Japan Passenger Car Sales : 2026 (Jan-Apr)

Registrations were up 10% in April but down 2% YTD. Toyota continues its dominance, despite not competing in the large Kei class. Japanese brands generally did well, while imports mostly lost market share. Imports are down 7% YTD. 

Tesla's figure is an estimate, based on extras less what is likely. It certainly is having a good year so far. Chrysler, GM and Ford aren't doing well. Jaguar says sayonara until the super luxury reincarnation arrives. 

Data source: JAMA, JAIA. Photos: Toyota bZ4X & Nissan Serena. 

Korea Car/LCV Sales: 2026 (Jan-Apr)

Hyundai/Kia/Genesis has 73.3% of the market between them. That's what protectionism gives you. Boring for car buyers maybe, but good for the economy. The imports that can afford to import are of the premium variety. 

Kia got passed Hyundai in an 'exciting' race at the top. Tesla is doing well this year as is new arrival BYD, the latter only in its second year here. Smaller US brands Jeep, Ford, Cadillac and Lincoln all declined. GMC was the exception. 

Some lower volume marques choose not to release sales figures, but this list gives a good overall coverage of the market. 

Data source: KAMA, KAIDA. Photo: Tesla Y.

Rolls Royce Global Deliveries : 2025-2026 (Q1)

It's hard to read too much into luxury car deliveries. it's a unique market. True, volume has dropped 8% in Q1 but even in this rarified air, there are going to be ebbs and flows. 

In China for example, the internal economy is not too robust, which has led to decrease in demand there. 

Despite such things, customers are increasingly using bespoke services, which boosts margins. Suffice to say business is doing well. 

Like MINI, no regional or model breakdown are available for the marque. 

Data & photos: BMW Group. (Ghost Ext & Phantom).

MINI Brand Global Deliveries : 2025-2026 (Q1)

BMW's MINI was up 18% in 2025 and up 6% 2026 YTD. That now means the last five quarters have been increases, something not easily achieved. . 

After a few years of reduced volume, some colour is returning the MINI's cheeks so to speak. In other words, looking more healthy. 

There is no breakdown by region provided by the BMW Group, nor by model, meaning and deep dive to know more  is not possible. 

Data & photos: BMW Group. 

BMW Brand Global Deliveries : 2025-2026 (Q1)

After mananging a very smsall 1% decrease last year, Q1 2026 is down 6%. BMW is expecting 2026 deliveries to match last years and that is quite possible. China remains challenging and I would assume the most difficult region to predict. 

Data & photo source: BMW Group.

Regions: This data includes MINI, so that reduces the decrease to -3.5%. Europe is holding up well but elsewhere is consistently down. China is still an important market but is steadily shrinking.

Mercedes-Benz Vans Global Deliveries : 2025-2026 (Q1)

Mercedes-Benz Vans is a very important part of the company. It's unusual for a premium marque to also have a commercial vehicle (CV) wing but it works.

CV's sold the same number as they did in Q1 last year, but PC vans were down 19%. 

That equates to a 3% drop overall. Europe has 71% of total sales and is stable in terms of volume. North America and particularly Asia have fallen quite dramatically. 

Electric van deliveries came to 6,132, up 29%. So onw would assume this is an area M-B would prioritise. 

Data & photos source: Mercedes-Benz (Sprinter & Vito).

Mercedes-Benz Cars Global Deliveries : 2025-2026 (Q1)

After a 9% fall in 2025, 2026 kicks off with a 6% downturn. Not unexpected as it seems to be the norm for the industry, even at the premium end. 

Mercedes-Benz divides it's sales into three categories, Core, Entry and Top End, all of which lost ground evenly.

Data & photo source: Mercedes-Benz

Regions: Traditionally strong regions of Europe and North Amercia are doing well. The fly in the ointment is Asia, China is still an important market, but is less so with each passing year. The Rest was also down (11%) but accounts for just 4% of global deliveries.

Electric: Counting full electric and hybrid cars, 81,337 deliveries were made in Q1. That is just shy of 20%, which is lower than I expected. 

They matched the overall marque's 6% reduction in units delivered. Incentives being pared back in various places is affecting their success.

Audi Brand Global Deliveries : 2025-26 (Q1)

After a 2025 where deliveries were down 3%, 2025 has started with a 6% reduction in numbers. It's a trend for legacy brands, so not surprising. 

But still, there is always a story behind shifts in volume. You can't always rely on press releases to get the true story as they are designed to portray things in a positive light. 

Regions: What may surprise is North America. As we see below, the US is down 30%! US tariffs must have had an effect and with no manufacturing there, has been left exposed. To a some extent, the end of electric car subsidies would simply add to the reduction in units sold.

China simply isn't a market foreign brands can rely on and continued reductions of deliveries is hardly surprising. Europe was a bright light, currently closing in on being responsible for half of total deliveries. 

Segments: This odd data breakdown from Audi does at least show that the larger models are the ones pulling down sales. 

Data & photo source: Audi (A5 & Q5).

Mexico Passenger Car Sales: 2026 (Jan-Apr)

It's difficult to say whether the market is growing as some larger players are not reporting. BYD and GAC haven't been, while Chery, Jaecoo and Omoda pulled out after reporting last year. In 2026, imported Chinese cars had tariffs increased from 20 to 50%. China called the move protectionist and seeing as they have various duties to limit imports, they should know.  

Nissan maintains its long standing leadership here. Chevrolet likewise is a popular brand with 12.4% share. Five of the top six lost some market share.

Data source: AMDA. Photos: Nissan Sentra & Chevrolet Tracker. 

Hong Kong P Car Sales : 2026 (Jan-Apr)

Registrations were up 218% in April and +143% in the first four months of the year. That is based on a poor start to 2025 (down 44%), so it accentuates the positive in a way that could be a little exaggerated. The 2025 share below is for a full year. The sort of increase in 2026 makes the share +/- column look worse than it is. 

Toyota was the best selling brand here for some time, with 2019 being the last year it was ranked #1. With electric cars now being so popular and Chinese brands aggressively active in this, a special administrative region of China, a comeback seems unlikely.  

Looking at the top brands in more detail.

Tesla: Y (2,460) and 3 (1,972) are the two models sold here. 
BYD: Atto 2 (1,911) and Sealion 7 (1,451) make up 90% of the total. 
GAC Aion: UT (1,169), ES (885) and Y (586) lead the way.
Zeekr: 7X (1,882) and 009 (553) account for 98% of sales. 
Toyota: bZ3X (1,342) does 80% of the registrations on its own.

Data source: HK Transport Department. 

Picture source: Zeekr (X) and GAC Aion (ES) Hong Kong.

Aston Martin Global Deliveries : 2025-26 (Q1)

Deliveries were down just 1% in Q1. THat's a good result in the present climate. Last year they fell 10% but things are improving. I believe reducing inventory was ther reason last year for the fall with production more in line with orders received.

Gross margins are improved and with the industry experincing so many headwind issues, no mean feat. 

Data source: Aston Martin.

Photos: DB12, Vantage, DBX & Valhalla.

Regions: The Americas is where most cars are delivered. 38% of the total went there in Q1, for an 11% uncrease. Europe, Middle East and Africa combine to account for 28%. The Asia and Pacific region now make up 20%. The UK registered just 14%, which as a percentage is probably the lowest ever. That isn't an issue to rely less on the home market. 

Models: The GT and sports car range make up 70% of the total. The DBX SUV 19% and Specials 11%. All but one of those latter deliveries are for the Valhalla. Current orders for this car stretch into Q4 of this year.

Honda Global Production : 2025-26 (Q1)

Production number being down just 3% is a win, all things considered. The fact that January was up 2%, February down 5% and March down 7% could seem less of a win. It depends where the trend goes from here. Asia (excluding Japan) is the main area production is down, 

Data & photo source: Honda. 

Luxembourg Passenger Car Sales: 2026 (Jan-Apr)

Registrations were up 3% in 2026. Things tend to be very stable here, unruffled even. It's financial sector accounts for nearly a third of GDP, although they does want to diversify the economy.  

German brands hold the top four places here. Then one could also add German owned Škoda to take all five leading brands. Chinese brands are yet to have much impact, although the ever growing 'Other' figure - which isn't revealed to us - could contain many brands from that source.

Data source: Statistiques Luxembourg. 

Austria Passenger Car Sales : 2026 (Jan-Apr)

Registrations were up 17% for the first quarter. The figures includes preliminary April data so that may slightly affect that. VW as always is on top with 14.5% share. I've noticed Dacia is reducing its volume and it is so consistent, it must be a policy. Is it shifting away from value pricing?

Chinese brands are arriving although only BYD has has had a major impact so far. Legacy brands will be feeling uneasy. 

Data source: Statistik Austria. 

Cyprus Private Car Sales : 2026 (Jan-Apr)

This covers cars sold to private citizens only. The main exclusion is for rental cars. Registrations were down 10%. Kia is the leading brand, with Nissan pushing up into second place. BYD is on a mission and is now seventh. There aren't many Chinese brands here yet either. BAIC has just arrived and won't be the last. 

Data source: Cystat.