New Year, Old Year

New Year. Results for 2012 are tallied, forecasts for 2013 are coming out. Here's a selection.

JAPAN: Toyota 2012 domestic sales rise 42%

29 January 2013

Toyota sold 1,537,371 new passenger cars in Japan in 2012, up 42.4% year on year. Total sales rose 40.9% to 1,692,228.

CHINA: Car market forecast to grow 11% in 2013

23 January 2013

Forecasters at IHS Automotive expect the Chinese passenger car market to expand by around 11% this year.

RUSSIA: Light vehicle market up 11% to new record in 2012

16 January 2013

The AEB has announced that the Russian light vehicle market grew by 11% last year to reach 2.94m units.

CHINA: Vehicle market 19.3m units in 2012

15 January 2013

According to data issued by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), Chinese vehicles sales increased by 4.3% to 19.3m units in 2012. CAAM forecasts that total vehicle sales in the world's largest market will rise by around 7% this year to 20.65m units.

US: KPMG survey suggests enthusiasm for pure EVs 'wanes'

11 January 2013

An annual survey by management consultants KPMG suggests that fuel efficiency remains the top concern among a cost-conscious driving public.

BELGIUM: Toyota Europe 2012 sales up 2% "in a sharply declining market"

10 January 2013

Despite what it called "a declining European market", Toyota Motor Europe (TME) on Thursday (10 January, 2013) announced a 2% year on year sales increase for 2012 to 837,969 vehicles.

POLAND: Output falls following drop in exports

10 January 2013

Car production in Poland fell by a third year on year in December 2012 following big factory lay-offs at Fiat.

INDIA: SIAM lowers car sales forecast again

10 January 2013

Car sales in India are expected to post their weakest growth in nine years as automakers struggle with with falling demand caused by high interest rates and rising ownership costs.

GERMANY/UK: Germans' British luxury brands do well in 2012

10 January 2013

The super-luxury brands owned by Germany's Volkswagen and BMW groups both posted healthy sales growth in 2012. VW's Bentley announced global growth of 22% year on year to 8,510 cars, following the worldwide dealer count rising 10%, while BMW's Rolls-Royce said it booked a "record" 3,575 cars but did not provide a 2011 comparison.

GERMANY: BMW group books record sales in 2012

10 January 2013

BMW Group sales in 2012 totalled 1,845,186 units worldwide, up 10.6% year on year. All three brands - BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce posted records last year.

SOUTH KOREA: Ssangyong shows year on year growth

9 January 2013

Indian-owned South Korean carmaker Ssangyong posted a growth of 6.3% in 2012 with sales of 120,717 units led by a strong growth in its home market.

CANADA: Sales rise as confidence picks up

9 January 2013

Vehicle sales in Canada rose 5.7% year on year in 2012 to 1.68m, the second highest tally on record, lifted by demand for European imports and well priced Korean models.

UAE: GM Middle East sales rise 3% in December

9 January 2013

General Motors Middle East (GMME) recorded its second best December sales in 2012 - up 3% year on year to 14,413 vehicles as the Chevrolet and Cadillac brands booked record month and full year volume.

COLOMBIA: Sales off 3% but 2012 still second best year ever

9 January 2013

A decrease in export market demand for Colombian products and commodities combined with domestic speculation about car tax reform and the free trade agreement (FTA) with the US – with its consequent fall in car prices - made 2012 one of the most difficult in recent memory for the local auto industry.

UK: Western European car sales fell by 16.2% in December; off 8% for the year

8 January 2013

Car sales in Western Europe fell by 16.2% in the month of December to leave sales for the full-year down 8.2% (at 11.76m units) as economic problems across the continent continued to depress new car demand.

UK: 2012 new car market tops 2m and hits four-year high

7 January 2013

The UK new car market rose 5.3% in 2012 to over 2m units, the best result since recession struck in 2008. The positive result contrasts with declines in other major European national car markets.

AUSTRALIA: Another 1m-plus record sales year

4 January 2013

Official VFACTS data released on Friday (4 January) by Australia's Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) showed 1,112,032 new passenger cars, SUVs and commercial vehicles were delivered in 2012, setting a new record.

ITALY: Car market down 20% in 2012

4 January 2013

Italy's car market declined by almost a fifth in 2012 as new car demand reeled under the impact of economic recession, fiscal austerity and renewed political uncertainty.

US: Strong December pushes 2012 light vehicle sales to 14.5m

4 January 2013

Despite consumer and business uncertainties about the fiscal cliff, US light vehicle sales remained robust in December, pushing total deliveries for the year to 14,492,398, close to the upper end of most analyst predictions.

US: VW CEO "cautious" on 2013 growth

3 January 2013

Volkswagen America's CEO is taking a "cautious" view of US market development in 2013.

GERMANY: Car market down 2.9% in 2012

3 January 2013

Car sales in Germany declined by 2.9% in 2012 to reach 3.08m units, according to data released by the VDIK association of car importers.

INDIA: Some automakers see December sales fall

3 January 2013

Automakers in India ended 2012 on a dull note with some reporting a year on year drop in sales for December.

INDONESIA: Sales approach 1.1m units in 2012

3 January 2013

New vehicle sales in Indonesia are expected to approach 1.1m units in 2012 – which would represent a 23% increase on the previous year’s 893,164 units.

NEW ZEALAND: New vehicle sales top 100,000 in 2012

3 January 2013

“Preliminary industry registration data shows total new vehicle sales for 2012 topped 100,000 units,” said Perry Kerr, chief executive officer of New Zealand's Motor Industry Association (MIA).

SOUTH KOREA: Hyundai predicts 4.1% sales rise in 2013

2 January 2013

Hyundai Motor Group has forecast a modest 4.1% increase in car sales this year to 7.4m units with the strong won harming competitiveness.

SOUTH KOREA: Hyundai group overseas output tops domestic for first time

2 January 2013

It's a scenario already familiar to Japanese automakers but now Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group has built more cars overseas in a year than it made at home in South Korea.

SOUTH KOREA: Automakers’ yearly sales rise 5.7%

2 January 2013

After coping with negative factors including the eurozone fiscal crisis last year, Korean automakers booked strong overseas sales despite a slump at home.

GERMANY: Opel ‘plans 10% production cut’

2 January 2013

Opel plans to cut 2013 production by over 10%, according to German magazine Spiegel.

US: Light vehicle market forecast to hit 15.3m in 2013

2 January 2013

New light vehicle registrations in the US in 2013 are forecast by Polk to rise 6.6% over last year to reach 15.3m units.

FRANCE: 2012 car market down 13.9%

2 January 2013

The French car market declined by 13.9% last year to a little under 1.9m units, according to data issued by the CCFA automotive trade body.

JAPAN: Global market set for growth - Ghosn

2 January 2013

The global car market will grow by between 3-4% this year to a record 82m vehicles, Nissan president Carlos Ghosn predicted.

SPAIN: 2012 sales down 13%

2 January 2013

A dismal December when new car sales plunged 23% from year-ago levels led to an annual decline of 13.2% in 2012 with little expectation of improvement in 2013, according to Spanish car makers’ association Anfac.