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Who wins ... and who loses!
by Stephen Walker
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In analysing the September sales figures, it seems some drops in volume are big and some are real big. For example, Lexus is down 16.7% from a year ago (503 units in September 2006 vs 604 units in September 2005) as more and more buyers find compelling reasons to look elsewhere. BMW's decline is, also, high at 14.7% (1,193 vs 1,398) and Mercedes-Benz is down 10.1% (1,466 vs 1,630). Yet Audi is up 30% (520 vs 400 units) and Saab is up 26.3% (125 vs 99). Jaguar, Volvo and Alfa Romeo have each recorded a more modest increase. Down the market a little sees Volkswagen and Peugeot continue their upward climb! Volkswagen is up a massive 52.7% (2,123 vs 1,390) as more and more folks warm to the increased model selection. The widely available diesel models are a big benefit to Volkswagen. Meanwhile, Peugeot, who also offer a strong diesel range, have increased by a huge 27.8% (782 vs 612 units). Renault and Mitsubishi are both up by tiny margins. And Honda, Mazda and Subaru are up too. All three South Korean brands fell in September 2006 against September 2005. Kia lead the drop with 35.4%, followed by Ssangyong with a drop of 27.1% and Hyundai fell 13%. The Next Car team doesn't recommend any of these three brands in our advice to readers who contact us by e-mail. Accordingly, we see benefit in falling sales of these brands. 
Two newcomers to the market, Fiat and Dodge, are both off to a slow start. The Fiat
Grand Punto and Dodge Caliber are both very low in the sales charts. Both compete in
very tough market segments against some very good cars. It seems to me that the better
cars are still attracting the buyers. And that is good news! Toyota is down 10.5% as buyers tell the market some brands must go down whilst
others must go up! And this is what it is all about ..... the buyers decide who wins
and who loses! | ||||
