Allrounder cars soar in sales rankings
INDUSTRY NEWS/ The first quarter of 2017 produced some big winners and losers in global passenger car sales numbers, writes Michael Taylor
Booming SUVs and crossovers have flown into the ranks of the top-selling cars for the first quarter of 2017, with Ford’s FSeries leading the way.
Ford sold almost a quarter of a million F-Series models in the first quarter, with demand for the aluminium-bodied truck growing 10% over the first quarter 2016, which is even more remarkable given that it’s essentially a one-continent machine sold only in the US.
UP THE CHARTS
Nissan’s X-Trail/Rogue scorched up the sales charts, growing 23.4% to shoulder its way into the world’s top three sellers, just 2,376 behind Toyota’s evergreen Corolla, which remains in the number two slot in figures released by Jato Dynamics.
The death of the small car and the hatchback are exaggerated so far, with three of them in the top 10 and 12 in the top 30, including three from Volkswagen alone and two each from Honda and Ford.
Remarkably, the strongestselling premium car, MercedesBenz’s C-Class, burst through with 23.4% growth, lifting it to 127,587 deliveries, outselling budget cars such as Ford’s Fiesta and Hyundai’s Jazz/Fit and larger models such as Honda’s Accord and Volkswagen’s Passat.
The research showed the FSeries sprinting away from its pick-up rivals in the US, with the Ram in 15th and the Chevrolet Silverado one place behind.
In terms of playing depth, Volkswagen had six strong sellers in the top 30, including the China-only Lavida at number 18, and four in the top 20. Honda delivered five of the top 30, while Ford had four.
The world’s biggest car market contributed in force, with three Chinese-built models in the top 30, including Wulung’s Hongguang people-mover at number seven, with 175,945 sales, the Volkswagen Lavida at number 18 and the Haval (GWM) H6 at number 25.
Another stand-out performer was Skoda’s Octavia, which came in at number 29 without selling much in either of the world’s two biggest markets, the US and China.
Japanese car manufacturers had 12 players in the top 30, while Germany had seven (eight, if you include the Volkswagen Group’s Skoda Octavia), the US had six (two of which were European-designed small cars), while Chinese and Korean brands had two each.
TIGUAN TOPS
Volkswagen’s new Tiguan saw the sharpest jump in sales, growing an astonishing 47.9% from the first quarter of 2016 to this year’s first quarter to land 172,623 sales. Honda’s new Civic jumped 31.7% in the same period and Nissan had two screaming performers, with X-Trail sales growing 23.4% and Qashqai sales up 16.6%.
On the flipside, Ford’s Focus shed 13.5% of its 2016 first quarter sales, Volkswagen’s Jetta/ Bora slipped 11.2%, the Hongguang fell 11%, the Honda Jazz/Fit fell 10.2% and Toyota’s Camry sales were down 9.2%.