What are the best selling cars in your country?

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I find the overall degree of national loyalty interesting, even where it's just loyalty to a badge. We only have Vauxhall, and GMs seem to sell well enough all over, no matter what badge they're sporting.
 
I find the overall degree of national loyalty interesting, even where it's just loyalty to a badge. We only have Vauxhall, and GMs seem to sell well enough all over, no matter what badge they're sporting.

I think the reason why (at least in Australia) a locally engineered car is preferred is because they seem better suited to local conditions, eg the suspension in Commodore's and Falcon's deal with the local roads better than most cars etc.
 
I think the reason why (at least in Australia) a locally engineered car is preferred is because they seem better suited to local conditions, eg the suspension in Commodore's and Falcon's deal with the local roads better than most cars etc.

I was thinking of the Europeans as the best examples. If you look back through this thread, where do Skoda sell lots of cars? Volvo? Are there any non-German cars being sold in Germany? We all pretty much have similar roads and there won't really be much price difference between local and other regional brands.
 
We all pretty much have similar roads and there won't really be much price difference between local and other regional brands.

I wouldn't generalize that. Maybe you are right with the country roads and inner city roads.

But when you cross the border from Germany to Holland and vice versa on the motorway, you'll notice a difference right away: In Holland you can use the motorways without your hands on the wheel, because the ruts are as deep as tank tracks :mrgreen:

If you ask me: The fact that we don't have a general speed limit here also helps to keep our motorways in a better condition.
 
Our roads (in the UK) were stuffed when we had to take 50 tonners from the continent, they were banned before and 34 tonne (or something like that) weight limit was enforced deliberately. The UKs roads are not engineered for the extra weight, you get more road for less money (daft idea IMHO but thats what we had) - one reason why they are always dug up and sh1t.

Back OT - we buy the best for the local conditions, very little home is best (Everything has shut down). It is a bit like wine, no where else in Europe do the get the whole world selection of wines that are available in any supermarket here, this is because we do not have a home wine industry to protect. Go to a French supermarket and try to buy Australian you will see what I mean.
 
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Oh gawd. It's a Megane over here. I'm actually surprised theres a whole bunch of Frenchies in front of the German Gr?ndlichkeit....

it used to be the VW Golf for dozens of years, after 2002 it was the Astra, and now the Renault.

2007

01. Renault M?gane: 19 270
02. Peugeot 207: 16.779
03. VW Golf: 15.960
04. Opel Astra: 14.231
05. Citro?n C4: 13.575
06. Opel Corsa: 13.016
07. BMW Serie 3: 12.779
08. VW Polo: 12.662
09. Ford Focus: 12.148
10. Renault Clio: 11.608
11. Citro?n C3: 11.063
12. Peugeot 307: 10.973
13. Audi A4: 9.473
14. Ford Fiesta: 8.060
15. VW Passat: 7.890
16. Opel Zafira: 7.738
17. Toyota Corolla: 7.721
18. Audi A6: 6.955
19. Citro?n Berlingo: 6.838
20. Toyota Yaris: 6.623
 
Cross-country comparisons seem misleading as there's probably a lot of variation in how sales are counted.

For example, all pick-up sales are counted as passenger sales in the US even though a large percentage of these sales are for business/commercial/fleet use. No doubt, a lot of pick-ups sold in the US are indeed for personal use, but including fleet/commercial sales inflates the numbers. I also don't think too many Americans are using a Ford Econoline as their daily driver. Do the European sales take commercial vehicle sales into account? It seems like European sales figures are purely cars for personal use.

Also, counting all F-series and Silverado sales as one model is very misleading. There's literally dozens of widely varying F-series models, for example. It's like saying a (relatively) small F-150 and a giant F-650 based commercial wrecker are the same model.

Lastly, it's always funny to me that Europeans apparently think we all drive Chrysler and Buick land yachts over here. The best selling cars in America are all Japanese. This has been the case for at least a decade. The Honda Accord and the Toyota Camry are the epitome of mainstream American cars.
 
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Well, as long as trucks outsell cars in the USA, it is justified to think that, considerung that nobody buys them here ;)

The numbers I posted, are the official vehicle registration figures for new cars in Germany. It does not take in account for what purpose the cars where bought. Just the naked numbers.

I'm sure there are a lot of commercial/company cars among them but I suppose that's the same in every country.
 
It's another example of the USA's strange relationship to the pickup. In other lists you might imagine that various vans and other commercial vehicles might have a chance of getting in, but they are discounted because they are commercial. I'll bet there are vehicles available in the US that are considered to be commercial vehicles rather than passenger vehicles because they don't look like American style pickups while having the same capabilities.
 
Not really. Please tell us what other vehicle you can back OR top load with farming supplies, dirt, an engine on a pallet, home appliances, half that stupid antiques store your spouse made you stop in at, motorcycles, or 4' x 8' pieces of plywood WITHOUT having stuff hanging out the back.

Also, are you aware that pickups can be had desperately cheap (and that this was the case even in economic boom times)? You can get a full sized US pickup in the US for $9995 NEW if you time it right and are an enlightened and careful shopper. That's cheaper than pretty much any car from the same maker.

What amuses me is Britain's fascination with truly tiny and useless cars like the G-Wiz. :D
 
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We use something called "trailer" for such purposes here :) And you can rent them very cheap, if you don't have an own one. For example you can get one from every DIY store, when you have bought something too big for your Golf.

That aside, vans are used here for transporting goods. Much better suited, because it can be locked and the goods are protected from the weather (it sometimes rains here) ;)

And be honest: How many days a year do you really need the capacity of a truck? 5 days? 10 days? The other 355 days you simply carry 2 tons of unnecessary heavy metal around.

What amuses me is Britain's fascination with truly tiny and useless cars like the G-Wiz. :D

Obviously you have never driven a car through the center of a European city. I tell you what: You try a Saturday shopping tour here with a pickup truck and if you don't get insane after 30 minutes, I buy you a crate of German beer ;)
 
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Not really. Please tell us what other vehicle you can back OR top load with farming supplies, dirt, an engine on a pallet, home appliances, half that stupid antiques store your spouse made you stop in at, motorcycles, or 4' x 8' pieces of plywood WITHOUT having stuff hanging out the back.

Also, are you aware that pickups can be had desperately cheap (and that this was the case even in economic boom times)? You can get a full sized US pickup in the US for $9995 NEW if you time it right and are an enlightened and careful shopper. That's cheaper than pretty much any car from the same maker.

What amuses me is Britain's fascination with truly tiny and useless cars like the G-Wiz. :D

Interesting question, but if I have to haul all that crap, I either rent a van for a day or use a trailer. Besides, how many times a year do you need all that storage space anyway?

And it's not just Britain that's fascinated by small cars (not the Gwiz obviously because thats not a car, its a piece of plastic shit). It's all over Europe, because we have desperately overcrowded cities with super tiny parking spaces.

I drove to Gent the other week and was amazed that my Astra (which is by no means a super small car) barely fits the regular underground carpark spaces. A mate of mine with a BMW 3 series had to get out the passenger side because he was so wedged in, both front and rear wheels were on the white lines.

So in such an environment, small and frugal cars make sense, a huge Ford pickup with a 5.7L V8 does not.

Smart cars FTW!
 
MacGuffin:

I have driven a car through the center of London, and through Paris.

I don't understand why more people there don't ride motorcycles or scooters instead. They'd be even smaller, more fuel efficient, and almost certainly safer:

advgwiz.gif


As for the trailer... yes, we have them here, too. They cost $50 per day, are often in poor shape and are easily stolen. Next?

Pickup trucks can also have covers installed over the bed on a permanent or temporary basis to protect what is being hauled. Also, please tell me how a van (like a Sprinter) is $20,000 better than a pickup truck? You can also get a smaller truck, like a Hilux or such if size is an issue.

Finally, I think both you and Meio missed the pickup truck threads we've had lately. You need to read them. Here's a couple.

http://forums.finalgear.com/general-automotive/information-about-pick-up-trucks-23323/

http://forums.finalgear.com/general...ity-student-complains-about-car-upkeep-22890/

NooDle:

What you need to understand is that most Americans live in a house with some attached land (I believe it's currently a little more than half the population) and not in a flat or apartment. This means that they must maintain the house and land, and this means many many trips to the home improvement store or nursery for the supplies and things needed for maintaining the place. This also means that a trailer rapidly becomes more trouble than it's worth, and people resort to trucks and SUVs instead.

Also, due to this residential arrangement, people tend to have more hobbies that occur outdoors and they use a truck to move the supplies for those hobbies around. In addition, because we have space, we often take up hobbies like carpentry, furniture making, car restoration.... all things that work better with a truck in support.
 
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NooDle:

What you need to understand is that most Americans live in a house with some attached land (I believe it's currently a little more than half the population) and not in a flat or apartment. This means that they must maintain the house and land, and this means many many trips to the home improvement store or nursery for the supplies and things needed for maintaining the place. This also means that a trailer rapidly becomes more trouble than it's worth, and people resort to trucks and SUVs instead.

Also, due to this residential arrangement, people tend to have more hobbies that occur outdoors and they use a truck to move the supplies for those hobbies around. In addition, because we have space, we often take up hobbies like carpentry, furniture making, car restoration.... all things that work better with a truck in support.

I do understand why you guys need to have big cars. Just don't knock small(er) cars because you don't need them over there.
The GWiz is an extreme example of how unsafe a tiny car can be. Look up roadtests of a Citroen C1 (same as a Toyota Aygo) and see that cars smaller than your shoe can, and will be, safe.

Besides, if you lived in a major US city, a smaller car would still make more sense than a big pickup. Actually a taxi would make even more sense then :p
 
I saw one of the first ForTwos that was imported to America a couple of years back. It'd met an F-350 on the freeway and I believe all the occupants of the ForTwo died.

Actually, a taxi doesn't make sense in most US cities. We built out, not up. Dallas is one of America's largest cities, and a taxi would cost several times as much as owning and maintaining a car does.

This has to do with why public transport in the US is also a failure in general unless very well planned. We simply do not have the population density outside of a few coastal cities to support mass transit.
 
I saw one of the first ForTwos that was imported to America a couple of years back. It'd met an F-350 on the freeway and I believe all the occupants of the ForTwo died.

Actually, a taxi doesn't make sense in most US cities. We built out, not up. Dallas is one of America's largest cities, and a taxi would cost several times as much as owning and maintaining a car does.

This has to do with why public transport in the US is also a failure in general unless very well planned. We simply do not have the population density outside of a few coastal cities to support mass transit.

Well I guess anything small that hits a F350 is going to be killed. I'm just saying that in the official crash tests over here, the smart was as safe as the new S class Merc.
Of course you can't compare the bulk of both cars but the rating was the same.

about the taxis : I thought everyone in NY took a cab everywhere, because there's nowhere to park in the first place? But, yeah public transport does suck
 
NYC and San Francisco are about the only places in the US where a taxi is a smart option for regular use. Maybe Chicago, but to a lesser degree. Dallas? Los Angeles? Not a chance.
 
If you lived and worked in Chicago, then cabs, busses and light rail (L) make sense as parking is expensive in downtown, but many people still have personal cars. I've driven in downtown in my Lincoln (all 17.5' of it) several times and never really had an issue with space. Street parking can be an issue if it is busy, but if you find a surface lot or garage, it isn't a problem.
 
Maybe I'm wrong but in addition to that I think the Australians are more down-to-earth people, than we Europeans, and consider a car more a tool, than a status symbol. And Japanese cars have gotten an aura of indestructibility over the last decade or so.

I have some Australian friends (From Northern Territory and Queensland) and when it comes to buying a car, the question is normally "What is the best vehicle for the job?" and not "Which car is the fancier one, has the better performance figures and the higher prestige?"

The other very prevalent situation is that parts for European cars are significantly more expensive than those for Japanese cars.

That and the higher prices (where even brands like Renault are considered 'prestige'), means that Euro cars often sell mainly to people who are buying them to be different. The only Euro brand in the top 10 brands is Volkswagen, and they're usually #10 (brands like Subaru outsell them).

Locally made big cars have lost a LOT of sales in the last five years (5 years ago the Commodore would get 7000-8000 sales a month, now about 5000, even though the market has grown).
 
TOYOTA CAMRY

The other very prevalent situation is that parts for European cars are significantly more expensive than those for Japanese cars.

That and the higher prices (where even brands like Renault are considered 'prestige'), means that Euro cars often sell mainly to people who are buying them to be different. The only Euro brand in the top 10 brands is Volkswagen, and they're usually #10 (brands like Subaru outsell them).

Locally made big cars have lost a LOT of sales in the last five years (5 years ago the Commodore would get 7000-8000 sales a month, now about 5000, even though the market has grown).


indeed
 
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