Suzuki Sales/Production : 2020-26

Suzuki has a unique positioning of product. They manufacture only small cars and commercial vehicles, which are notoriously difficult to make money on. Yet it is profitable. Its success is based on just two markets, India and Japan. That could leave them exposed if one faltered, but it hasn't. 

We will look at production and sales to see how the car division is doing globally. The data below is as detailed as it is provided by Suzuki.

Production: From 2020 to 2025, it has risen by 844,000 units. Japan is steady and the 'Rest' is down. India has grown by 904,000 to two thirds of the total production.

Sales: With India being a directly protected market and Japan indirectly, that gives Suzuki a solid platform to work off. Those two markets account for 78% of all vehicle sales. 

Of course, there has been much discussion about the impact of Chinese car makers aggressively expanding sales. Neither Japan nor India have been affected the same way. 

It will be interesting to see if that remains so but for now Suzuki cars are going along nicely. 3.3 million sales and 3.4 million vehicles produced in 2025 is impressive. There is consistent growth as well, a testament to how well the company is currently placed. 

Vinfast Sales : 2024-25

Vinfast has delivered 197,000 cars for the year, up 102%. The company makes other forms of transport. The e-scooter and e-bike sales were 406,498 (+473%). For those who don't want or cannot afford a car, they have options. 

As an aside, e-scooter and e-bike deliveries will have benefitted from the announced plan to ban petrol powered motorbikes in the Hanoi city center starting in mid-2026. 

Vinfast had a net loss os $2.4 billion in Q1-Q3 2025, with Q3 being the worst. Dividing that figure by sales brings it to -$12,000 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. 

Subaru Global Sales/Prod Summary : 2015-2025

Subaru's size is not an easy one for a mainstream manufacturer. It needs to be bigger or have a partner to share costs with. That partner is Toyota. It had a minor share until 2019, when the decision was made to increase it to 20% which it has now done. From this has come model and technology sharing, which has been very helpful to Subaru. 

The chart below shows several markets, the yellow colour showing a decrease. The data is in thousands. The period between 2019 and 2022 were down but Covid may have been a factor from 2020. Overall sales are the same from 2015 to 2024. 2025 had a slight drop in volume.

Perhaps the most glaring issue is the USA. In 2025, 70%! of Subaru's sales are registered in the USA. Having so many eggs in one basket isn't ideal, although I don't have a solution to that. It makes Subaru dependent on one market and as we have recently witnessed, nothing today is certain. 

Most other markets have remained solid with the exception of China, which was thankfully not a big market anyway. Sales have dropped from 47,000 in 2025 to 2,500 in 2025. Canada and Australia remain important markets for the company.

The only production facility outside of Japan is in Indiana, USA and 338,000 vehicles were made there in 2025. That's half the 668,000 sold in the US. During 2025, the 6 millionth vehicle rolled off the assembly line at that plant. That was achieved in its 38th year of operation. 

Photo source: Netcarshow.

A basic look at production shows percentages of where vehicles are made. In 2025, 62% of Subaru's total production was in Japan, 38% in the US. 

Lynk & Co Deliveries : 2017-25

The brand is jointly owned by the Zeekr Group and Geely Auto. It is marketed as a premium brand and now a wide range of models. 

It started in 2017 with the 01 small SUV, followed by a slightly larger saloon car in 2018 (03). A small coupe SUV arrived in 2019 (05) and in 2020, a compact SUV (06). 

Since then, larger cars were released and now eleven models are made. In 2024, two BEVs were released (Z10 & Z20). 

The chart shows that only in 2022 was there a drop in delivery volume. Considering the proliferation of models, the year on year increases are not outstanding. It isn't a company that has pushed exports like many other Chinese brands are doing. 

In 2024, it appears that exports may have been just over 3% of total deliveries. That will surely change as the local market isn't expected to grow by much, if at all. Future growth will be offshore.

Photo: Lynk & Co 01.

Zeekr Deliveries : 2023-25

Zeekr was launched by Geely in 2021 as a premium electric brand. The first model was the 001 shooting brake, which was designed in Sweden. 

Then came the 009 large MPV, deliveries starting in early 2023.  The range has continued to expand quickly as we now expect from Chinese companies. 

It is now as follows:

SUV/Crossover:

The compact X, medium 7X and large 9X.

Cars/Shooting Brake:

The medium 007 saloon car and 001 large Shooting brake.

MPV:

The Mix compact and the large 009.

Deliveries increased quickly as the brand established itself and the range expanded. In 2025, a dramatic slowdown occurred. The market is finite and there are so many more brands vying for business.

We can surely expect a consolidation within the industry and some brands falling by the wayside. Zeekr does have Geely to ensure it is one of the successes.

Photo Source: Zeekr (001 above & 7x below).

Xiaomi Deliveries : 2024-25

Xiaomi make all sorts of things and in the second quarter of 2024 started delivering cars. It was a large four door fastback named the SU7 (photo above). The SU stands for Speed Ultra and looks like it was heavily influenced by Tesla. Mind you, that could be said of many Chinese cars of this ilk 

Deliveries started in Q2 2004, with the company giving definite figures for the first two months, then a general number for the third month. So by using that information, I came up with 25,700 units delivered. 

Then based on the Q4 and full year figures provided by Xiaomi, I came up with the Q3 number of 41,457. Elementary, my dear Watson. Why make it so hard?

In 2025, 411,837 units found owners based rounded and specific figures. Xiaomi goes from definite to indefinite figures ina random manner. Anyway, the 2025 figure was up 201%. 

The arrival of the YU7 SUV (photo below), deliveries were given a real boost. The SU7 came to 258,164 and the YU7 153,673. The latter wasn't a full year either 

For now, the emphasis has been on the Chinese market but strong local demand has meant opening up new export markets isn't possible at this stage. 

In Q1 2025, the company reportedly lost US$900 on each car delivered. In Q2 it was US$500 and in Q3 a unit profit of US$900 so it is improving. Early losses aren't a surprise for a new venture. Starting out in the car industry is an especially expensive exercise. 

Data & picture source: Xiaomi.

Xpeng Deliveries/Production : 2023-25

2023 started slowly, with sales down on 2022 but the G6 medium large crossover and the X9 large MPV (photo above) arrived mid year. 

By the end of the year, deliveries were up 17%. The new models helped achieve a 171% increase for Q4, ensuring the 12 months 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. 

The G9 medium large crossover has recently been refreshed which is a Tesla Y competitor (see image below). 

Deliveries for 2025 passed the 2024 total by 126%. That sounds good but Q4 was only up 27% and December was ahead by just 2%. Is this a sign that the growth is slowing?

It's hard to say but 2026 offers promise. There is the G01 large SUV and the G02 larger still SUV. The Mona subbrand will release the D02 medium SUV and D03 compact SUV. I don't know why the smaller model will have the larger number. Regardless, there is enough new metal to push sales along.

For the years 2019-2022, simply click here.

KG Mobility Global Model Sales : 2025

KGM (SsangYong) is a small fish and needs to grow to survive. It cannot sustain itself with current volume and that is understood. The KG Group took ownership in 2022 and has ambitions to succeed when numerous previous owners have failed. It has formed a strategic partnership with Chery Automobile to assist in achieving its aim. 

The Torres mid sized SUV is the leading model, with the Musso pick up (picture above) is the next most sought after. The compact Tivoli SUV is third and is followed by the large Rexton SUV (which has the same platform as the Musso). 

Finally the slightly more premium Acyton mid sized SUV (picture below the chart) which is the same length as the Torres. The Korando SUV is last and is similarly sized to the Torres although slightly smaller. 

The range is basically SUVs and they also sell in similar numbers too, the Torres being the exception. The whole range is not that far spaced apart in terms of length. 

Selling cars in Korea is currently not that successful for KGM. 3,350 units per month at home this year isn't great. At least exports are doing better and maybe that is the priority. The 63.6% for exported vehicles is the highest since 2010. 

Nio Global Sales : 2024-25

The company started selling its first road car in 2018, having made a handful of track sports cars beforehand. 

It was soon struggling financially but with the help of funding, it survived through that difficult period. It's known for battery swap stations which overcomes wait times for recharging.

Nio is a premium electric car marque in the mould of Tesla. During 2024 it added a mainstream electric brand ONVO which stands for On Voyage. Now the Firefly sub brand has arrived to challenge the Smart brand and even MINI although I'm not sure it is quite at that level.

In 2023, the Nio company sold 160,000 cars and 222,000 a year later. In 2025, 326,000 Nio, ONVO and Firefly cars were delivered, up 47%. Q4 climbed 72%. 

In the chart below we can see Nio remains the best selling brand with 179,000 units, ONVO 108,000 and Firefly 39,000. ONVO has experienced headwinds and hasn't been as well received as hoped. The company is still confident things will improve as it addresses problems the brand has faced.  

Data & photo source: Nio.

The top photo is of the Nio ES8 SUV, the middle snap is of the Firefly and the picture below is the ONVO L60 coupe SUV which is the only current model for the latter. The full sized ONVO L90 SUV is however coming. 

Leapmotor Global Sales : 2019-25

Zhejiang Leapmotor started delivering its first electric car (BEV) in mid 2019. This progressed steadily with sales confined to China. However, things are starting to accelerate in China. Also in late 2023, the Stellantis car company bought a share of Leapmotor and will assist in the expansion of the brand globally. That is starting to happen now.

To the right is a chart of deliveries initially by years, but then by both quarters and years. Virtually all of what is there reflects domestic deliveries but that is now changing rapidly. 

The first model was the S01, a reasonably stylish coupe. Numbers were limited and it was soon discontinued. 

The following year the T03 became the next model, a tiny electric city car. It was also manufactured in a Stellantis plant in Poland from mid 2024 but that ceased in early 2025. I would imagine the volume was limited. 

The C11 medium sized crossover was released in 2021 as either a BEV or with a range extender engine (EREV) and in 2022 the BEV C1 executive saloon car was released.

Late 2023 arrived with the C10 midsized wagonlike EREV crossover and in early 2024 a large version of the former named the C16. In early 2025 a compact BEV (B10 - picture below) was introduced. 

In late 2025 came the Lafa 5 was introduced which will likely be sold as the B05 outside of China. This flurry of models is going to keep driving deliveries upward. The tie up with Stellantis will be an important part of the export drive. 

The 103% increase in 2025 is impressive, mirroring the growth of a year earlier. Apparently, it now has a goal of 1 million deliveries for 2026. 

Data & photo source: Leapmotor. 

BYD Passenger Car Deliveries : 2023-25

I've been waiting for BYD to hit a ceiling but it has been defying that expectation. Deliveries of electric cars (BEVs) were up 28% in 2025. Hybrid sales were down 8% for the year, so adding hybrid sales brings the combined total to +7%. Hybrid vehicle deliveries falling away the way they have I found surprising. 

It still brought an impressive total of over 4.5 million deliveries. Adding commercial and other unspecified vehicles adds another 100,000. It will be interesting to see whether growth will continue. Maybe that ceiling is now close at hand. 

Data & picture source: BYD.

SAIC Global Sales (China Production) : 2009-2025 (Q1-Q3)

SAIC is a state owned car company with its headquarters in Shanghai. It was founded in 1955 and found much success in joint ventures with foreign car companies VW (since 1984) and GM (1988). 

It also eventually acquired MG Rover technology without the Rover name. They instead created their own similar sounding brand, Roewe (photo above). It still runs the SAIC Motor UK Technical Centre. 

So what is covered by SAIC Motor here? Roewe (commenced 2006), MG (2007) and Rising Auto (2020 - briefly as the R brand / photo below). Sales were 90,396 in 2009 and they rose substantially up to 230,020 in 2013. Then it was up and down but overall going up. 

The peak was 2023 at just under a million but then hit a speed bump the following year, down to 707,015. 2025 will see an increase as the 2025 figure to the right are for nine months. 

MG would fill the value for money base brand, Roewe is considered upper mainstream and Rising Auto as a more premium electric subbrand of Roewe. 

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. 

Thailand Top 40 Passenger Car Model Sales : 2024

In a market down 22%, minus figures in the '+/-' column were always going to be prolific. Toyota is the dominant player and that is shown in the list below. The Yaris tops the list, with the hatch and saloon variants combined. The Mitsubishi Attrage city car is to the right and sales held up well.

Pick up trucks are big here but the data below excludes those not classed as passenger cars. Despite that, they still figure prominently below. The D-Max is very popular, although that didn't stop sales halving. The Yaris Cross (picture at the top) arrived and in its first full year is already up to third. That's 91,000 Yaris variants in total, or put another way, 18% of the total passenger cars market! 

Data: DLT Thailand. Photos: Toyota & Mitsubishi Thailand.

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.