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.

Toyota UK Car/LCV Sales : 2024-25 (Q1-Q3)

Toyota is the only company in the UK that provides up to date sales by model. It isn't hard to do. They deserve credit for their openness. 

Passenger cars: The 2025 figure below is for nine months compared to the 2024 figure which is for twelve months. The Yaris/Yaris GR (see above) leads the way from the Yaris Cross. Add the Aygo X and small cars are very popular for Toyota in the UK. 

The C-HR (see picture below) does well compared to the RAV4 and the Corolla keeps on delivering. The ProAce and ProAce City passenger vans are building sales nicely. 

Data & photo source: Toyota UK.

Light commercial vehicles: The Hilux is well up on 2024 and has another three months to increase its gain. The ProAce van range is sourced from Stellantis, with the large Max model a new addition to the range. Overall, 2025 already exceeds last year.

I have a liking for a car wagon being converted to a commercial van. It's not as common as it was but nice to see Toyota UK do that with the Corolla. It provides car quality driving in a commercial vehicle. 

UK Vehicle Production : 2025 (Q1-Q3)

Do you want the good news or the bad news? Well, there is only the latter here. UK vehicle production is nothing short of embarrassing. It's been building for many years and little has been done to address the situation even as it reaches a disastrous level.

Let's dissect it by diving deeper. Passenger car production is 543,000, down from 593,000 in 2025. You would have to go to the early 1950's to see lower figures. That was when a devastated post war Britain was trying to get back on its feet. 

So far, 123,000 sales in the UK were for locally produced cars. That represents 7.8% of total sales. In other words, 92.2% of the cars sold in the UK this year are imports! Just as well no one cares. 

Can commercial vehicle sales salvage something from this disaster? Of course, I jest. It's even worse. Production is at 39,000 units, down from 93,500. No, that's not a typo. So tell us then, how bad is it? 

I have data going back to and including 1945. This is by far the worst over that time. I don't have detailed data on why this is, so all I can do is speculate. 

Stellantis is the main CV producer in the UK and they seem to be having problems either making or selling vans. Truck makers such as Leyland DAF and Dennis Trucks are still doing OK but they can't stem the slump. 

Buses don't make up huge numbers but the government is subsidising the switch to electric buses. The UK's largest bus operator recently took the offer and bought buses made in China. Taxes spent on overseas manufactured buses. Just as well no one cares. 

By combining the above figures, the picture won't be any brighter. A solution could be an import tax on import gradually increased each year and then manufacturers encouraged to start local UK production. 

The market is big enough to support that. Some of the revenue could be used to incentivise buying locally made.

Would this increase vehicle prices overall in the UK? Not if they bought locally made. Would other nations understand the precarious situation or cry foul and threaten 'consequences'? The latter. 

Don't other nations impose import duties to 'protect' their markets? Some like China, Korea and India don't even need protection. Surely, they would be supportive, seeing as they do it. Again, I jest. Double standards are the default setting of international dealings. 

So here I am, proposing a way forward to save a car industry on life support but realistically knowing nothing will change. It was a productive UK industry while it lasted but it could end up being a few luxury brands only and maybe a few trucks. Just as well no one cares. 

Vinfast Sales : 2025 (Q1-Q3)

Vinfast has delivered 110,362 cars in the first three quarters of the year. That already puts the brand up 13% compared to a completed 2024 and up 149% when compared to nine months of the previous year. 

What you will notice in the chart below is that Q4 2024 was a strong selling quarter, so we will have to see if 2025 can match or better that. Either way, it has already passed the 2024 total.

The company makes other forms of transport. The E-Scotter sales were 120,025 (+535%) and E-Bike 234,536 (+489%). So for those who don't want or cannot afford a car have options.

Vinfast had a net loss os $1.5 billion in H1 2025. Dividing that figure by sales brings it to -$21,000 per unit. 

It is backed by Vingroup, which gives Vinfast the ability to continue even in the loss making situation it currently sits in. Obviously it needs to remedy this as soon as possible. Expansion is expensive so the financial situation is not totally unexpected. Maybe they could slow that down. 

Most sales are no doubt domestic although the company doesn't release any export data that I was able to find. 

We do know that Vinfast has just recently opened a plant in India and others are planned.  

The range kicks off with the VF 3 (photo above - tiny SUV) which starting reaching customers in the second half of 2024. 

The VF 5 city car (photo left) came out in 2023. It was initially known as the VF e32. 

The VF 6 also was released in 2024. It's a small crossover SUV being just over 4.2 metres in length or 167 inches. 

The VF 7 (picture below) was another car released in early 2024. It's a compact crossover which in my eyes has a wagon look about it. The red car (second from top) is the VF 8 medium large crossover SUV and the first deliveries commenced in late 2022. Lastly, at the top of the page is the VF 9 large crossover SUV. Deliveries were from early 2022.

For H1 2025, Vinfast did release domestic model sales for three of its models, 23,083 VF3 units were delivered, 21,812 VF5 and 8,552 VF6. They were described as "Topping the best seller charts in H12025 in Vietnam." I presume that means the segments they were selling in. 

Summary: As the Vietnamese market isn't large enough to support the brand, exports are essential. I would imagine the company would like that to progress more quickly than it is but reputations take time to be established. 

Some customers have complained about quality issues although others seem happy with their purchase. The US was seen as an important market to enter but that could be problematic with recent tariffs potentially limiting that opportunity, as well as reliability concerns. Overall, it comes across to me as a company in too much of a hurry. 

Panamá Car & LCV Sales : 2025 (Jan-Sep)

Toyota took the lead in Panamá during 2024 and hasn't looked back. So far this year, it has taken nearly one in five sales and that is substantial in a market not protecting local manufacturers through import duties. 

Kia and Hyundai also do well but then it drops away quite sharply. Suzuki and Geely are just over the 5% share mark. Asian brands are the most popular with many new Chinese ones adding to that. 

In all, ninety brands are competing here in the passenger car and light commercial sector. Despite that, as we have seen, the big guns are still firing plenty of shots back. 

Czechia Car Sales : 2025 (Jan-Sep)

Registrations were up 17% in September and also up 6% YTD. Things are on the up, although it won't reach the heights of several years back. Not a record year but not too far off it. Not much has changed from 2024 in terms of rankings. 

Škoda shocked everyone taking top spot in its home market. OK, just kidding. Market share of 34.1% when there is no tariff protection is almost unheard of. 

I have records going back to 1993, when the Czech Rep and Slovakia went through the Velvet Divorce and it's been number one since then and no doubt well before that. It's also been top in Slovakia over the same period. 

Škoda has secured 62,000+ YTD, then after daylight comes Hyundai with 15,400 units. Toyota is third with 13,100 registrations VW next with 12,200.  

The top selling models were:

Škoda Octavia - 13,912

Škoda Kamiq - 8,715

Škoda Karoq - 8,345

Škoda Kodiaq - 8,159

Škoda Fabia - 7,541

Škoda Scala - 6,966

Hyundai i30 - 5,602

Hyundai Tucson - 4,912

Škoda Superb - 4,832

Kia Ceed - 4,466 (Picture below)

Toyota Corolla - 4,355

Dacia Duster - 3,227

MG ZS - 2,659

VW Golf 2,612

Škoda Elroq - 2,048 (Picture above)

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

By brand. 

By model. 

Data source: SDA. Photos: Škoda Czechia & Kia Chechia.

Proton Malaysia Sales : 2005-2009

For the first in the series, just click 2000-04

Of the two main car brands in Malaysia, Proton was the main player going into this period but it was being chased by Perodua. In 2006, Proton sold 171,000 cars and Perodua just under 140,000. A year later Proton crashed to 105,000 units and Perodua continued upwards to 155,000. What happened?

Perodua introduced the compact Myvi hatchback in 2005, the same as the Daihatsu Sirion and it was a good car. Roomy, economical and reliable, it took the market by storm and became the top selling model for nine consecutive years. The Vivi city car also came along in 2007.

Proton's Waja and Gen-2 were on the way out so the sudden swing in sales success. Proton hit back with the second generation Persona small car in 2007 (see picture above), compact Saga in 2008 and Exora small MPV. Sales lifted while Perodua's plateaued. Still, Perodua maintained its lead, ending this period 20,000 sales ahead of Proton.  

Data Source: Govt of Malaysia. Picture source: Autoevolution. 

Porsche Global Deliveries : 2025 (Q1-Q3)

Volkswagen decided to sell Porsche shares to the public in 2022, Porsche reckoned its profit margins would be around 20%. Forecasts for 2025 were somewhat lower at between 5% and 7% but VW now expects its operating profit margin to fall to about 2% for 2025. This shows how quickly things can change. 

China was a profitable market for Porsche but recently it has become very competitive. Not only has volume slumped, so too profits as well. Add to that recent tariffs for cars going into the US. If that wasn't enough, electric cars are not selling as well as hoped and the new Macan is exclusively a BEV. A lot has changed since 2022. 

The chart immediately below shows regional deliveries. North America was up 5% and the Rest 3%, but Europe is down 8% and China -26%. The total is down 6%. In view of current market conditions, not a bad result. 

Models: The new EV Macan is helping things with Macan sales in total are up 18%. The older model petrol/diesel is still available and included in the data. How long it will be sold I'm unsure but a new PHEV model to replace it is expected in 2028. It will have a name change and be its own unique model.

The rest of the range is down in terms of volume. The Cayenne leads the way with a 22% drop and the 718 (Boxster/Cayman) range down 15%. Electrified vehicles constituted 35% of the total. 23% were BEVs and 12% PHEVs. 

It is hard to predict what the last three months will be like. Will North America slip back now that tariffs are in place? Are there more deliveries to lose in China, or will it stabilise? Managing a car company at this time is not easy. Decisions that allow for flexibility are essential. Who knows what's around the bend?

High Wage Car Assembly

The difference in wages paid to car assembly workers varies greatly around the world. It is true that the wage cost per car isn't that high, perhaps 5-10% in a high wage country, but there are many variables. Premium cars would be less compared to mainstream cars. 

The car industry is experiencing cost pressures. Competition is heating up with more brands vying for your patronage. China was a big earner for companies until intense competition there started eroding profits. The Chinese government has recently encouraged car companies to pull back on aggressive discounting. In addition, shipping costs have also been rising.

Where does this leave car manufacturers? It must be tempting to move production to lower wage countries. That isn't a straightforward thing with investment in plants being hugely expensive. You can't just walk away from them. But over time, the shift can be carried out.

Car makers don't want a customer backlash if they moved all their production, so they manage the balance carefully. How would VW fare if it moved all its production out of Germany? With freight costs and the logistics of sending cars long distances, there is merit in having production close to the market where the bulk of the sales will be achieved. 

Workers on high wages understandably want to protect their earnings but at what cost? Would it be worth having a wage increase freeze or even a modest cut in wages to save a plant they work at? Unlikely to impossible. 

Belgium used to be a major car manufacturer but now has only one plant in Ghent. The fact is it didn't have a local brand which made it easier for car companies to leave. Wage costs were also a factor. 

Recently, Audi closed its plant there to move production to Mexico. Why? The factory wasn't fully utilised but lower wages would also have been an incentive. 

One Audi worker who was interviewed said he would struggle to find another job that paid as well. Car assembly does seem to be a well paid job for the level of skill required. I'm not surprised finding another job at that pay rate was highly unlikely. 

Would such a worker in hindsight been prepared to take a modest pay cut to keep a job that would still be reasonably well paid? The answer would be no. Many workers in high wage countries view their remuneration as an inalienable right. Maybe it's a case of not seeing the bigger picture.

There is no easy answer to this. Margins are being squeezed and costs have to be looked at. More cooperation and cost sharing between car companies is needed. The Japanese are good at doing that.

Car assembly in high wage countries may eventually be just for premium or maybe only luxury marques. The assembly workers may need to find lower wage jobs elsewhere if they can. 

China Car Sales : 2025 (Jan-Aug)

I don't do many articles on China. Imported cars are not included in the data and that doesn't make any sense to me. For many brands it won't matter, but for some it paints a distorted picture. A few foreign brands fail to even make the chart because of that.

With the data below, 10,000 sales is the cutoff point. For the first eight months of 2025 approximately 18.34 million cars were sold here. BYD is now well ahead after taking the lead in 2023. VW had been well on top for decades and seemed invincible, but quite quickly things changed. 

VW is now far away from the top spot although and is still second, but for how long? The likes of Geely or Chery overtaking seems inevitable. Toyota is likewise losing market share along with VW and foreign brands generally.

Jaguar sales have stopped in all but a few places where they seemingly stocked up before production ended. In China they assemble Jaguars and nearly all 2025 XE and XF sales are here. They are doing a 90th anniversary XFL for a special price but only sold in China. I can't see why it couldn't have been exported to LHD markets. The interior is pictured below and it looks nice. 

Philippines Vehicle Sales : 2025 (Jan-Aug)

Registrations are similar to last year so gains earlier in the year have been wiped out. Nearly 306,000 units delivered is still not a bad result. Several brands do not belong the the agencies that release this data so they are omitted. Despite that, by far the majority of the volume is accounted for in the chart below. 

Toyota/Lexus remains well on top with 48% of the total, not an overly unusual percentage for a protected market, although it is a strong position to be in. Mitsubishi is also a popular brand with 19% of all sales. It is some way down from there.

Data source: CAMPI, TMA. Photograph: Toyota Philippines - the Avanza.

Albania Passenger Car Sales : 2025 (Jan-Aug)

Registrations in Albania amounted to 7,326 by the end of August, but the amazing thing is that it took 75 brands to achieve that. 24 of them sold two cars or less. Many of the registrations don't appear to be through an official importer but they are new so I've counted them 

BYD is the leading brand so far this year and will almost certainly remain so. In 2023 it arrived in the country and reached 13th; in 2024 5th. Volkswagen was the top brand for the previous three years but it now resides in second place. 

Hyundai was the leader before that but is now 5th, so nothing can be taken for granted. Škoda has slipped one place to 3rd and likewise Fiat down one to 4th. 

The aforementioned proliferation of  brands has been driven by all the new Chinese entrants. One is Fang Cheng Bao which is a BYD brand described as offering luxury electric SUVs. Consumers in Albania can't complain about a lack of choice. 

For 2024 sales, click here.

Data source: DPSHTRR. Photograph: BYD Europe.

México Car Sales : 2025 (Jan-Sep)

México Sales were down 1% YTD. The sales data is excellent in both scope and detail. It speaks well of the country to be well organised like this. Canada take note.

Nissan took the lead off Chevrolet in 2005 and has not handed it back. The gap between them suggests things won't be changing anytime soon. Between them, they take just over 30% of total sales which is an impressive haul. 

In 2025, MG has lost a couple of places in the ranking while Ford has gone up by the same amount, in effect swapping places. Chinese brands are proliferating with mixed results. Omoda and Jetour are both well down on 2024 but Changan has over doubled its market share and GWM Poer is up four places.

The top selling models were:

Nissan Versa - 66,333

Chevrolet Aveo - 44,254

Nissan NP300/Frontier - 42,217

Kia K3 - 41,564 (Bottom picture)

Nissan March - 22,561 (Top picture)

Mazda CX-30 - 20,881

Nissan Kicks - 19,679

Mazda 2 - 18,142

Hyundai i10 - 17,488

VW Virtus - 16,332

VW Jetta - 15,487

MG 5 - 15,526

Mazda 3 - 15,271

Nissan Sentra - 15,004

For the 2024 articles, simply click on the links below:

By brand. 

By model. 

Data source: AMDA & Inegi. Picture sources: Nissan & Kia México.

Chile Car Sales : 2025 (Jan-Sep)

Registrations were up 4% YTD so things are ticking along nicely but steadily. Suzuki took the top spot last year from Hyundai and has consolidated its place there in 2025. It has been a popular brand here for many years, but not usually number one. Chevrolet was the best selling brand in 2022 but is now fifth and has lost more market share in 2025 while still retaining its ranking. 

Chinese brands are well established here, with three in the top ten (if including the historically British MG brand) and others not too far away from possibly joining them. 

The top selling models were:

Suzuki Baleno HB - 5,193

Chery Tiggo 2 - 4,910 (Photo below)

Kia Soluto - 4,519

Chevrolet Groove - 3,695

Omoda C5 - 3,601

Mazda CX-5 - 3,447

GWM Jolion - 3,395

Hyundai i-10 HB - 3,380

Suzuki Fronx - 2,837 (Photo above)

Hyundai Tucson - 2,805

Ford Territory - 2,734

Chevrolet Sail - 2,681

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

By brand. 

Data source: ANAC. Photos: Suzuki Chile & Chery Chile. 

Denmark Car Sales : 2025 (Jan-Sep)

Registrations were up 7.3% YTD. VW is on top as was the case in 2024. In fact, they have been there since 2011 apart from 2023 when Tesla made a cameo appearance in that spot. VW's market share is the highest since 2002. 

Škoda moved from 7th in 2024 to 2nd this year, the Elroq helping as the best selling model. Cupra is up from 15th to 6th but Tesla has dropped from 2nd to 8th. 

I was intrigued by the Navor brand, one I have not heard of before. It is a DongFeng, the E5 plug in hybrid SUV (picture above) which offers relatively reasonable value in a market known for expensive cars due to steep import duty imposed.

The top selling models were:

Škoda Elroq - 7,573

VW ID.4/ ID.5- 7,088

Tesla Model Y - 5,629

Škoda Enyaq - 4,168

BMW iX1/X1 3,809

VW ID.3 - 3,856

VW ID.Buzz - 3,244

VW T-Roc - 3,116

Mercedes-Benz EQA/GLA 2,876

Audi Q4 e-Tron - 2,768

Kia EV3 - 2,653

Cupra Formentor - 2,419

For the 2024 articles, simply click on the links below:

By brand. 

By model. 

Data source: Mobility Denmark. Photo: Navor.

Eighteen Years, 1.6m & Counting

I started doing this blog in October, 2007. Eighteen years ago. If you do the maths, that means I'm now eighteen years older than I was then. Actually, I don't mind getting older, it's the aging process I don't like. 

In that time, I've never had advertising nor allowed comments that are promoting a service or product. This area is 100% commercial free. I don't even ask any of you to buy me a coffee! It's nice to give without wishing to have something in return. Radical, I know.

You may also have noticed I don't like hyphens. Why not meld two words if required? Of course, being both the contributor and editor means I can do things like that. 

I like cars and statistics so the blog is something I enjoy although sometimes motivation isn't strong. The thing is I'm still putting out articles after all these years. I have been doing more data collation recently and some does end up in the blog. 

I write about cars but I don't like the direction of the car industry. Touch screens are less safe than physical controls and less efficient. They try to compensate with features such as autonomous braking and lane departure warning. I'm not against touch screens, just not having important controls there.

The car I drive I bought new twenty years ago. I look at modern cars and have never felt less interested in buying one. As for the electric push, I see them more as a stop gap measure until hydrogen fuel cell or the like gets established. 

A few tips for buying a car. 

1) Don't buy anything too big if you don't need the size. That's inefficient. 

2) Depreciation is a horrendous expense. Maintain your current vehicle and keep it as long as possible. 

3) If buying new, entry level models are usually the best value. Only buy higher spec if you really need the features they offer. 

I'm glad you enjoy the blog. You often have to pay for this sort of thing and I'm not trying to compete with pay sites. They invariably offer more, but for some, this offers all they want. 

If you are inclined to suggest some positive or constructive feedback, there is a comment facility. You don't have to register, but I do filter them to keep out the advertising ones, so posting isn't immediate. I reply to all of them, so feel free. All the best and keep safe.

Korea Car/LCV Sales : 2025 (Jan-Sep)

1,258,137 passenger cars and light commercial vehicles were registered up to Q3 of 2025. The total market is up 6.2%. The Hyundai Group secured 75.5% of the total! That's what protecting your market can achieve, not that it's needed. 

Hyundai is up slightly and Kia is down by similar proportions. Genesis is at its lowest market share since 2029 but is still a comfortable third. Renault has local manufacturing and it is up while the other two who do, KG Mobility (Ssangyong) and Chevrolet, are less fortunate. 

Of the imports, BMW and Mercedes-Benz are as high as it is prudent to go. Tesla has leapt up the chart to be just behind MB and may be able to increase from here without concern. There is nothing of note in terms of sudden shifts in sales and rankings otherwise. BYD has arrived and Ferrari are now being reported. Some other luxury marques aren't. 

The top selling models were:

Kia Sorento - 73,691

Kia Carnival - 62,469

Hyundai Avante - 61,085

Kia Sportage - 55,688

Hyundai Grandeur - 48604

Hyundai Palisade - 46,338

Hyundai Santa Fe - 45,572

Hyundai Porter - 43,547

Kia Seltos - 43,039

Hyundai Tuscon - 39,685

Hyundai Sonata - 37,685

Tesla Model Y - 37,035

If it were just passenger cars that were being counted, then Kia would be the leader but Hyundai's stronger range of light commercials means the latter takes the lead here.

For 2024 articles, simply click on the links below:

By brand. 

Top 40 Models.

Data source: KAMA, KAIDA.