The Writing Was on the Wall

Sergio Marchionne, the late CEO of FCA (Fiat Chrysler) criticised the car industry, highlighting its inefficiency and reluctance to adopt new technology which ultimately impacted profitability. He championed greater cooperation to reduce duplicated spending.

But like Ignaz Semmelweis, his insight was ignored. Cooperation requires compromise and that isn't a quality that gets industry leaders to the top. Their modus operandi is do it my way because compromise is weakness and we don't need to do it anyway. 

Whatever the reasons, it wasn't considered necessary to cooperative beyond sharing an engine or two and the odd fringe model. But the existing way of doing things is ponderous and wastefully burns cash. No one was really pressuring them to change as long as everyone did the same.

Things have moved quickly. The Chinese have finally got themselves sorted and they have things in their favour. A protected home market. High levels of tech included in the cars. Subsidized manufacturing. Control over key battery materials. Faster vehicle development times. Quickly implementing change when feedback showed where improvements were needed.

The less efficient and complacent legacy car manufacturers are being found out. They are cooperating more and will have to speed that up. Some of the larger car manufacturers already have cost sharing within their assorted brands but that might not be enough.

Companies like JLR don't have that option. They wouldn't consider cooperating with model sharing for Jaguar. Try buying one now to see how foolish that stance was. Land Rover will soon be hunted by a proliferation of Chinese models and I wonder how they will survive that. 

In times of change, relying on past experience is often your worst enemy. Clinging to outdated methods rather than adapt can be fatal. Past success doesn't guarantee future success, neither does a well respected brand name. The latter helps but only to a point.

The writing was on the wall and it's become a reality. Now's the time to be smart or be gone. That's the choice, but is it already too late for some? 

Photos: Soueast S05 above and Geely Galaxy Cruiser below (looks familiar?)

The UK's Most Reliable Used Car

It may come as no surprise that it was an electric car. They have fewer components, so they should be more reliable. The data from the Warranty Solutions Group revealed the model at the top of their list, with a fault rate of just 1.52%, was the Nissan Leaf. So well done Nissan.

Is there a downside to electric car ownership? Fixing the faults tends to be more expensive on electric cars. Battery pack damage can require full replacement. High-voltage systems add costs and maybe insurance costs are higher as a result. 

There are many factors to consider regarding car ownership costs. Still, overall electric are less likely to require repairs so unlikely to incur repair bills in the first place. For most people, fully electric vehicles aren't for them but anyone who can accommodate ownership of one will find them reilable, especially if it is a Nissan Leaf, it seems. 

Slovenia Top 40 Models : 2024-25

With colour coding, we see that European models (light blue) are strong and dominate the top end of the list. Renault, Škoda and VW are prominent. Chinese brands are arriving but are yet to have too much of an impact. 

Data source: ADS. Photos: Citroën (C3) & Jeep (Avenger).

Portugal Production : 2024-25

You may not think of Portugal as having a vehicle assembly industry yet it does. It isn't the biggest but has been growing. 2025 was the second best year ever, only 2019 outperforming it. In 2025, production was up 3% to 269,500.

PCs: VW is the main contributor here with 89% of the total. That comes via the T-Roc model (pic above). As for the Stellantis quartet, they are vans with seats so small such as the Berlingo and Rifter. Vauxhall models would come under Opel. 

CVs: Stellantis again has the van range sans seats. Fuso makes the Canter, Toyota the Land Cruiser 70 and Caetano zero emission buses. Overall, 329,500 cvs were made in 2025, up 5%.

Summary: Success for Portugal in challenging times for vehicle manufacturing. 

Data source: ACAP.

Slovenia Passenger Car Sales : 2025

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 2025 passenger car sales were up 8% and compared to the average over the previous five years, up 12%. I usually do a previous ten year comparison, but I believe the source's counting system changed in 2019.  

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 won that duel for now.

For 2024 articles, simply click on the links below:

By brand. 

Top 50 Models.

 

Data source: ADS. Photos Škoda above (Fabia) & Dacia models below. 

Mercedes-Benz Vans Global Deliveries : 2023-2025

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. 

M-B actually made the first working van in 1896. The modern day van range started with the L 319 in 1956. So vans are part of M-B's DNA.

On to recent history. In 2023, wholesale deliveries were up 10 to 447,790. 2024 reached 405,610 units but that represented a drop of 9%. 2025 recorded an 11% reduction in deliveries. 

Regions: Europe (without Germany) is down 13% and Asia (without China) is up 12%. North America (-28%) and China (-25%) have pulled things down. When combined, 70% of sales are Europe/Germany.  

Van classed as commercial vehicles account for 83% of the volume and passenger vans 17%. The Sprinter contributed 189,000 sales to the total, the Vito/V-Class 140,600 and the Titan/T-Class 29,700.  M-B is to end the Titan/T-Class range in 2026 and focus on the more profitable larger vans. 

Electric van sales came to 27,488 units in 2025, up 46%. That is still just 7.7% of total van deliveries but at least they are improving. 

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 : 2023-25

M-B has two divisions, Car and Van. Here we consider the former and the van article comes next. How is M-B 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 2023, it was the same as 2022 with slowish start and moderately successful second half. In 2024, a similar pattern but this time a -3% total.

For 2025, a different trend, one reflected in many car companies. That is an acceleration of fewer deliveries. This led to a -9% end of year result. Time to break it down further.

M-B divides model deliveries into three main categories, Entry, The Top End is holding up best and it's the most profitable segment, therefore not so bad.

The Entry and Core models were both down 10%. Mercedes is moving away from lower priced models to focus on its higher margin cars to increase profitability. I never understood why they ever went to the lower end of the premium market.

Region: Only the 'Rest' is up, 17%. Germany is too but still registered a zero. Europe (less Germany) is down ever so slightly at -2%,. 

Asia (less China) -6%. North America is down 12% but the real negative is China (-19%). No surprise with the latter and maybe a good thing too.

Moving on to electric and hybrid cars. The chart to the right shows the last thee years. They were up 9% in 2023, down 9% in 2024 and the same in 2025.  

Planning ahead for this area of the market has not been easy. Their adoption hasn't been as great as expected and incentives come and go.

For 2025, hybrids were up 9% to 199,877 but cars that are fully electric are down 9% to 168,823. 

Many car companies have pulled back on how much they commit to this area, both in model development and production levels. Financial returns are not good enough in this area to justify it. 

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. 

Renault Alpine Sales : 2017-2025

The origional Renault Alpine A106 came out in 1955 and the Alpine name has been used at various times for sporty models. The 2017 Alpine A110 is the most recent iteration, a lightweight, mid-engined sports car as a performance sub brand for Renault.

The A110 has now been joined by the A290, a performance focused electric hatch based on the Renault 5 E-Tech. 

A290 deliveries started at the end of 2024 so the 2025 year is where the A290's impact was felt. It certainly gave the niche brand a lift in volume. 

The A106 and A290 between them have run up 34,549 sales up until the end of 2025. There isn't a model breakdown but one might assume the 2025 split was 60/40 in favour of the A290.

For now it relies on Europe for its sales with plans to expand from there. For instance, the US market could be a new one for the marque in 2027. 

In 2026, the A390 electric crossover using the Scenic E-Tech / Nissan Ariya platform arrives to make it three in the Alpine range. 

 Data source: Renault Group. Photos: A110 (above) & A290 (below)

Dacia PC/LCV Sales : 2019-2025

The Dacia brand seems to have hit a ceiling at around the 700,000 units. Some Dacia models are sold under the Renault brand though. 

It was in 2022 that Renault last provided model breakdowns allowing us to see how many Dacias were sold as Renaults. It was 14.1% of Renault sales with Dacia based models.

That was 199,466 units in total and that number added to the 2022 figure brings it up to 773,539. 

That's a quarter of Dacia vehicles sold as Renaults for the year. 

Dacia's contribution to the Renault Group sales is substantial, more than the figures above would suggest. 

Full credit to Renault for exploiting that opportunity in certain regions of the world. Creating the modern day Dacia brand was a bold and astute move by Carlos Ghosn. 

Data source: Renault Group. Models: Duster (top) & Spring (above).

Renault PC/LCV Sales : 2019-2025

To the right is passenger car and light commercial sales. There was a steep decline and now it seems a recovery is underway.

Renault used to give a model breakdown so we could get a better understanding of what was happening but they don't anymore. I think that's a shame.

They gave more than other car manufacturers but giving out detailed data is a bold thing to do and eventually they pulled the plug. I still have the data but it's no longer current.

Data source: Renault Group.

Pictures: The new Twingo E-Tech (above) & the Kwid (left).

Moldova Top 25 Car Sales : 2025

Looking at the list, we see though colour the variety of regions the cars are associated with. 

Here green is Japan with seven represented. Toyota and Suzuki the main contributors.

Blue is Europe with eight models. Dacia and Škoda are the most common with four different brands in total.

China may surprise with eight models, although they are for now at least, not the top selling ones. Four different brands are in the top 25, so they are coming in force. 

Korea has two models, both well placed near the top but a little short on depth. 

Photo sources: Toyota (Rav4) & Dacia (Logan) Moldova.

Moldova Car Sales : 2025

Registrations were up a most impressive 27% in 2025. Comparing that with the average over the previous ten years and 2025 was up 100%! 

The list below has a 'Share +/-' column that rates market share variance. Many brands in the yellow did have sales increases but the 27% increase meant they didn't quite keep pace. 

Dacia overtook Lada in 2010 and held the lead until 2021, when Toyota intervened. It held top spot for three years. Dacia came back for a cameo appearance in 2024 returned to #1 Toyota and decisively so.

BYD did little for a few years but suddenly surged to third place. Jetour is a newer entrant but is already up to eighth. Dacia fell back to fourth and BMW went from fifth to tenth. 

Pictures: Jetour Dashing (above) & BAIC X55 (below). 

Daihatsu Historical Sales : 2007-2025

The brand is ideal as reliable city transport. Daihatsu has historically been sold around the world but now is in Asia only.  

The chart shows the past 19 years of sales. Their retreat back to Asia can be seen in how the total has dropped. A recent scandal didn't help either.

In 2025, exports accounted for just 20.5% of the total. In Malaysia, the Perodua models are basically Daihatsu cars and in 2025, 360,000 were sold in that country. They are obviously not included here.    

Daihatsu specialises in small vehicles which have tighter profit margins. I can see why shipping them too far would test margins even more. It's a shame as they are good vehicles.

Data source: Toyota. 

Here I am singing the brand's praises but it was rocked by a scadal in 2024. It led to the suspension of all domestic shipments and production after it was revealed it rigged safety tests. 

Leadership resignations followed, with Toyota taking over the certification process. Sales slumped in 2024 but are returning.  

Summary: A company that has three quarters of its deliveries in the domestic market. Most are Kei cars and they at least have a solid sales base domestically. 

Pics: Move, Taft & Hijet models.

Toyota Group Global Production : 2024-25

If you read the sales version of this, then the format is the same. Production is divided into five regions and further broken down into countries. Worldwide production was 9.95 million and was up 4.5% after a drop of 5.1% the year before. 

Asia: It made up 64.5% of global output. In turn, Japan was half of that. Overall a third of all Toyota's made were done so in the home country. 

North America: Just under a quarter of production was from this region and 62% in the USA. It was up 9.4% in 2025. 

Europe: 809,900 units were made here, down 2%. Just over a third were made in France, which may surprise some. 

Latin America: With regional sales down, it was understandable that production would be too. It was down 7% to 346,000. Argentina passed Brazil to be the largest producer, if only fractionally. 

Africa: It's all about South Africa with some limited assembly in three other countries. With the RSA having a 16.5% increase, that pushed the region up to 132,700 units.

Summary: A broad range of manufacturing, which one might expect from such a global player. 

Data source: Toyota.

Pictures: Lexus NX above & Toyota Harrier below.

Italy Production : 2023-24

The data from the source comes a bit slowly and I forgot about it. It is useful to know which vehicles are produced here. Few countries allow us this insight.

PCs: 2024 wasn't a stellar year by any means. Production was down 43% with all the main companies affected. Stellantis has been doing it tough and most of what is below is theirs. Without a model breakdown, it's hard to pinpoint why.

2025 data has little reason to offer more promise. 

CVs: They were also out of sorts, with a 15% drop in volume. Peugeot was an exception and the arrival of Toyota may help if it improves from here. 

Combine the both and production was at 591,000, down 32%. Production volumes can be more volatile than sales as models can be transferred in or out of plants. 

Data source: ANFIA.