

Peugeot climbed to eight places to 5th and Nissan up two to 6th despite the latter dropping some market share. Vauxhall has also gained two ranking places to 9th.

Brands importing from China are making gains and with no tariff hurdle into the UK that I'm aware of will likely make further inroads. If only cars going the other way had the same favourable conditions. 

MG is at 12th place (down from 10th in 2024), BYD is up to 21st (31st), Jaecoo 33rd (52nd), Omoda 34th (33rd), Leapmotor and Xpeng new, GWM Ora has dropped from 40th to 49th and Skywell is going nowhere. 

One thing is for certain, all these new brands are making for long lists. 

Best selling models:

Ford Puma - 14,930

Kia Sportage - 12,866

Nissan Qashqai - 11,792 (pic above)

Vauxhall Corsa - 11,476 

VW Golf - 10,749

Nissan Juke - 10,414

MG HS - 9,738

VW Tiguan - 9,140

MG ZS - 9,041

Hyundai Tucson - 8,715

For the 2024 article, simply click on the link below:

By brand.

Data source: SMMT (mainly).

Picture Source: Nissan.