UK Auto Sales By Brand – December 2011

Brits acquired slightly less than 120,000 new cars in December 2011, down 1.8% from December 2010. Ford surrendered its normal top spot amongst automakers to Vauxhall, sales of which tumbled 5%. Year end numbers have Ford out in front by more than 30,000 units.

The best-selling premium brand in the United Kingdom in December was BMW. Fending off a surging Audi couldn’t have been easy, but the blue and white propeller-badged German brand beat the four rings by 1225 sales. Audi topped Mercedes-Benz by 1495 sales.

Honda, the global whipping boy after a 2011 which never went its way, finished December in 18th spot, behind Land Rover, Skoda, and Mini. That’s not a good thing. Honda sales were down 41% in the UK in December.

In the key two-player battles, Hyundai easily beat Kia. The same could not be said for Hyundai in November. Aston Martin topped Bentley by two cars in the battle of British execu-cars. As for VW underlings, Skoda beat Seat. Among the French, Peugeot nipped Renault; Citroen was third in that group.

Now that December’s numbers are here, 2011’s year-to-date figures take on greater importance. Scan through the table, enlarge the market share chart, and then start examining the 2011 year end UK auto sales figures.

Rank	Automaker	December 2011	% Change	Year To Date	YTD % Change
#1	Vauxhall	15,782	– 4.6%	234,710	– 5.1%
#2	Ford	14,689	+ 5.3%	265,894	– 5.2%
#3	Volkswagen	10,549	– 2.6%	179,290	+ 2.7%
#4	BMW	7535	+ 2.2%	116,642	+ 6.6%
#5	Audi	6310	+ 24.3%	113,797	+ 14.0%
#6	Nissan	5789	– 9.6%	96,269	+ 7.4%
#7	Toyota	5495	+ 13.2%	73,589	– 15.8%
#8	Hyundai	5422	+ 74.5%	62,900	+ 1.9%
#9	Mercedes-Benz	4815	– 9.6%	81,873	+ 9.2%
#10	Peugeot	4643	– 24.9%	94,989	– 13.1%
#11	Renault	4548	– 24.3%	68,449	– 28.4%
#12	Mini	4278	– 10.4%	50,138	+ 14.2%
#13	Citroen	4030	+ 13.3%	68,464	– 6.6%
#14	Skoda	2878	– 0.6%	45,061	+ 9.3%
#15	Land Rover	2747	+ 22.9%	37,637	+ 1.0%
#16	Kia	2509	+ 1.8%	53,615	– 4.5%
#17	Seat	2485	+ 21.9%	36,089	+ 9.6%
#18	Honda	2261	– 40.9%	50,577	– 20.5%
#19	Fiat	2203	– 22.4%	41,612	– 21.6%
#20	Volvo	2001	– 14.2%	32,657	– 12.8%
#21	Mazda	1635	– 33.1%	31,219	– 31.3%
#22	Suzuki	1222	– 23.1%	20,295	– 5.5%
#23	Jaguar	813	– 25.6%	13,787	– 16.0%
#24	Porsche	718	+ 17.1%	6382	– 5.9%
#25	Chevrolet	705	– 21.1%	12,524	– 8.4%
#26	Lexus	683	+ 213%	8269	+ 33.3%
#27	Alfa Romeo	608	– 43.6%	11,563	+ 30.9%
#28	Mitsubishi	469	– 45.2%	9843	– 19.4%
#29	smart	335	– 24.4%	5044	– 34.1%
#30	Jeep	213	+ 14.5%	2146	+ 3.3%
#31	Subaru	131	– 66.8%	2634	– 32.4%
#32	MG	111	+ 1010%	360	+ 27.7%
#33	Chrysler	109	+ 19.8%	1182	– 15.1%
#34	Abarth	78	– 10.3%	1291	– 9.4%
#35	Aston Martin	53	– 25.4%	1024	– 5.2%
T36	Bentley	51	+ 6.3%	1037	+ 4.4%
T36	Ssangyong	51	+ 1600%	194	– 19.8%
#38	Infiniti	34	– 22.7%	382	+ 64.7%
#39	Perodua	21	– 43.2%	543	– 28.7%
#40	Proton	21	– 44.7%	446	– 41.9%
#41	Maserati	18	– 30.8%	388	– 14.9%
#42	Lotus	10	– 80.4%	329	– 43.0%
#43	Saab	8	– 98.9%	4138	– 29.8%