TMW - It's that time of the months again - UK APRIL 2015 sales figures

TMW - Its that time of the month - UK FEBRUARY 2015 sales figures

JAGUAR

APRIL 2014 1209 sales - APRIL 2015 1151 sales -4.80%

YTD 2014 6683 sales - YTD 2015 6103 sales -8.68%

LAND ROVER

APRIL 2014 4381 sales - APRIL 2015 5549 sales +26.66%

YTD 2014 21479 sales - YTD 2015 26154 sales +21.77%

JAGUAR LAND ROVER CUMULATIVE

APRIL 2014 5590 sales - APRIL 2015 6700 sales +19.85%

YTD 2014 28162 sales - YTD 2015 32257 sales +14.54%

JAGUAR LAND ROVERS COMPETITORS

BMW

APRIL 2014 10484 sales - APRIL 2015 10891 sales +3.88%
YTD 2014 48421 sales - YTD 2015 50915 sales +5.15%

MERCEDES

APRIL 2014 8736 sales - APRIL 2015 10082 sales +4.94%

YTD 2014 42535 sales - YTD 2015 50393 sales +18.47%

LEXUS

APRIL 2014 691 sales - APRIL 2015 1044 sales +51.09%

YTD 2014 3731 sales - YTD 2015 4730 sales +26.78%

AUDI

APRIL 2014 12958 sales - APRIL 2015 13264 sales +2.36% 

YTD 2014 56724 sales - YTD 2015 58183 sales +2.57%

RISERS ON PREVIOUS YEAR (YOY CUMULATIVE)

ABARTH +28.65%

ASTON MARTIN +6.35%

CITROEN +5.00%

DACIA +11.92%

HYUNDAI +7.76%
INFINITI +194.93%

JEEP +262.02%

KIA +3.02%

LOTUS +141.07%

MASERATI +64.98%

MAZDA +18.28%

MG +52.15%
MINI +48.12%

MITSUBISHI +158.49%

NISSAN +18.70%

PEUGEOT +1.85%

PORSCHE +32.68%

RENAULT +17.16%

SEAT +0.13% 

SMART +21.36%

SSANGYONG +53.41%

SUBARU +46.81%
TOYOTA +6.58%

VAUXHALL +0.41%

VOLKSWAGEN +8.53%

VOLVO +6.63%

LOSERS THIS YEAR (YOY CUMULATIVE)

ALFA ROMEO -11.06%

BENTLEY -12.07%
CHEVROLET -99.92%

CHRYSLER -85.75%

FIAT -7.64%
FORD -0.74%
HONDA -7.85%

MIA -100.00%
PERODUA -100.00%

PROTON -100.00%

SKODA -3.57%

SUZUKI -12.43%

After a couple of months away from the "ITTOTM", it was good to get back to it, and see what is and is not selling, and it is no surprise to see the brands selling negatively on last year has dropped, from the last time these figures were produced - what is surprising is that of those that have dropped on a year ago, Ford, Fiat, Skoda, Honda and Suzuki ALL are down, especially when you consider they are all mainstream brands with new cars in the range.

Skoda has just launched the new Octavia and Fabia, Suzuki the Celerio and updated Swift, Ford has a raft of new models launched this year and more to come, Honda has the updated Civic, new Jazz and CR-V and HR-V coming, and FIAT, well, they have had a couple of additions to the 500 family, so why these are down is anyones guess.

Jaguar continues to struggle, however, this month sees the dealer demo's of the new XE so that should boost numbers a little, but with the recently launch of XF2, people will be putting off buying one of these until the new one comes along, so expect sales to be flat for a couple of months.

Land Rover, well, they can do no wrong, shove a LR badge on a turd with four wheels and it will sell, BMW have been doing that for years and it's worked for them, (Sorry had to put that), the premium brands are all outperforming the market, and that's great, but what does it say about the state of the economy, the election has stabilised the market, the interest rates have been frozen again, there is more money in peoples pockets, and the fact that they are buying cars proves this.

Looking back on past "It's That" posts, I have been very vocal about the coming of the Chinese, and the part that they took in the downfall of our then last great British car building dynasty, which was MG-Rover, but after a couple of hiccups, and false starts, the last year has really started to bear fruit for SAIC, the parent company that owns, Longbridge and the MG Marque, sales are increasing, they have invested heavily into a new flagship London dealership, in the most affluent area of London, the MG6 has been facelifted and had a rather large price cut, and along with the great MG3, and the new MG CS coming by Q4 2016 (which is was too late) sales will continue to flow, and who knows, proper production may well come back to the UK, for European sales, whenever that maybe, and with more products, better powerplants and gearboxes, things can only get better.

Ssangyong are really pushing the boat out this year, not only have the refreshed the range, adding decent looks to proven mechanicals, they are launching the new Tivoli small SUV, and at a great start price too, i think that Ssangyong will for the first time finish the year with at LEAST a one percentage point of the total sales, and considering what they were like just a couple of years ago, this will be a huge boost to the brand, and a well deserved one too.

Vauxhall seems to be up and down this year, April sales were down, a bit, but they managed to claw onto a a positive year to date figure, even if that were only 0.4% growth, and considering that they have launched the new Corsa, ADAM S, and the Mokka is doing great work, Astra has saved the day, holding onto a top ten place, with the Corsa at its usual number three position, so whats up with the Griffin, well, they are in a year of change, we have the new VIVA, Corsa and Astra this year, and the Insignia wont be far behind, the Mokka is doing well all over Europe, so thats helping too, so why are sales not growing, they have cut prices, and indeed this weekend coming the "BIG EVENT" is back at all vauxhall dealers, giving away free fuel with all applicable purchases (terms and conditions apply apparently).

MINI and SMART are both in the same position, they have just launched make or break models, the MINI Hatch has and continues to do great business (shame) and the Smart ForTwo and All-New ForFour, are both getting some good numbers around the world, but SMART still has yet to make a profit for Mercedes, and it has to be said, how much longer will the German brand allow that to go on !

They say "there has to be an exception to the rule", well, the UK is the exception for Volkswagen, the Great German powerhouse is struggling, sales around the globe are slipping, month after month, Quarter after quarter, and yet we have stayed loyal to the brand, why, i cant explain that, the cars are not that well priced, the reliability of VW's, and well, German products together, are not that great, just look at the latest Driver Power report from our friends at Auto Express and see what you and I, the people that buy these cars actually think, you will be surprised to see the Germans well below the Chinese, the MG3 and MG6 did rather well.

Britain has a wealth of talent and some stunning brands that are the toast of the world, Bentley, Rolls Royce, Aston Martin, Lotus and more, so it is brilliant to see these brands ALL, getting decent money spending on them to expand and develop new models.

Bentley 

• New Continental GT
• New Large SUV
• New Small SUV
• New Mulsanne convertible
• New Small Sports car

Rolls Royce

• New Phantom
• New Dawn (Wraith Convertible)
• New Large SUV
• New Small Saloon (rumoured)

Aston Martin

• New DB11 (DB10 being missed/Used for Bond)
• New Lagonda (alread released but NOW available in the UK)
• New DBX - Crossover based on Aston platform
• Complete refresh of entire range with new looks and electrics and engines from AMG

Lotus Cars

• New Evora 400 - The fastest Lotus ever
• Funds in place to improve quality of Elise, Exige and Evora
• Memorandum of intent signed between Lotus, Proton and a third party to build a plant in China to build an SUV. existing range to remain in UK

So you can see that even though the companies may all be foreign owned, and operated, they are all still here in the UK, producing great products, and with so many new, improved or expanded models coming, the future for the British car industry is going to be huge.

But it is not just sports cars, Honda, Toyota and Nissan all produce cars here, and very profitably, and in some cases, they are far more efficient than any other of the plants within their brands, Nissan continues to produce SUV's amongst other cars and with a new wing added for an Infiniti model to be produced, there is no plans for them, or any of the Japanese brands to leave.

So, we are a third of the way through the year, and what a year it has been so far, and for us too, we have had the opportunity to test drive a number of cars so far this year, an Evoque, A6 avant, Mercedes-Benz C-Class estate, C4 Cactus, and with some more on the horizon, and some interviews with brand owners, and key people, this year is looking like a great one for The Motoring World - So, thanks for your continued reading and here is to next month.