Greece Passenger Car Sales : 2024

Registrations were up 6% in December and ahead 2% for the completed year. Toyota is taking a strong lead here with 17.2% of the total and a 41% growth in market share. Toyota took the lead in 1998 and has been at the top since apart from a few years here and there. It's the highest market share it's had so far. 

Suzuki has moved up over the last two years and thanks to a 37% increase in share now resides in second place. Below that there are some serious changes in fortune. Nissan is up and Opel down two examples of that.

Data source: SEAA.

India Passenger Car Sales : 2024

A heavily protected market means a few brands sell most of the vehicles. Is the protection really necessary when it is well established and successful, selling cars built and priced for the local market? 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 can be tricky. 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 if they don't release the data. The numbers are not perfect but close and it does paint a reasonable picture of the market. The total is based on the figures below and a little added for absent friends.

Data source: BHP & manufacturers. 

Porsche Global Model Sales : 2023/24

Deliveries were down 3% in 2024. Difficult conditions in China and poor electric car sales weighed deliveries down. 

Models: The Cayenne was up 18% 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. It took a third all all Porsche deliveries.

The Macan and Panamera were both down, 5% and 13%,  but nothing like the electric Taycan which halved its sales. The electric revolution seems to increasingly lack spark. Porsche acknowledged this problem and their timeframe in transitioning to BEVs has been put back. 

Data & pictures Porsche.

Region: Europe and the Rest did best, up 9% and 6%. Germany was up 11% with the rest of Europe up 8% and combined 9%. North America was up 1% but China was the big disappointment with sales down by 28%.  

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. 

Rivian Deliveries/Production : 2023-2024

How electric vehicle sales are going in 2024 has been watched with interest by many. Newbies like Rivian have entered an environment of uncertainty and greatly reduced growth. Still, if the product is desirable then there is no reason for pessimism. Below are delivery and production figures for 2024 compared to 2023

Deliveries are to the left and production to the right. Deliveries were up 3% and production down 14%. The % column show the percentage of volume by quarter and the +/- a quarterly comparison with the quarter the year before.

Data & picture source: Rivian.

Rivian estimated a production total of 57,000 which seemed a tad optimistic. Its sales reached 51,600 and production 49,500. In 2023 production was higher as inventory increased. In 2024, numbers evened out as would be expected if inventories are to be kept under control. Currently, there are passenger car models (SUV and pick-up) and I assume the data also includes a delivery van. 

Rivian recently stated that it and the Volkswagen Group intend to enter a joint venture to create vehicle platforms to be used in both companies’ future electric vehicles. The Volkswagen Group will invest an initial $1 billion in Rivian, with up to $4 billion in planned additional investment. So that seems to be very positive news for this fledgling electric car manufacturer. 

VW Group Global Deliveries : 2024

Total deliveries were down 2% for 2024. Mainstream car/lcvs were 0%, Premium -12%, Sport/Lux -3% and Trucks -1%. 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. Below is a chart to show how the deliveries have gone within each 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 2%. 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 the volume involved. Less dependence on China isn't a bad thing. 

Nio Global Sales : 2024

Nio has aimed its products at the premium end of the electric car market. The figures below show that 221,970 cars were sold in 2024. Q1 seemed to indicate a slight slowing of deliveries which wasn't surprising when compared to other marques. However, it took a turn for the better in Q2 which was in contrast to the equivalent quarter of 2023. Q3 has pulled back to a more modest 12% rise and Q4 was up 45%.

Nio hasn't rushed its expansion into new markets like some Chinese brands. From what I can gather, its sales and service networks are currently Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark. That's not a bad thing as being impatient can be counterproductive. New markets will no doubt follow. 

Included in the Nio figures is the new ONVO brand. For December 20,600 Nio and 10,500 ONVO vehicles were delivered, included in the Q4 figure.

Right hand drive is coming so 2025 seems to be the year that area of the global market will be addressed. 

A breakdown by model sales for 2023 can be seen to the left. Crossover, SUV and passenger car are the three categories. I would have liked 2024 figures but hopefully that can be added later.

Data & picture source: Nio. The ET9 is above and the ES7 is below. 

Lucid Deliveries/Production : 2023-24

Lucid's deliveries were up 71% for the 2024 year to 10,241 units. This was in sharp contrast to production which was up just 7% at 9,029 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. The electric car market is somewhat volatile. 

Comparing quarters for deliveries and each of them was up significantly. Production was more varied but it did end on a positive note with Q4 up 42%.  

The Gravity SUV arrives in 2025 so that will an important model for the company. It seems like a fine vehicle but the customers will decide its success. 

Data source: Lucid. 

Proton Model Sales : 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.

For 2024 sales were down 1.5% so nothing to speak of. Deliveries had been growing nicely over the last few years but plateaued this year. With most sales coming from the home market, how that fares is very important but it's not easy to get domestic sales data. So unless more is known about the Malaysian market, it's hard to come to any conclusion. 

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.

Slovenia Top 50 Models : 2024

VW, Renault and Škoda are the three biggest brands here and that shows as we see the list of the best selling models. European brands take the first nine places and then some Asian ones enter. 

The Nissan Qashqai came from 54th to 18th so that was quite some leap. VW Vans is mainly the Multivan but also the California and they did the same as the Qashqai. 

Data source: ADS.

Ford / Lincoln US Model Sales : 2023/24

There are two makes that comprise Ford USA. Ford's 'bread 'n butter' brand accounts for 95% of sales and the premium Lincoln marque just 5%. 

Ford: Sales were up 3% YTD, just short of two million units finding new private homes or corporate parking lots. 

All of this done with virtually no sedan passenger cars. The Mustang would be the only one and that represents less than 3% of the total. 

The F-Series pick up commands 39% of the total, an amazing figure but a long standing one. The Maverick pick up (picture above) was up 39% so proving a successful model for Ford. 

The Ranger is a slightly larger size compared to the Maverick but dearer and not selling anywhere near as well. Still, it increased 43%.

The Transit van was up 18% to 153,000 sales but the Transit Connect was down 51% to 8,800 and on the way out. The E-Series light truck was up slightly. 

Lincoln: One of the success stories of 2024, perhaps the success story. All the models increased (bar the big Navigator SUV) which gave the marque a 28% overall gain. They achieved 50, 12 and 62% growth respectively for the top three models of the range.

Lincoln is without a sedan but that is not a surprise these days. The Nautilus is pictured above. The sales increase by Lincoln certainly has the mercury rising. 

Bosnia-Herzegovina Passenger Car Sales : 2024

Registrations were -8% for the complete year and -20% in December. Škoda leads the way as it does in several countries in Europe. Its share of 22.3% is very strong and becoming more so. Parent company VW will be happy with that but less so with a 21% loss in market share. 

Toyota closed the gap on VW but remained as it has been for a few years now. Suzuki is improving but Dacia is going the other way. 

Data source: Proauto. Picture source: Škoda Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Slovenia Passenger Car Sales : 2024

Registrations were up 15% in December and 8% for the year so 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. 

European brands do best here but by no means dominate. A few Chinese brands have entered the market and are having some initial success. 

Data source: ADS.

Singapore Passenger Car Sales : 2024

Registrations were up 14% in December and 42% for the completed year. With the artificial way in which car sales are handled here, the ups and downs tell us little other than how many certificates were available at any given time. The fact is the last two years have been historically low and this year's big jump in sales still has the market well down. 

Toyota / Lexus combination leads from a fast charging (no pun intended) BYD which has come from 31st to second in four years, elbowing BMW and Mercedes-Benz out of the way in the process. Tesla is consistent at being inconsistent with 2024 being a positive one.

As for changes, the Toyota / Lexus market share is the lowest since 2019 when it took the lead from Honda. Audi is currently residing at its lowest point going back to 2008. It's also of note that for 2024, that luxury marques were well down. 

While all the variances above are not what one would normally see, in a market that is controlled with a limited certificate system, not all that surprising. 

Data source: LTA. 

GM US Model Sales - Part 2: 2023/24

GM has a four brand portfolio it uses to satisfy its US customers. How are they faring in these challenging times? Let's find out by looking at the 'middle class' divisions, Buick and Cadillac. 

Buick: A modest range of vehicles, all under the crossover or SUV classifications. It had sales of slightly over 183,000 or 7% of GM sales in total. It is a semi-premium marque, neatly nestled between Chevrolet and Cadillac. I wonder why it doesn't do better.

Total Buick sales were up 10%, the fastest brand within GM if only just. The Envista crossover (pictured below) was the reason for that. 

Cadillac: The smallest GM division with 160,000 sales and 6% of the GM total. The range is quite broad, with seven models listed by the company, eight if the IQ is separate. 

The Escalade is the main model but the Lyriq has potential. It's also going to be used to take the marque to more international markets such as here in New Zealand.

The Lyric electric crossover (top picture) is the sole model that increased along with the new Escalade IQ yet overall the marque was up 9% which will surely pleases executives in GM.

Data & picture source: GM. 

GM US Model Sales - Part 1: 2023/24

GM has a four brand portfolio it uses to satisfy its US customers. How are they faring in these challenging times? Let's find out by looking at the 'working class' divisions, Chevrolet and GMC. 

Chevrolet: This is the volume brand for General Motors with 1,745,809 sales. That's up 2% on so a solid result. It contributed nearly 65% of GM's US sales.

The big Silverado pick up gained 1% so that will be good for the bottom line. The Equinox (picture above / +11%) and Trax (+83%) complete the top three list. 

The Bolt electric EUV was a crossover version of the Bolt hatchback which have both been discontinued with a new model planned but not as yet. The Camaro muscle car has also finished its run for the time being. An SUV version will come out soon but whether that would fit the muscle car tag remains to be seen.

GMC: The truck making brand; that is SUVs and pick ups to be precise. The Sierra, Canyon and Hummer make up the pick up side of the business (picture below) while the Terrain, Yukon, Acadia and Hummer belong to the SUV range. Hummer seems to straddle the two categories with both pick up and SUV variants, its sales not broken down into each.

The marque makes up 23% of GM's sales with a 9% gain in volume. Canyon sales were up 70% while at the other end of the spectrum the Acadia was down 26%. A third generation Acadia has recently been released.