Sweden 1952 / 2012 Comparison

Back in 1952, any car market would be very different to now, and so it is with Sweden. Japanese brands were not around, but many European and US makes no longer exist either. When you look at the list below, you will see some marques you don't even know what they are.

BMC-Nuffield was mainly Austin and Morris, Leyland-Std represents the Standard and Triumph brands. Rootes was largely Hillman and Humber sales. US car company Kaiser included low cost brand Henry, and German car maker Borgward owned Goliath, which includes it's sales as well. EMW at the bottom of the list were basically BMWs made in the Soviet sector of Germany and BMW had no control over that. Some interesting data for those who like a bit of history.

Below are sales for the whole of 1952 and for nine months of 2012. The early 1950s was a less affluent time  and car sales numbers reflected that. 1952 was a poor year in particular as it happens, as sales were a little better before and grew strongly afterward.

	1952					2012
1	Ford	7,169	13.9%		1	Volvo	37,096	18.2%
2	Volvo	7,132	13.8%		2	VW	31,711	15.6%
3	VW	5,964	11.5%		3	Audi	12,957	6.4%
4	Opel/Vauxhall	5,020	9.7%		4	Kia	11,845	5.8%
5	BMC-Nuffield	4,864	9.4%		5	Toyota	11,686	5.7%
6	Fiat	2,581	5.0%		6	BMW	11,552	5.7%
7	Saab	1,975	3.8%		7	Ford	10,196	5.0%
8	Leyland-Std	1,840	3.6%		8	Skoda	8,728	4.3%
9	Renault	1,693	3.3%		9	Hyundai	8,389	4.1%
10	Mercedes	1,660	3.2%		10	Mercedes	8,293	4.1%
11	GM US	1,550	3.0%		11	Peugeot	7,943	3.9%
12	Citroen	1,397	2.7%		12	Renault	7,112	3.5%
13	Borgward	1,068	1.5%		13	Nissan	4,796	2.4%
14	Peugeot	1,038	2.0%		14	Opel	4,421	2.2%
15	Rootes	997	1.9%		15	Citroen	3,942	1.9%
16	Chrysler	702	1.4%		16	Fiat	3,317	1.6%
17	Kaiser-Henry	612	0.2%		17	Subaru	3,252	1.6%
18	Moskvitch	611	1.2%		18	Mitsubishi	2,669	1.3%
19	Skoda	527	1.0%		19	Suzuki	2,058	1.0%
20	Simca	513	1.0%		20	Honda	2,005	1.0%
21	DKW	472	0.9%		21	Chevrolet	1,743	0.9%
22	Jowett	304	0.6%		22	Mazda	1,592	0.8%
23	Rover	288	0.6%		23	Seat	1,465	0.7%
24	Tatra	226	0.4%		24	MINI	977	0.5%
25	Panhard	179	0.3%		25	Land Rover	602	0.3%
26	Singer	173	0.3%		26	Saab	577	0.3%
27	IFA/Wartburg	152	0.3%		27	Lexus	534	0.3%
28	Studebaker	147	0.3%		28	Dacia	453	0.2%
29	De Soto	103	0.2%		29	Porsche	407	0.2%
30	Nash	85	0.2%		30	Jeep*	372	0.2%
31	Jaguar	83	0.2%		31	Lancia	311	0.2%
32	Willys	82	0.2%		32	Alfa Romeo	228	0.1%
33	Hudson	81	0.2%		33	Amatorbygg	97	0.0%
34	Lloyd	69	0.1%		34	Jaguar	94	0.0%
35	EMW	63	0.1%		35	Ferrari	58	0.0%
	Others	325	0.6%			Others	233	0.1%
	Total	51,745				Total	203,711

Today, Volvo is king in Sweden and has been so since 1958. VW is making a serious attack on that position and it seems only a matter of time before the Swedish marque is dethroned.

A special thanks to bilsweden, the very obliging and altruistic organisation that made this possible.


For Swedish car sales from 1950 please click here 

Top pic: Wiki of a Borgward.

Greece 1992 / 2012 Comparison

We all know about the economic woes of Europe, especially countries such as Greece. So how do car sales compare with today and twenty years ago? Let's find out.

Below is a chart of sales for 1992 and 2012 (the 2012 figures are only nine months). Despite that, the trend is clear. There is the rank brands have in the Greek market, brand and sales, finally market share:

		1992					2012
Rk	Brand	Sales	Sh		Rk	Brand	Sales	Sh
1	Nissan	18,107	9.1%		1	Opel	5,443	12.0%
2	Fiat	16,979	8.5%		2	VW	4,468	9.8%
3	Toyota	15,951	8.0%		3	Toyota	4,445	9.8%
4	Opel	12,308	6.2%		4	Citroen	3,149	6.9%
5	Citroen	11,556	5.8%		5	Fiat	2,602	5.7%
6	Ford	11,201	5.6%		6	Ford	2,505	5.5%
7	Peugeot	10,808	5.4%		7	Nissan	2,502	5.5%
8	Renault	10,158	5.1%		8	Skoda	2,155	4.7%
9	Hyundai	9,844	4.9%		9	Hyundai	2,144	4.7%
10	BMW	8,711	4.4%		10	Suzuki	1,929	4.2%
11	VW	7,486	3.8%		11	Peugeot	1,924	4.2%
12	Mazda	7,456	3.7%		12	Audi	1,476	3.2%
13	Seat	7,295	3.7%		13	Kia	1,241	2.7%
14	Alfa Romeo	6,568	3.3%		14	Seat	1,013	2.2%
15	Suzuki	6,466	3.2%		15	Volvo	988	2.2%
16	Austin/Rover	5,961	3.0%		16	BMW	964	2.1%
17	Lada	5,871	3.0%		17	Mercedes	874	1.9%
18	Skoda	5,647	2.8%		18	Renault	809	1.8%
19	Honda	5,103	2.6%		19	Chevrolet	804	1.8%
20	Mercedes	3,590	1.8%		20	Alfa Romeo	683	1.5%
21	Audi	3,006	1.5%		21	Lancia	647	1.4%
22	Lancia	2,913	1.5%		22	Honda	531	1.2%
23	Mitsubishi	1,722	0.9%		23	Mitsubishi	508	1.1%
24	Subaru	1,444	0.7%		24	MINI	450	1.0%
25	Daihatsu	1,186	0.6%		25	smart	386	0.8%
26	Zastava	1,015	0.5%		26	Dacia	283	0.6%
27	Volvo	417	0.2%		27	Mazda	219	0.5%
28	Saab	157	0.1%		28	Daihatsu	149	0.3%
	Others	78				Others	244
	Total	199,004				Total	45,535

Even with 2012 only being for nine months, sales have collapsed, so no surprise there. In most markets, the biggest brands have lost share over the years, but here the reverse has taken place. The difficult trading conditions seem to be the reason as this has only happened over the last three years. As far as brands go, a few have gone, others shuffled around but overall not that much change. Except for the crash in volume of course.

For Greek sales in 2011 please click here 

Data source: SEAA

The Rover 400 (45) 2000-2004

This is one of three articles about the Rover 400/45 model.

This car needed replacing but got a facelift instead. Not enough sales for the 400 model to go it alone, yet then owners BMW tried just that and failed. They sold up and took the replacement model designs back to Munich to rot in an office draw. Who thinks capitalism has a caring side? Anyway, it soldiered on but was losing ground to the newer competition. The last owners named the Phoenix Four didn't have the money to do a new model but pretended they did.

Below are production figures of the third and last effort by MGR. There was still something to like about the car. A sporty MG ZS model was added but as you can see, it wasn't that successful.

Year	Tot	45	ZS
2000	49900	49900	-
2001	44200	38275	5925
2002	33250	26400	6850
2003	22100	15650	6450
2004	20700	14950	5750
2005	5425	3300	2125
Tot	175600	148500	27100
Avg	29250	24750	5425

Now some major markets:

Yr	UK	Spa	Fra	Italy	Germ	Ned	Por	Bel	Gre
00	?	?	4400	5300	?	1175	?	?	750
01	20650	?	3100	3400	1875	800	?	?	600
02	20925	?	2100	1850	850	425	?	550	350
03	15800	4375	1600	1250	650	475	700	325	125
04	11350	4525	1250	875	725	350	600	275	150
05	4175	2050	825	275	350	200	200	225	150
Tot	72900	10950	13275	12850	4450	3425	1500	1375	2125
Avg	14600	3650	2225	2150	900	575	500	350	350

I see the Spanish liked them right to the end. A modest seller in Germany though.

The 400 range was a useful seller for Rover but as you can see by the production figures from 2000, past its 'use by date'. I am sure that many who buy a used example of them will find them a car with character and a nice vehicle to drive.

To read about the 1995-99 period  please click here 

Pics: http://www.netcarshow.com/rover