Bulgaria April 2013: Great Wall Voleex C10 & Dacia Dokker shine

An estimated 2,024 new vehicles changed hands in April in Bulgaria, adding up to 7,315 after 4 months. The Kia Sportage is in pole position for the second month running thanks to 74 sales and 3.7% share, but the rest of the podium is a real surprise. The Great Wall Voleex C10 is up 22 spots on March to land in 2nd place at 53 units and 2.6%, beating its previous best ranking of #3 established last October. The Dacia Dokker does better than at home in Romania and any other country on the planet by gaining 37 ranks on last month to reach a world-best #3 with 52 sales and 2.6%.

Brunei Full Year 2012: Market at highest in 5 years

In 2012 Bruneian new car sales are up a whopping 28% year-on-year to 18,634 registrations. This is the highest level for the Bruneian market in 5 years, to be compared with 14,555 in 2011, 13,600 in 2010, 12,360 in 2009 and 14,731 in 2008. After a slow start at the beginning of the year due to the Thailand flood where Toyota vehicles exported to Brunei are manufactured, Toyota has retained its crown of most popular brand in the country with 3,817 sales and 20.5% market share, down from 22.2% in 2011.

Kia, leader early in the year, stays #2 at 3,397 units and 18.2% but nearly doubled their sales compared to 2011, up a huge 89% year-on-year. Suzuki rounds up the podium with 1,699 sales and 9.1%, followed by Hyundai at 1,647 and 8.8%, up 49%. BMW leads the luxury segment with 404 sales and 2.2%, only just ahead of Mercedes at 399.

Brazil mid-May 2013: 4 Fiats in Top 5, Hyundai HB20S up to #22

A very healthy first half of May for new car sales in Brazil, up 6% to 155,653 registrations which brings the year-to-date total to 1,259,979 units, up 8% on 2012. While the Brazilian models ranking is traditionally extremely stable to the point of being borderline boring, this year we have events every second week! If the VW Gol unsurprisingly stays on top with 10,586 sales and 6.8%, 4 Fiats follow for potentially the first time ever in the country… The Uno is back in great shape at 10,073 units and 6.5% (vs. 5.7% year-to-date), the Palio is #3 with 8,326 sales and 5.3%, the Strada is up 2 spots on April to #4 at 5,766 units and 3.7% and the Siena is up 3 to #5 with 5,612 sales and 3.6%. An extraordinary performance from Fiat indeed.

Botswana: Hilux and Corolla in the lead

Toyota ‘owns’ the Batswana market with 1,958 sales and 40% market share in 2007, ahead of Nissan at 8% and VW at 5%.

Observation in the country in 2007 showed two cars clearly dominating the sales: the Toyota Corolla and Hilux. Pick-ups are very popular in Botswana, with the Isuzu KB (aka D-Max) likely to be ranked 3rd, the Opel Corsa cabbie possibly #4 and the Nissan Hardbody (aka Frontier) in 5th.

Bosnia April 2013: Skoda Octavia in control

Thanks to Central European market data specialists www.ceauto.co.hu, I can share with you Bosnia & Herzegovina car sales data again this month. The Skoda Octavia has taken a clear advantage over all the competition in April, selling 65 units which almost triple the score of any other model in the country. Like in 2012, the Skoda Fabia comes up #2 with 22 sales, ahead of the Dacia Logan, VW Golf and Passat all at 21 units. Notice also the Skoda Rapid at #10.

Bolivia 2011: Hilux, Frontier and 4Runner in command

As we are getting into the end of the month and February sales updates are getting close to complete, I thought I would put a few countries under the spotlight. First up, Bolivia. No official sales data available for this country so if you have anything please make sure to get in touch!

The most recent information I had about Bolivia dated back to 2005 and my trip there. Now thanks to Pablo Cesar who visited the country last month I can share with you a much more up-to-date estimation of the country’s best-selling models. The Bolivian new car market is very heavily skewed towards SUVs and pickups with 25 of the Top 30 models belonging to these two categories!

Bhutan 2009

Observation of the streets of the capital Thimphu through YouTube videos indicate a Bhutanese market very similar to its neighbour India: out of 3,168 imported cars in 2009, 42% were Marutis and 31% Hyundais. The Maruti Alto, Hyundai Santro and Hyundai i10 look like the best-sellers in Bhutan.