UK Auto Sales By Brand - March 2012

The UK auto market grew 1.8% in March 2012 as private registrations jumped 7.4%, the SMMT says. Volkswagen, Audi, Nissan, BMW, Peugeot, Toyota, and Mercedes-Benz are the major automakers which exceeded the overall market's year-over-year increase. Vauxhall, the second-ranked brand, was down 7.1%. 

Ford, the United Kingdom's best-selling automobile brand, was up 1.9% in March and 3.5% in the first quarter. As we reported yesterday, seven out of every ten Fords sold were either Foci or Fiestas. The same rate applies to Vauxhall's Corsa and Astra. 64% of Volkswagens registered in March were Golfs or Polos. 

Audi was again Britain's top-ranked premium brand, a statement some deem provocative given Audi's £13,420 price of entry. (Audi also sells the £116,710 R8 V10 Spyder.) Audi has led BMW in each of 2012's first three months. 

In terms of group market share, which you can study by clicking the chart at the bottom of this post, Volkswagen's brand cornucopia garnered 19% of the overall market in March 2012. That's down from 22.9% in February. GM and Ford market share slid, but only slightly. Toyota's share of the market grew by nearly two percentage points from February's 3.5% to March's 5.3%. Land Rover and Jaguar's share grew by more than two percentage points, all the way to 3.9%. That's better market share than the Fiat group managed; more than Honda, too.

A complete rundown of each automaker's UK sales in March 2012 can be viewed in the table below. No major automaker posted greater year-over-year gains than Skoda, Volkswagen's Czech subsidiary. Lotus sales plunged 82%. Don't miss the Canadian and U.S. versions of this March Auto Sales By Brand post while you're visiting GCBC. Ford's #1 there, as well.

Rank	Automaker	March 2012	%  Change	Year To Date	YTD  % Change
#1	Ford	53,830	+ 1.9%	82,848	+ 3.5%
#2	Vauxhall	38,624	- 7.1%	57,836	- 13.3%
#3	Volkswagen	30,756	+ 9.6%	49,873	+ 6.8%
#4	Audi	23,416	+ 12.9%	35,962	+ 9.6%
#5	Nissan	20,586	+ 21.4%	30,081	+ 20.3%
#6	BMW	20,566	+ 14.3%	30,063	- 0.8%
#7	Peugeot	18,969	+ 2.0%	29,411	+ 3.2%
#8	Toyota	18,032	+ 11.4%	25,760	+ 8.7%
#9	Mercedes-Benz	16,334	+ 10.5%	25,576	+ 13.0%
#10	Citroen	12,995	+ 0.6%	19,585	- 4.7%
#11	Hyundai	11,715	+ 3.3%	17,761	+ 2.4%
#12	Land Rover	11,490	+ 14.0%	15,810	+ 19.2%
#13	Kia	11,178	+ 11.7%	17,211	+ 17.3%
#14	Honda	10,134	- 8.1%	14,747	- 13.4%
#15	Fiat	8730	+ 2.6%	13,059	+ 5.8%
#16	Skoda	8507	+ 32.5%	13,878	+ 24.2%
#17	Mini	8451	- 9.3%	11,306	- 6.6%
#18	Renault	7364	- 50.0%	11,581	- 43.2%
#19	Mazda	6869	- 1.6%	9708	- 7.1%
#20	Seat	6817	- 6.0%	10,084	- 3.7%
#21	Suzuki	5941	+ 19.6%	7711	+ 12.5%
#22	Volvo	5637	- 14.4%	8875	- 6.0%
#23	Jaguar	2907	- 1.5%	4020	- 0.4%
#24	Chevrolet	2743	+ 9.1%	5282	+ 40.4%
#25	Lexus	1744	+ 0.6%	2692	+ 18.3%
#26	Alfa Romeo	1540	- 32.1%	2309	- 26.7%
#27	Mitsubishi	1417	- 43.4%	2102	- 41.2%
#28	Porsche	1160	+ 31.2%	1728	+ 27.6%
#29	smart	972	- 12.9%	1488	- 0.07%
#30	Chrysler	634	+ 407%	782	+ 293%
#31	Subaru	542	- 27.0%	920	- 8.6%
#32	Jeep	444	+ 32.5%	682	+ 48.6%
#33	Abarth	282	- 2.1%	362	- 9.7%
#34	MG	236	+ 2850%	446	+ 2378%
#35	Aston Martin	207	- 7.2%	303	- 4.4%
#36	Bentley	198	+ 20.0%	329	+ 30.0%
#37	Ssangyong	171	+ 4175%	233	+ 3229%
#38	Saab	105	- 94.1%	114	- 95.2%
#39	Infiniti	102	+ 117%	144	+ 54.8%
#40	Perodua	83	- 20.2%	135	- 11.8%
#41	Proton	59	- 39.8%	95	- 39.5%
#42	Maserati	48	- 21.3%	99	- 9.2%
#43	Lotus	10	- 81.8%	35	- 73.7%

Source: Automakers & SMMT

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Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
UK Auto Sales By Brand - April 2012
UK Auto Sales By Brand - February 2012
UK Auto Sales By Brand - January 2012
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - March 2012

UK Auto Sales By Brand - October 2011

Britain's new car market grew 2.6% in October 2011 despite the efforts of 25 brands to pull the market down. Apart from the disappearance of Cadillac, Daihatsu, and Dodge (which combined for 24 sales last October) no decline was worse than the year-over-year plunge reported by Lotus. Down 93%, from 61 sales to just four, Lotus's plans for the future aren't helping the brand now. 

On the flip side, Ssangyong sales rose 290%, an increase which translated to only 29 extra sales this year. Lexus was up 82%. Land Rover sales shot up 63%. Hyundai improved at a 60% clip. Honda and Kia both posted 55% gains. 

None of these brands compare with Ford, Vauxhall, and Volkswagen, at least not in terms of overall volume and outright popularity. Of the three, only Volkswagen has posted a ten-month improvement compared with 2010. Of the three, only Volkswagen failed to post a year-over-year improvement in October. 

No luxury automaker competing in the United Kingdom sold more vehicles than BMW in October 2011. Though BMW sales were down and Audi sales were up, BMW's 1408-unit victory collapsed Audi's year-to-date lead down to 189 units.

Honda beat Hyundai and Toyota but the order is reversed if you consider all vehicles registered so far this year. Land Rover sold more than 2.6 times more vehicles than Mazda. And as you'll see in the market share chart below the rankings, Jaguar/Land Rover owned 2.8% of the overall UK new vehicle market in October. 

There were nearly 135,000 new vehicles sold in the United Kingdom in October 2011. That means Brits bought one new car every time Americans bought 7.6 new cars. Britons have bought approximately 340,000 more new vehicles than Canadians have in the first ten months of 2011. Ford is the best-selling brand in the United States, the United Kingdom, and in Canada. 17.7 of Canada's new car market this year has been owned by the Ford Motor Company. Compare that with 13.8% in the UK and 16.8% in the U.S.

The United Kingdom's October 2011 auto sales output is chronicled below. Keep scrolling for a market share pie chart. Check out last month's UK Auto Sales By Brand post here.

Rank	Automaker	October 2011	%  Change	Year To Date	YTD  % Change
#1	Ford	18,476	+13.0	233,104	-5.5
#2	Vauxhall	16,008	+0.2	204,121	-4.9
#3	Volkswagen	12,106	-5.5	155,565	+3.0
#4	BMW	8985	-10.5	99,712	+8.3
#5	Audi	7577	+14.5	99,901	+13.1
#6	Nissan	6385	+7.6	83,569	+8.4
#7	Renault	6358	-15.2	59,699	-28.3
#8	Peugeot	6253	-0.7	84,153	-11.9
#9	Mercedes-Benz	5916	+19.1	70,987	+10.6
#10	Honda	4889	+55.4	44,453	-19.8
#11	Hyundai	4877	+59.5	53,968	-1.7
#12	Toyota	4655	-11.9	62,773	-18.7
#13	Citroen	4654	-6.3	59,621	-7.1
#14	Kia	4272	+55.1	47,525	-5.5
#15	Mini	3302	+3.7	41,449	+15.1
#16	Land Rover	3044	+63.3	31,728	-2.8
#17	Skoda	2944	+3.9	39,241	+11.0
#18	Fiat	2849	-19.7	37,041	-21.9
#19	Seat	2204	+5.8	31,066	+10.0
#20	Volvo	2051	-36.0	28,166	-14.9
#21	Mazda	1153	-49.9	28,223	-29.6
#22	Chevrolet	794	+10.4	10,867	-9.0
T23	Alfa Romeo	786	-6.8	10,266	+47.7
T23	Suzuki	786	-15.1	17,737	-4.8
#25	Jaguar	713	-11.5	12,050	-13.6
#26	Lexus	551	+81.9	6713	+19.3
#27	Porsche	545	-9.0	5141	-7.7
#28	Mitsubishi	500	-35.6	8883	-16.1
#29	smart	362	-3.5	4391	-34.8
#30	Subaru	176	-14.7	2350	-28.4
#31	Jeep	122	+17.3	1791	+4.3
#32	Abarth	71	-5.3	1156	-5.9
#33	Bentley	70	-17.7	921	+3.4
#34	Saab	60	-84.1	4106	-9.8
#35	Aston Martin	57	-40.6	909	-3.4
#36	Infiniti	56	+51.4	280	+77.2
#37	Perodua	42	-4.6	491	-28.2
#38	Chrysler	41	-50.0	839	-33.7
#39	Ssangyong	39	+290.0	71	-69.1
#40	Maserati	36	+33.3	347	-15.4
#41	Proton	20	-57.5	395	-42.4
#42	MG	15	-6.3	242	-9.0
#43	Lotus	4	-93.4	281	-37.3

Source: SMMT 
Red font indicates declining sales, year-over-year. Luxury auto brands are shown in bold.

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Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
United Kingdom Auto Sales By Brand - October 2012
UK Auto Sales By Brand - November 2011
UK Auto Sales By Brand - September 2011
UK Auto Sales By Brand - August 2011
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - October 2011
U.S. Auto Sales By Brand - October 2011
Canada Auto Sales By Brand - October 2011

13 Manual Transmission Only Cars In 2011

The automotive enthusiast world was aghast when Ferrari decided that manual transmissions would die off as models were replaced. Ferrari wasn't lying: the only new Ferrari model available with a clutch is the 599 GTB Fiorano. Praise has been heaped upon Lamborghini for its ingenious independent shifting rod transmission, the clutchless device that'll send power to the wheels of the new Aventador. Porsche and BMW, meanwhile, two former bastions of manual transmission glory, now seem to believe Doppelkupplung and M DCT Drivelogic are routes to the future. Perhaps the sweetest shifting car known to man, the 2011 Mazda RX-8, is available with a 6-speed automatic that saps 20 horsepower from the rotary engine. Sucky.

This isn't about saving the manuals à la Car And Driver, however. There remain plenty of manual transmissions on the market, particularly if you're willing to accept base models which sometimes aren't even available without a clutch. Setting aside such models, there are only 13 cars on sale in North America right now* built exclusively with a manual transmission. 

Before you assume The Good Car Guy despises any vehicle that forbids the driver from operating a clutch, be mindful of a few sports injuries (skiing, then tennis, eventually basketball) that have forced automatic transmissions into the family. Oh, rowing your own is a blast, a blast generally enjoyed by this left ankle for no more than three or four days. This is only mentioned so you don't mistake this post for a dose of ridicule aimed at automakers who only celebrate the arrival of new clutchless technology. No, interpret this list as a celebration of inevitably rare cars, specific models that don't take kindly to the phrase, "Can I get it with an automatic? I have a long, high-traffic commute and my ankle swells up."

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BMW 1-Series M Coupe
Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Chevrolet Corvette Z06
Chevrolet Corvette ZR1
Ford Mustang Boss 302
Ford Mustang Shelby GT500
Honda Civic Si
Lotus Elise
Lotus Exige
Mazda MazdaSpeed 3
Porsche 911 GT3 / Porsche 911 GT3 RS
Porsche 911 GT2 RS
Subaru Impreza WRX / Subaru Impreza WRX STi
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Know of other non-base model cars that are always built with a foot-operated clutch? Leave a comment and the list will be upgraded immediately.

* Honourable Mention: The Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X GSR  is sold exclusively with a 5-speed manual. Thing is, the GSR is actually the basic Lancer Evolution - we decided to exclude base models from this list, remember? -  and the up-market MR is sold without a clutch. Also, at least initially, we're led to believe the 2012 Ford Focus ST will be fitted with a 6-speed manual transmission only.

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