TMW - Its that time of the month - UK AUGUST 2014 sales figures

JAGUAR

AUGUST 2013 260 sales - AUGUST 2014 276 sales +6.15%

YTD 2013 10073 sales - YTD 2014 11454 sales +13.71%

LAND ROVER

AUGUST 2013 806 sales - AUGUST 2014 827 sales +2.61%

YTD 2013 34385 sales - YTD 2014 34568 sales +0.53%

JAGUAR LAND ROVERS COMPETITORS

BMW

AUGUST 2013 4401 sales - AUGUST 2014 3552 sales -19.29%

YTD 2013 78005 sales - YTD 2014 88629 sales +13.62%

MERCEDES

AUGUST 2013 3058 sales - AUGUST 2014 3444 sales +12.62%

YTD 2013 65368sales - YTD 2014 75714 sales +15.83%

LEXUS

AUGUST 2013 203 sales - AUGUST 2014 136 sales -41.13%

YTD 2013 5037 sales - YTD 2014 6498 sales +29.01%

AUDI

AUGUST 2013 3904 sales - AUGUST 2014 5159 sales +32.15%

YTD 2013 88432 sales - YTD 2014 100952 sales +14.16%

RISERS ON PREVIOUS YEAR (YOY CUMULATIVE)

ABARTH +13.96%

ALFA ROMEO +4.42%

BENTLEY +20.15%

CITROEN +2.31%

DACIA +69.75%

FIAT +15.91%

FORD +5.30%

HYUNDAI +8.49%
INFINITI +34.21%

JEEP +83.92%

KIA +8.05%

LEXUS +36.87%

LOTUS +16.79%

MASERATI +261.61%
MAZDA +23.72%

MG +777.51%

MIA +0.00%
MITSUBISHI +36.27%

NISSAN +13.33%

PEUGEOT +1.04%

PORSCHE +14.41%

RENAULT +62.14%

SEAT +22.42%
SKODA +26.02% 

SSANGYONG +147.67%

SUBARU +23.32%
SUZUKI +15.94%
TOYOTA +5.19%

VAUXHALL +6.37%

VOLKSWAGEN +7.72%

VOLVO +20.22%

LOSERS THIS YEAR (YOY CUMULATIVE)

ASTON MARTIN -9.08%

CHEVROLET -65.05%

CHRYSLER -20.16%

HONDA -1.69%

MINI -11.02%

PERODUA -86.11%

PROTON -93.33%

SMART -5.55%

The top ten for August reads like most months with Ford taking the top two, Corsa in third and then the rest fight it out for the remaining seven places, Vauxhall can celebrate by tinging three placed in the top ten again, something it has failed to regularly for a long time, The Golf will always be there, as it is a package that will sell, likewise the Polo, Fiat again has a place, the 500 seems to be well in favour in the UK, which considering its limited range, it is a great car.

The second generation Qashqai is finding buyers at a rate similar to the first gen, the good looks, well specified package is a sure fire hit with buyers, shame they got the looks so wrong on the Juke, as that would most definitely be in the top ten, and I would not be surprised if it would have outsold its bigger brother, maybe the next gen will have a softer look to it.

In what is traditionally a quiet month, August has, like the rest of the year, proven to be a stunning month for car sales in the United Kingdom, but again it has been a month of some really weird numbers, BMW were down a rather significant 19.29% on the month, but are still up YOY, Bentley down over 64% in August, but still are up over all, and MG continue to extol the virtues of the new MG3 with a rather hefty 484% positive addition to August sales and an over all of over 777%, yes that's three sevens.

Since last month the significant launches, but not available yet include the new Volvo XC90, Land Rover Discovery Sport and Mazda MX-5, now I have a vested interest in one of these models, as of this date (08/09/2014) the Jaguar XE has yet to be launched (later tonight), and we have placed a deposit down on one, but the new Discovery Sport is really tempting us away from Jaguar, even though Jaguar is our brand of choice (we have had a fair few over the years)

Lexus, again, has bucked the trend of sales growth, like BMW, and was down a massive 41.13% in August, the other premium brands were all up, with both Jaguar and Land Rover increasing slightly over last year, MINI yet again, shows a decline over all, but the month did grow a little, the cheaper brands like Kia and Hyundai again grow like FIAT, Ford and Vauxhall, Renault is the true giant with a 14,500 unit gain on last year meaning a growth rate of over 62%.

SO, another month passes and with the next major launch later tonight, Jaguar are looking like having a storming 2015, well second half, i believe they will struggle to match this years sales in the first six months, the XF and XJ now a few years old, they are starting to look like yesterdays cars, the XK is gone, and the F-Type will not be far short of a minor refresh, so this new XE and SUV, and XF in 2015 will need to be really good to get Jag on track again.

Land Rover has the new DS, and Discovery 5 should be launched next year, for sale in 2016, there will also be a new Defender concept next year, new baby Range Rover that slots below Evoque, talking of Evoque the long awaited XL version should not be far away, but my concern is the current pricing structure, the current Freelander 2, was until a couple of months ago, available for about £22k. 

They then realigned the range and it suddenly becomes £27, and with the new DS the cheapest, at launch will be £33k, that is a 

HUMONGOUS £11k or $16.5k  

increase on just a few months ago, how can they get away with that, i fear that by doing this, they will alienate many thousands of buyers, who will go elsewhere for there premium SUV models, and to be honest i really cant blame them.

Lastly, Citroen, well their premium range of cars, the DS brand, not to be confused with the DS as in Discovery Sport, the brand has recently celebrated selling over 500,000 units since the introduction of the brand back in 2010, and they have just re branded it as a stand alone brand along with Citroen and Peugeot.

WHY ARE THESE TWO STUNNERS NOT AVAILABLE IN EUROPE

However since then they have dropped sales like a lead balloon in Europe, however the China sales has helped to keep things from really crashing, but with an ageing range, smaller margins and cars that cant be seen as environmentally friendly, where are the hybrid DS models ? the next twelve months will be a real interesting time, the DS3 is in dire need of a major face lift, the DS4 is so boring you can fall asleep just looking at it, the DS5 is just way too expensive (thankfully massive discounts are available) and that's it for Europe. 

A HINT TO THE FUTURE, MAYBE A LOOK AT THE NEXT DS3 PERHAPS ?

The Chinese market get a few more models including an obligatory SUV, but where is the European SUV? come on PSA give the buyer what they want, believe me, they will buy them, if they are good, significantly different and priced at a level that can raw in the punters from other brands.

AND FINALLY

we have some great news, maybe and some sad news too, we will start with the great news, the Renault-Nissan alliance, which has now controlling interest in LADA's parent company AUTOvaz, has announced a raft of new cars, from a new SUV, new hatchback and a new WTCC competitor, along with announcing the Rob Huff and James Thompson have both been signed for next years season.

It could be a major turning point for the once communist country car brand, however, with the instability in Russia and there attitude over the invasion, and what it could mean, it might be some while yet before the rest of Europe gets to see these new cars,, which is a real shame.

And the sad news is that Saab the once giant of the Swedish automotive world has once again been placed into administration, NEVS, the holding company has applied for, and been granted, a stay of execution whilst talks are underway for possible investment, or takeover by a large manufacturer.

But it does not end there, due to trademark rules, the griffin badge was withdrawn from use when NEVS took control, and they were not allowed to use any for of SAAB badge (apart from the name) on any car or documentation, but it is now been declared that SAAB, the aircraft manufacturer has now also withdrawn the rights to use the SAAB name, so Trollhatten is now nameless, brand less and owner less, I just hope that they can find someone that can persuade the Rights owners to be able to use the name and griffin once again on some stunning new cars, as building 6 a day was not going to be a profitable business for very long.

See you next month, in the mean time, it is JAG TIME, the XE is with us in just less than two hours, so stay tuned for pics and info.