Posts Tagged → JATO Dynamics News
USA SALES RECOVERY CONTINUES WITH 17% INCREASE IN 2010
USA car & truck sales up by 17.0% in first half of 2010
Toyota Camry is best-selling car;
Ford F Series is best-selling truck
Overall, Ford is the best-selling brand in the market
Having suffered a significant decline in the automotive segment in 2009 which was near catastrophic for its domestic OEMs, the prospects for the North American car market are looking significantly healthier in the first half of 2010, according to the latest figures supplied by JATO Dynamics, the world’s leading provider of automotive intelligence.
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GLOBAL CAR MARKET PERFORMANCE
? Chinese market for new car sales grows 60.9%
? Brazil in 5th place in Global sales league
? Toyota still the World’s best-selling brand
? Kia now amongst the World’s 10 biggest-selling brands
JATO Dynamics, the world’s leading provider of automotive research and intelligence, has released its analysis of the global car market for the period to the end of May 2010. China remains an outstanding performer and keeps its position as the world’s biggest market for new car sales, with an increase of +60.9% compared to the same period in 2009. The USA holds second place with increase of +17.5%, followed by Japan with +22.4%.
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US CAR MARKET STILL ALMOST TWICE AS POLLUTING AS EUROPE AND JAPAN
? US car market struggling to embrace ’greener’ fuels and technologies
? US car market still dominated by less fuel efficient gasoline engines
? European and Japanese car markets gain advantage through
downsizing and diesel adoption
JATO Dynamics, the world’s leading provider of automotive data and intelligence today reports that the US car market is still significantly behind Europe and Japan in terms of reducing vehicle CO2 output.
JATO’s study of the US light vehicle market in the first quarter of 2010 reveals that the market’s average CO2 is 268.5 g/km. In order to reflect like-for-like comparison with car markets in other global regions, excluding pick-up trucks, full size vans and small commercial vehicles the figure falls to 255.6 g/km. This figure compares very unfavourably to Japan (130.8 g/km) and Europe’s five biggest markets, which average 140.3 g/km. All markets have improved marginally when compared to the full-year average in 2009; Japan is down 0.4 g/km, the USA is down 1.0 g/km and Europe has improved most significantly with a 4.3 g/km reduction year-to-date.
“It is still clear that American consumers need to undergo a fundamental re-think of their vehicle buying preferences, but the past period of economic upheaval is likely to have meant that other domestic issues have taken consumer’s priority”, says David Mitchell, President of JATO Americas. “The blame can’t just lie with consumers though, the OEM product offering in the US still does little to promote alternatives to the large engine capacity gasoline vehicles which still dominate the market.”
One of the key influences in other global markets, the cost of fuel, still remains comparatively low in the US and this removes one of the most significant drivers for change. 33.9% of vehicles sold in the US still fall within a 15-20 mpg consumption bracket, compared with only 0.28% in Europe and 0.63% in Japan. European average CO2 emissions have reduced most significantly thanks to the rising popularity of diesel, a fuel which has 48.9% of the market share. Japan has a tiny diesel share of only 0.11%, but its highly congested roads make very small and economical gasoline cars a popular choice. Currently, the USA market is dominated by gasoline which has 81.9% market share, with only 1.7% being diesel.
“An interesting point to note, is that American consumers have been significantly more inclined to adopt Hybrid technology than the Europeans”, says Mitchell. “Hybrids have 2.3% market share in the US, while in Europe it is still only 0.5%. Not surprisingly, Japan leads the way with 10.1% of market share going to Hybrids”.
These regional variances can in part be put down to varying CO2-based taxation regimes that reward or penalise certain technologies, while Japan’s high- technology driven economy will automatically favour new technologies such as Hybrid and electric vehicles. Additionally, European vehicle ‘scrappage’ schemes have contributed significantly to the introduction into circulation of a huge number of low polluting, fuel efficient small cars – something that “cash for clunkers” didn’t do to the same effect.
*Note: Some adjustment to the figures used in these findings for the different regions is necessary. Direct comparison is subject to variances of the official fuel-consumption tests for different markets, which utilise different test cycles.
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FIESTA OUTPACES GOLF IN RACE TO EUROPEAN SALES RECOVERY
Ford Fiesta takes over from VW Golf as Europe’s best-selling car
Buoyant sales in UK and Italy benefit Ford; German market continues to struggle
March new car market closes 10% up on same period, 2009
UK is Europe’s largest market in March 2010
The Ford Fiesta has become Europe’s best-selling car, beating the Volkswagen Golf into second place in both March 2010 and year-to-date sales, according to latest figures from the world’s leading provider of automotive data and intelligence, JATO Dynamics. Continue reading →
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NORTH AMERICAN VEHICLE SALES CUT BY A FIFTH IN 2009
? North American markets down by 20.6% in 2009
? Canada least affected (-10.8%); Mexico fares worst (-28.8%)
? Imported brands fare better than domestic vehicles
? Upper segment cars and small commercial vehicles hit hardest in sales decline
The new car market across North America suffered the full force of recession in 2009, with some worrying trends revealed in the latest figures supplied by world’s leading provider of automotive data and intelligence, JATO Dynamics.
Behind the headlines of US government intervention and “cash for clunkers” schemes, lies a shift in consumer demand that has hit upper segment cars and domestic US brands hardest.
Overall, 3,271,321 fewer new cars were bought in North America in 2009, than in 2008, with 12.6 million total sales.
Across the region, those brands weathering the storm best were lower volume imported marques, with Hyundai (+11.6 %) and Kia (+11.3%) increasing sales volumes. Other winners were Subaru (+15%) and Audi, which achieved 5.4% growth in H2, albeit with smaller volumes.
By contrast, the three biggest brands, Ford, Toyota and Chevrolet, ended the year 13.8%, 18.2% and 25.8% down respectively.
David Di Girolamo, Head of JATO Consult, said: “The recession of demand and simultaneous, sudden shift to smaller, more economical vehicles has been felt keenly across North America. This has created even more of an opportunity for those lower-volume, importing manufacturers who already offer such vehicles and puts even more pressure on the big, domestic auto makers.”
United States
With 2009 sales down by 2.8 million (21.2%), the top five models in the United States new car league were held by import brands, Toyota, Honda and Nissan, with the year’s best-selling car the Toyota Camry.
Domestic US brands still feature, but some have been hit hard by the recession – for example, the seventh-placed car, the Chevrolet Impala large sedan, whose sales dropped by 37.7%, vs. 2008.
Overall, US car and truck sales were down 20.5% and 22% respectively, with small and lower medium cars seeing smaller drops in demand, evidence of downsizing amongst those US customers buying new cars.
Canada
The Canadian market (2009 total sales: 1.5 million) fared better, dropping only 10.8%, with truck sales actually rising 3.6% in the second half of the year.
This was perhaps helped by the fact Canadian customers seem to prefer smaller cars, with the Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla and Mazda3 heading the sales list.
More significantly however, truck sales in Canada grew through the second half of the year, with the Ford F150 topping the list, with total sales of 67,538, (+20.2%).
Mexico
The Mexican market fell below one million sales this year, having suffered the greatest percentage fall of 28.8%.
Overall, both truck and car sales fell, with even market-specific models such as Nissan Tsuru, experiencing a downturn. Some car models did buck this trend, with Seat Ibiza doing the best business, up 28.3%, with total 2009 sales of 10,419.
Volkswagen’s South American entry-level model, the Gol, has been an immensely popular addition to the Mexican market in 2009, selling 23,776 and could prove a future market leader.
Truck sales fared less well, headed by the Nissan Pickup. In further evidence of the sudden unpopularity of large SUVs, sales of the Ford Expedition more than halved, down 52.2%.
The above data is provided by JATO Consult, the company’s bespoke consulting service which offers customers access to its unique data and provides solutions and advice to meet a wide range of automotive business challenges. For more information visit www.jato.com, or email consult@jato.com.
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RUSSIAN NEW CAR MARKET HALVES DURING 2009
? Russian new car market almost halves, down 49.8% in 2009, to 1.36 million units
? Kia only volume brand improving through a difficult year
? Lada remains top brand, but sales down by 44.7%
Russian new car buyers stayed away from showrooms in large numbers during 2009, with sales volumes almost halving in 2009, according to the latest market analysis from the world’s leading provider of automotive data and intelligence, JATO Dynamics.
In line with sales forecasts, which suggested less than 1.5 million sales, every new car segment shrank over the year, with the top five brands – Lada, Chevrolet, Ford, Hyundai and Renault – all losing ground vs. their 2008 sales.
Kia was the only high volume brand to show any improvement, increasing sales in most car sectors through its Rio, Sportage, Cerato, Carens, Picanto, Magentis, and new Soul models and posting a small second half sales gain in 2009.
Evangelos Hadjistavrou, Regional General Manager, JATO Dynamics, said: “The situation in Russia is very serious, perhaps the worst in any major market. The market dropped by over 1.3 million vehicles last year, in contrast to the growth of recent times. The most interesting part is these losses could have been even greater, but for action by the Russian government.”
Over the year, Russian authorities increased support loans to customers of any new Russian-built cars costing less than 600,000 RUR (EUR 13,500; ?11,700). A further scrappage incentive has been announced for 2010, of 50,000 RUR (EUR 1,125; ?975), in an attempt to arrest the decline.
Brand Performance
Despite these domestic-product incentives, Kia was the only high-volume brand showing any improvement, with a 3.4% overall rise in the second half of the year, very much against the general trend.
Lada remained the strongest brand in sales volumes, taking 26% total market share.
Through 2009, import brands in Russia have also had to face an average 5% increase on Russian customs duties, together with a 35% increase in the Euro/Rouble exchange rate, pushing up retail prices and undoubtedly affecting sales.
Model Performance
Lada claimed four of the top five models in 2009 and still sold three times more than its nearest rival, Chevrolet, despite a 44.7% drop in sales.
This weakening demand has led the Lada Kalina to be only just ahead of the Renault Logan and Ford Focus by year-end.
However, the Lada 4×4 gave the company more positive news, being the only top 10 model to increase its sales (26,726 units; +9.8% vs. 2008).
Segment Trends
By the end of 2009, the previous popularity of large SUVs that had sustained this segment had dissipated, with all high-volume segments suffering steep sales declines, greater than 40%.
The large MPV segment suffered most, down 61.8% in the year to December 2009, mainly because no new models were launched in this segment through the year, to offset the declines of existing models.
Elsewhere, new model launches, such as Nissan Qashqai, Volkswagen Passatt CC, Mercedes CLC and locally-produced GAZ Siber bolstered their overall segment performances.
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The above data is provided by JATO Consult, the company’s bespoke consulting service which offers customers access to its unique data and provides solutions and advice to meet a wide range of automotive business challenges. For more information visit www.jato.com or email consult@jato.com.
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GOLF AND FIESTA STORM AHEAD IN RACE FOR SALES RECOVERY
???? Key models behind 7.5% market recovery in September
???? Golf, Fiesta, Punto and M?gane sales up over 50%, vs. September ‘08
???? VW Golf stays Europe’s most popular model; VW best-selling brand
A handful of key models remain the driving force behind a fragile European new car market recovery, according to the latest monthly analysis from JATO Dynamics, the world’s leading provider of automotive data and intelligence.
Boosted by their popularity in national scrappage schemes, the market-leading Volkswagen Golf, Ford Fiesta, Fiat Punto, Fiat Panda and Renault M?gane are the only best-sellers to increase their sales, YtD.
This is maintaining a tentative recovery, with the European new car market up 7.5% in September, and the YtD deficit reduced to 5.7%. The Golf sold 59,552 new vehicles in September which represents a 56% increase over the same period last year, providing good news for the German carmaker, whose Polo and Passat models fared less well in the month and are down YtD by 3.3% and 15.8% respectively.
Ford is keeping up the pressure, selling 51,291 new Fiestas in September, 63.9% more than a year ago and over 12,000 more new registrations than the thirdplaced Opel/ Vauxhall Corsa.
Fiat enjoyed another buoyant sales period, with both its Punto and Panda featuring in the top ten models with the Punto recording a 66.2% rise in sales for the month. Renault’s new M?gane rounds off the top ten, giving the French
manufacturer the accolade of the highest percentage sales increase in the month with a rise of 90.4%.
However, David Di Girolamo, Head of JATO Consult, remains unconvinced that these performances are sustainable: “We are still seeing the market recovery driven by small cars and new models – in other words, the popular choices in national scrappage schemes. This has clearly distorted the natural performance of some markets and models. Now the end is in sight for these incentives, we will be watching the market closely, to see if this recovery is sustainable,” he says.
Brand Performance
Volkswagen remains Europe’s top-selling car brand. Its seemingly healthy 3.7% YtD sales rise almost solely thanks to the performance of Golf, especially in its home market of Germany, where sales increased considerably for September. The remaining brands reveal the true extent of the downturn, with many still unable to match their 2008 YtD figures.
National Trends
The parlous state of most of the European automotive markets continued in September, with the majority still posting sales losses. Markets across Eastern Europe in particular are suffering with significant contractions in new car sales, the consequence of stricter loan policies introduced by financial institutions, recent VAT increases and a lack of Western-European-style scrappage schemes.
In contrast, the effect of Germany’s comprehensive scrappage incentive can be seen in its YtD performance, while the extension of the British scheme is expected to support UK national sales into 2010.
The above data is provided by JATO Consult, the company’s bespoke consulting service which offers customers access to its unique data and provides solutions and advice to meet a wide range of automotive business challenges. For more information visit www.jato.com, or email consult@jato.com.
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RUSSIAN NEW CAR MARKET ALMOST HALVES IN 12 MONTHS
???? Market crashes by 48.7%
???? Lada still the market leader; 26% market share, but sales down 45.1% YtD
???? Russian government acts to arrest decline
???? Volkswagen is only top brand to increase sales
JATO Dynamics, the world’s leading provider of automotive data and intelligence, reports that the Russian market has almost halved, suffering major sales losses in the first half of 2009.
The overall market is down 48.7% from January to June, compared to the same period in 2008.
“Russia is suffering more than any other region in world. Not even North America has seen new car registrations hit so heavily,” says Evangelos Hadjistavrou, Regional General Manager, JATO Dynamics. “Put more graphically, Russia has sold 676,428 fewer vehicles YtD, a figure barely comprehensible a few months ago. Not even government incentives to buy domestically-produced brands can protect manufacturers from the losses.”
Of the volume brands, only Volkswagen has managed to increase sales during the period, whilst all the vehicle segments have posted significant sales losses.
These losses could have been greater, but for action by the Russian government, including increasing support loans to customers of new Russian-built cars, costing less than 600,000 RUR (EUR 13,500; ?11,700), from August 2009. A further scrappage incentive has been announced for 2010, of 50,000 RUR (EUR 1,125; ?975), to arrest the decline of the new car market.
Brand Performance
Despite its own heavy sales losses, Lada continues its dominance of the Russian market, taking one quarter of the market. Of the top ten brands, Renault has suffered the least heavily with a 35.1% drop in sales, while Hyundai has seen almost two thirds (63.6%) of its Russian customers disappear in the first half of 2009.
10th placed Volkswagen has bucked the general trend, by posting a small increase in sales, the only brand to do so with any significant volume sales.
Further economic pressure on non-Russian brands this year has included an average 5% increase on Russian customs duties for 2009 imports, together with a 35% increase in the Euro/ Rouble exchange rate, giving a bleak outlook for the remainder of this year, with sales forecast half those of 2008, at less than 1.5 million.
Model Performance
Lada’s position of strength in the market is shown clearly by the performance of its models, filling the top four sales positions. Once again, all the top ten selling models have suffered significant losses in the market, with Lada’s Priora putting in the strongest performance with a relatively small drop in sales of 18.5%. The best-selling non-Lada model is
Ford’s Focus, built in St Petersburg. This also did better than most, seeing sales fall ‘only’ 36.8%. The worst top ten model performance was the Chevrolet Lacetti, losing just under 60% of the sales it had a year ago.
Segment Trends
Beneath the headline figures, the true pattern of sales is a startling reversal of Western Europe, with small-car segments suffering relatively more than larger car segments. The only segment posting a sales increase is the Medium MPV category, a small volume segment whose performance is completely accounted for by the introduction of the Nissan Qashqai.
Russia’s preference for petrol automatics and SUVs is shown in the enduring popularity of its Large SUV segment, which fell only 5.6%, while small and city car segments have each halved and the mini MPV segment – including Nissan Note, Citroen Berlingo and Ford C-MAX – fell by a shocking 61%.
The above data is provided by JATO Consult, the company’s bespoke consulting service which offers customers access to its unique data and provides solutions and advice to meet a wide range of automotive business challenges. For more information visit www.jato.com or email consult@jato.com.
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GOLF REMAINS EURO FAVOURITE AS SCRAPPAGE SHIFTS MARKET
- Scrappage drives recovery through small cars
- Fiesta sales up 55.9%
- VW Golf remains Europe’s most popular model
- Entire top ten models now C-segment or smaller
JATO Dynamics’ monthly analysis of the European new car market reveals just how popular scrappage schemes are making small cars, as the Volkswagen Golf remains Europe’s best-selling car.
In July, Italy’s Fiat had two of the best-performing models in the top ten, with both Punto and Panda boasting significant sales rises. These two models netted Fiat almost 58,000 sales in July 2009, or 50% more than a year ago. Ford’s new Fiesta is also performing well, rising 55.9%, in a July new car market where scrappage incentives are making small cars more popular and affordable than ever.
Year-to-date, the performances of both Ford and Fiat is equally impressive, with both posting sales increases over the same period, 2008. Fiesta and Panda have both increased their sales this year by a third.
“Markets where C/D and D-segment cars once dominated have now changed for the foreseeable future, a long-term process which has been accelerated by economic turbulence and scrappage schemes shifting demand”, says David Di Girolamo, Head of JATO Consult. “The clear winners for now are those brands recognised for their small cars.”
Many of the remaining models in the top ten are still down versus their own sales in 2008, despite holding their presence in the table, a stark reminder that European new-car sales overall are still struggling. Both Ford Focus and Opel/Vauxhall Astra show significant year-to-date sales drops.
The above data is provided by JATO Consult, the company’s bespoke consulting service which offers customers access to its unique data and provides solutions and advice to meet a wide range of automotive business challenges. For more information visit www.jato.com, or email consult@jato.com.
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GOLF STILL UNSTOPPABLE IN EUROPE
???? Golf remains Europe’s top seller up 32.8% over last year
???? Peugeot 308 a new chart entry in 2009
JATO Dynamics, the world’s leading provider of automotive data and intelligence, has released its monthly European new car market analysis for June and the ‘H1’ period of 2009. Unsurprisingly, the Volkswagen Golf continues to dominate the sales charts with sales up 32.8% on the same month last year as the Volkswagen brand continues to be the European number one in 2009.
The Golf has dominated in five of the six months during the H1 period of 2009, with only the second placed Ford Fiesta having borrowed its crown for a single month. The top four places have not changed in June with Peugeot 207 and Opel/Vauxhall Corsa holding their positions. The lower half of the chart has seen an amount of re-shuffling, with the Peugeot 308 a new entry in 10th spot.
“It’s easy to take the Golf’s dominance for granted, but its success in the face of newer opposition should not be overlooked”, says David Di Girolamo, Head of JATO Consult. “It’s hard to imagine it being overtaken by any other model in the final half of 2009, particularly if its home market in Germany continues to remain so strong.”
The above data is provided by JATO Consult, the company’s bespoke consulting service which offers customers access to its unique data and provides solutions and advice to meet a wide range of automotive business challenges. For more information visit www.jato.com, or email consult@jato.com.
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