August winners & losers
September 9th, 2009 by Richard Aucock
AUGUST is normally a quiet month for car dealers – but for some, it’s bucked a trend with rocketing interest!
Hyundai car dealers, for example, recorded a staggering 322 percent rise in sales, chiefly thanks to the scrappage scheme.
This has seen its i10 city car do the unthinkable, and appear on the top 10 best sellers list – in THIRD place. What’s more, look at retail sales alone, and it was actually the UK’s BEST SELLING model in August.
SsangYong is another maker that’s enjoyed big gains – but, as Car Dealer Magazine has pointed out, this is not down to scrappage. Indeed, the 4×4 maker has so far recorded just two scrappage sales. All the cars its dealers are selling are done on the strength of the offer alone, not any Government-added extras.
Kia is in third place, with Fiat fourth. Proving that the recession could just be turning came from Aston Martin, which recorded a near-79 percent rise in new car sales.
Alfa Romeo and Dodge dealers were also buoyed by hefty sales increases.
But it’s not good news for all brands. Saab is the biggest casualty, with sales of its limited range of cars plunging 91 percent. Bentley offers the counterpoint to the hope offered by Aston Martin, too – its sales fell 75 percent.
Lotus was down, but as car dealers were in the middle of preparing for the all-important Evora, this is not seen as too concerning.
Bigger news are the plunges by Vauxhall and Renault. These two brands are big-volume makers in the UK, so the respective falls of 36 percent and 34 percent add up to a lot of cars.
Also surprisingly down were Skoda and Volvo, despite the former’s strong activity in the scrappage arena.
Question is, do these statistics reflect what actually happened in YOUR franchise car dealer during August? We’d be interested to hear from you, whatever your views…
By Richard Aucock
August 2009 winners
Hyundai: 322.7%
SsangYong: 160%
Kia: 135.4%
Fiat: 85.7%
Aston Martin: 78.9%
Nissan: 77.2%
Alfa Romeo: 59.2%
Suzuki: 55.4%
Dodge: 54.4%
Toyota: 33.5%
August 2009 losers
Saab: -91.4%
Bentley: -75.5%
Lotus: -58.8%
Jeep: -36.9%
Vauxhall: -36.7%
Renault: -34.2%
Skoda: -33.2%
Volvo: -24.5%
Daihatsu: -23.9%
Perodua: -17.9%
August sales prove scrap ‘key’
Tags: new car sales, SMMT