Nissan/Infiniti US/Mexico Production (Model) : 2017-18

Nissan's North American assembly plants are to be found in the USA and Mexico. In both cases the numbers involved are impressive.

USA: After years of growth, the past two years have seen declines, -8% and now -10%. Cars have been the main reason but trucks too haven't been spared. The range of trucks is varied, with eve an Infiniti model. With Nissan and Infiniti sales in the US at 1,494,000, the 835,000 production figure makes Nissan a net importer.

USA Production – Nissan/Infiniti
Model	2018	%	+/-		2017	%	+/-
Nissan Car	286,063	34.2%	-16%		340,554	36.6%	-17%
Altima	219,599	26.3%	-16%		261,872	28.1%	-20%
Maxima	42,561	5.1%	-39%		69,963	7.5%	-1%
Leaf	23,903	2.9%	174%		8,719	0.9%	-37%
Nissan Truck	488,552	58.5%	-8%		531,642	57.1%	-2%
Rogue	167,934	20.1%	-1%		169,676	18.2%	-1%
Murano	90,359	10.8%	-4%		93,919	10.1%	-5%
Frontier	76,681	9.2%	-14%		89,065	9.6%	-10%
Pathfinder	76,491	9.2%	-19%		94,834	10.2%	-15%
Titan	53,152	6.4%	-19%		65,959	7.1%	52%
NV CV	20,318	2.4%	46%		13,949	1.5%	-3%
NV PV	3,617	0.4%	-15%		4,240	0.5%	-13%
Infiniti Truck	60,740	7.3%	4%		58,390	6.3%	11%
QX60	60,740				58,390
Total Truck	549,292	65.8%	-7%		590,032	63.4%	-1%
Grand Total	835,355		-10%		930,586		-8%

Mexico: Nissan is the number one selling brand in the country so a large number of vehicles made here is no surprise. Two years of modest decreases still have the total at 760,000 units. What I didn't know was that an Infiniti truck is now part of that. Trucks are a growing part of whats assembled here, but the fall in car numbers has been greater. 314,000 Nissan and Infiniti sales in Mexico is well short of the production total so well and truly a net exporter.

Mexico Production – Nissan/Infiniti
Model	2018	%	+/-		2017	%	+/-
Nissan Car	512,389	67.2%	-19%		636,083	76.8%	-5%
Sentra	265,890	34.9%	-6%		283,494	34.2%	-4%
Versa	159,838	21.0%	-22%		205,449	24.8%	7%
Micra	66,842	8.8%	-7%		71,969	8.7%	-1%
Note	19,012	2.5%	-50%		38,065	4.6%	-13%
Tiida	807	0.1%	-95%		15,105	1.8%	-16%
Tsuru	-				22,001	2.7%	-56%
Nissan Truck	222,432	29.2%	16%		191,948	23.2%	10%
PU/Chassis	101,497	13.3%	-16%		121,066	14.6%	9%
Kicks	100,889	13.2%	114%		47,172	5.7%	20%
NV Cargo	20,046	2.6%	-15%		23,710	2.9%	-4%
Infiniti Truck	27,477	3.6%			-
QX50	27,477
Total Truck	249,909	32.8%	30%		191,948	23.2%	10%
Grand Total	762,298		-8%		828,031		-2%

Please note that figures can vary slightly depending on the source.

Jaguar i-Pace Monthly Sales By Nation : 2019

People who are really into electrically motivated cars like data. Not only to do with the vehicle but also how they sell. Because of that, I'm going to run a monthly list of the i-Pace sales by country. It obviously will be accomplished without input from Jaguar as it won't be complete. If anyone can add to it, please let me know at rdc1234@gmail.com.

Until sales settle down, supply will affect the list to some degree. Also, incentives can skew the data. The Netherlands is a classic example of that, with a change of policy that has affected sales drastically. Norway had an unusually quite January 2019, but expect that to change.

Rk	Nation	2018	Jan
1	UK	841	216
2	USA	393	210
3	Norway	1,081	80
4	Belgium	116	36
5	France	130	31
6	Denmark	12	20
7	Spain	66	19
8	Finland	12	19
9	Korea	-	17
10	Germany	191	16
11	Sweden	78	16
12	Austria	64	16
13	Canada	41	16
14	Netherlands	3,495	15
15	Russia	16	15
16	Italy	88	14
17	Switzerland	63	14
18	Portugal	23	9
19	RSA	4	7
20	Australia	39	6
21	Ireland	3	4
22	Czech Rep	13	2
23	Poland	16	1
24	Turkey	38	-
25	NZ	2	-
26	Estonia	1	-
	Others	67	212
	Total	6,893	1,011

Data source: Various (thanks to all of them).

Picture source: Netcarshow.

Australian Made Sales Ford/Holden : 2000-18

Some early Holden models

Australians were not happy to lose their car manufacturing. It had traditionally been based around large cars and protected by import duty. When the duty was being phased out some smaller producers went, leaving GM Holden, Ford and Toyota left. GM did some exporting, Ford very little and Toyota a lot. 

In May, 2013 Ford announced it was ending its production. By December, GM followed suit. Then in February, 2014 Toyota said it too would close. It was all over in 2017. Here is what happened statistically, Toyota nor exports included. The figures are for locally made cars only, not import models which at times overlapped with domestically manufactured ones.

Ford: The large Falcon (including all related models) was in 70,000+ bracket until 2006, when the decline set in. By 2012, sales were under 20,000. The mid sized Ford Territory SUV initially boosted volumes but it too faded somewhat. With limited exports and no tariff protection, it was time to pull the plug. 

Holden: The Commodore (also including all related models) was by this time the most popular large car. Nevertheless, it too was fading as the public turned to large SUVs. From reaching 100,000 + up until 2004, it was soon falling fast too. By the time the announcement came, 30,000 was only just being bettered. 

From 2011, the Cruze was introduced to better utilise plant capacity but was outgunned by similar import models and sales weren't outstanding. 

Br	FORD				HOLDEN
Md	Falcon	Terr	Total		Comm	Other	Total
00	77,200	-	77,200		96,300	5,500	101,800
01	72,900	-	72,900		102,300	-	102,300
02	74,600	-	74,600		111,500	-	111,500
03	96,000	-	96,000		112,100	-	112,100
04	87,700	13,600	101,300		111,300	-	111,300
05	73,400	23,500	96,900		96,600	-	96,600
06	59,400	18,400	77,800		77,100	-	77,100
07	47,900	17,300	65,200		76,000	-	76,000
08	44,500	12,900	57,400		68,100	-	68,100
09	43,200	10,900	54,100		58,500	-	58,500
10	38,600	11,600	50,200		59,400	-	59,400
11	25,600	13,900	39,500		52,000	22,400	74,400
12	19,800	14,600	34,400		39,900	29,200	69,100
13	15,300	14,300	29,600		32,800	24,400	57,200
14	9,100	9,800	18,900		35,700	18,600	54,300
15	8,600	8,900	17,500		32,800	15,200	48,000
16	6,600	6,900	13,500		30,300	12,900	43,200
17	300	1,700	2,000		28,300	400	28,700
18	-	-	0		2800	-	2,800

Ford went without too much fanfare but the end of the Aussie icon Commodore wasn't as well received. It was replaced by the Insignia model from Europe, yet it would retain the Commodore logo. Despite the fact that the Commodore was virtually a rebadged Euro model at its inception and now returning to such didn't go down well. The fact that it was better in virtually every respect to the dated Aussie made car it replaced wasn't the point either. 

Sales for Holden and Ford have fallen recently. For Holden it seems in part punitive and glee is expressed by some as it unfolds. Ironically, manufacturers that never bothered investing in Australian manufacturing have benefited. The truth is the industry should have been shut down sooner than it was because it hadn't been viable for some time. The manufacturers weren't to blame for that but they have been anyway.