Purpose

I will try my best to provide detailed info on various cars and what is like to live with them, I have already produced a few for Jaguar-car-forums, I will do my best to be unbiased, but it will be hard for some cars. I will re-produce press releases and copy from other motoring news.

Friday 10 June 2016

Mazda UK has had a 12% rise in sales Year on Year and looks forward to a full year of growth and more records.

  • Record March sales boost first quarter in a year where Mazda expects six per cent sales growth.
  • Sales up 12 per cent year-on-year in the first five months of 2016.
  • 2016 sees a renewed focus on the customer and delivering a first-class owner experience.
After making a flying start to the year with sales up 12 per cent year-on-year in the first five months, Mazda UK is forecasting that its volume will grow by six per cent in 2016. Total sales over the first five months of 2016 were 22,370, boosted by a record March that was the best single sales month in the company’s history.

In the key month of March Mazda UK sold more than 11,500 cars, beating the previous record of 11,450 set in September 2009 at the height of the scrappage scheme. Overall year-on-year growth of six per cent is seen as modest by Mazda UK Sales Director Peter Allibon – the company has, after all, just recorded three consecutive years of 20 per cent growth taking sales from 26,200 in 2012 to 45,500 last year.
The forecast this year is for sales to top 48,000 with the multi-award winning all-new Mazda MX-5 – the only car to win both World Car of the Year and World Car Design of the Year - and all-new Mazda CX-3 leading the charge. Allibon expects CX-3 sales to double to 5,250 units and MX-5 sales to grow by 1,700 over last year to top 4,700.
“We’ve seen a massive increase in retail sales and it’s very challenging for us and our dealers to deliver that kind of volume while focusing on the quality of service and ownership our customers expect. The additional volumes last year didn’t generate the extra profit for our dealers we would have liked so this year we want to focus on making sure the network hits the industry average for return on sales – something we keep just missing.”
Both Mazda UK and the dealer network are investing heavily to ensure that everyone who interacts with Mazda is positively surprised and feels personally engaged. The aim is delivering a first-class retail experience across our whole network “We have a two-year customer experience programme, a Mazda blueprint, which will change the way dealer staff approach customers. We want to get the quality aspect of everything we do right,” explained Allibon.
Following the global success of its new range, volumes of all of Mazda UK’s cars are constrained by capacity at Mazda Corporation’s worldwide factories. Global sales are 1.55m and capacity is 1.7m – the extra units go to joint venture manufacturing agreements. “It’s great news for Mazda Corporation but can present challenges to the sales director of a national sales company,” said Allibon adding that the constraint was actually good news for customers and dealers as demand outstripping supply helps keep residual values high.
“As an independent brand Mazda is doing extremely well, investing heavily in research and development for new models for the future. We’ve built a sustainable and profitable business which has credibility within the industry and is the franchise of choice for dealer groups looking to expand their portfolio. We now need to consolidate that business,” said Allibon.
- Ends -

The beautiful BMW 507 will open the Goodwood festival of Speed, with Lord March driving it up the 1.16 mile hill.

Goodwood Festival of Speed founder, Lord March, will open this year’s event by driving up the hillclimb course formed by his driveway in a beautiful 1957 BMW 507 sportscar.
BMW is this year’s Honoured Marque and the central theme of the 2016 edition of the Festival of Speed will celebrate the German manufacturer’s centenary.

Lord March will complete the very first run up the 1.16-mile hillclimb at the start of the Moving Motor Show, part of the new Press & Preview day on Thursday, June 23.
The 3.2-litre V8-engined BMW 507 was driven by Hollywood stars Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley in its heyday but only 252 were ever built.
With a top speed of 122mph, the 507 was beautifully hand-built and, while it was priced £3,200 when it was first built in ’57, the rarity of the model now means that the example Lord March will drive up the hill is estimated to be worth around £2 million.
Lord March said: “I’m delighted that BMW has chosen to mark its centenary with us. Our magnificent central feature sculpture outside Goodwood House will celebrate BMW’s sporting success and I will be honoured to drive one of the rarest, and most beautiful, BMWs ever built to open what promises to be a terrific show.”
The BMW 507 and Lord March will take to the hillclimb track to open this year’s Festival of Speed at 9am on Thursday, June 23.

Lewis Hamilton & Nico Rosberg are the latest names to be announced for this year's Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg have confirmed they will be among the glittering line-up of star drivers attending the world's largest motoring garden party, now only two weeks away.
For the first time, the sell-out Festival of Speed crowd will be able to see (and hear) one of the new-generation turbo F1 cars, as the Mercedes pair take to the famous Goodwood Hill in a 2014 Mercedes F1 W05 Hybrid, with Hamilton, who drove it to World Championship victory in 2014, taking the wheel on Saturday, and Grand Prix winner Rosberg on Sunday.

Nico Rosberg currently leads the 2016 Formula 1 season by 24 points over his team-mate and three-time Formula 1 Champion Lewis Hamilton, and both will be coming fresh from the European Grand Prix at Baku, Azerbaijan. Rosberg tweeted "See you on Sunday at Goodwood" to fans this week.
Hamilton and Rosberg will be part of a stellar line-up, that includes famous names from all branches of motorsport.
Drivers and riders attending this year (subject to change):
Adam MorganBTCC race winner
Alain MenuDouble BTCC champion
Alessandro ZanardiTwo-time CART champion and Paralympic cycling gold medallist
Alex WurzLe Mans winner and former F1 driver
Andrew Jordan2013 BTCC champion
Bobby Labonte2000 NASCAR Winston Cup champion
Brian JohnsonLegendary AC/DC singer
Sir Chris HoyMultiple Olympic cycling champion and now Le Mans driver
Carl FogartyWorld Superbike Royalty
Colin EdwardsTwo-time World Superbike Champion
David BrabhamLe Mans winner and ex-F1 racer
Derek "Buttsy" ButlerDrift star with his own F1 car!
Derek BellFive-time Le Mans winner
Emerson FittipaldiTwo-time F1 World Champion and double Indy 500 winner
Frank BielaFive-time Le Mans winner and 1996 BTCC champion
Freddie SpencerThree-time motorcycle GP world champion
Gerhard BergerTen-time Grand Prix winner
Giacomo Agostini15-time Motorcycle World Champion
Gordon SheddenReigning BTCC champion
Gordon SheddonTwo-time BTCC champion
Hans-Joachim StuckTouring car legend and double Le Mans winner
Sir Jackie StewartThree-time F1 World Champion
James MartinTV chef and classic car enthusiast
Jari Matti LatvalaWRC front-runner
Jason PlatoTwo-time BTCC winner and TV presenter
Jean RagnottiTwo-time Monte Carlo Rally winner
Jean-Pierre JabouilleThe first driver to win a Grand Prix in a turbocharged car
Jenson Button2009 Formula 1 World Champion
Jochen MassF1 and Le Mans winner and Goodwood House Captain
John McGuinnessMultiple IoM TT winner
John SurteesWorld Champion on two wheels and four
Johnny CecottoMotorcycle Grand Prix World Champion
Karun ChandhokFormer F1 driver
Kelvin FletcherBTCC driver and Emmerdale Star
Ken BlockGymkhana star and WRX front-runner
Kenny Brack1999 Indy 500 winner drives on the hill
Liam DoranWorld Rallycross front-runner
Lorina McLaughlinRegular winner of 'Fastest Lady' prize at Festival
Mad Mike WhiddettStar of the drifting world
Mark HigginsBritish Rally champion and IoM Record Holder drives on the hill
Martin BrundleLe Mans winner and F1 star
Matt NealThree-time BTCC champion
Mike ConwayIndy Car race winner
Mike Skinner1995 NASCAR Truck champion
Nick MasonPink Floyd drummer
Nicky HaydenMotoGP Champion
Nico HulkenbergF1 star and Le Mans winner
Nyck de VriesMcLaren development driver
Olly ClarkLast year's Festival of Speed shoot-out winner
Pat DoranFour-time British Rallycross champion
Patrick FriesacherWill be smoking in his Toyata Camry
Réné ArnouxSeven-time F1 GP winner
Riccardo PatreseSix-time Grand Prix winner
Richard ChildressLegendary NASCAR team owner
Ricky CarmichaelThe 'greatest of all time' in motocross
Sam TordoffBTCC race winner
Sammy MillerTwo-time European Trials Champion
Steve SoperTouring car legend
Sir Stirling MossRacing legend and "Mr Goodwood"
Stoffel VandoorneMcLaren reserve driver
Troy BaylissWorld Superbike champion to ride Ducati GP3
Troy CorserWorld Superbike Champion to ride BMW Kaczor R50S

Audi is still growing despite parent companies woes, and with all the new cars coming, this will carry on for a while yet.

  • Around 164,150 worldwide deliveries in the month
  • Sales chief Dietmar Voggenreiter: “New models finding strong market acceptance”
  • Balanced growth trend with sales increasing in all key regions
AUDI AG sold around 164,150 cars to customers in May, representing a global increase of 6.7 percent year on year. With their new model generations, growth for the A4 Sedan and the A4 Avant reached 16.2 percent. The new Q7 full-size SUV also continued its successful start, up 79.6 percent in May. 

For the entire model lineup, Audi sales increased in all of the brand’s three key regions – by 9.7 percent in Europe, by 5.7 percent in Asia-Pacific and by 3.8 percent in North America. Worldwide deliveries since January rose to around 784,250, up 5.3 percent compared with the same period in 2015.


“May once again showed that our new models are finding strong acceptance in the market,” says Dietmar Voggenreiter, Member of the Board of Management for  Sales and Marketing at AUDI AG. 



“This is a strong signal for the Audi Q2 and the new A5, which we presented a few days ago. Like its predecessor, the new A5 Coupé will win over customers with particularly high demands in terms of design and performance, giving Audi an even sportier boost.”

The Audi Q2 and the second generation of the A5 Coupé will arrive at dealers in the fourth quarter, initially in Europe. Audi already sold around 320,000 cars of the current A5 Coupé generation; the United States is the highest selling market for the model. In 2015, one in four A5 Coupé models sold to customers was a very sporty S or RS model.

Besides the Q7 (+79.6% to around 9,050 cars) and the A4 Sedan and Avant models (+16.2% to around 31,000 cars), the TT and Q3 also recorded high growth rates last month: Global demand for the compact sports car increased by 18.2 percent to around 2,900 units, while the Q3 was up 19.7 percent with around 19,700 units.

In Europe, a total of around 76,000 customers chose an Audi in May, amounting to 9.7 percent more than a year ago. 

While the UK (+2.8% to 14,020 cars) reported moderate growth for the four rings, especiallyGermany (+13.4% to 28,031 cars) and Spain (+20.2% to 4,860 cars) stood out among the major markets. In Europe overall, the new Q7 is making a significant contribution to the positive development for Audi. 

With around 17,650 units of the full-size SUV since January, Audi handed over more Q7 in only five months than in the last full year of its predecessor model. In 2014, sales of the Q7 in the region amounted to 13,281 units.


Audi’s large SUV is also highly popular with customers in the United States. Across the entire model portfolio, Audi of America’s sales in May slightly exceeded the 2015 reference value (+1.6% to 18,728 cars), although the month was two selling days shorter this year. 


Cumulative sales of 78,489 Audi cars in the United States since January are 4.2 percent higher than in the same period last year. In Mexico (+10.3% to 1,303 cars), the four rings continued to make significant gains in May as the new A4 and the new Q7 have become successfully established in the market. 

Total sales for the month on the entire American continent were thus favorable despite the difficult market trend in Brazil (-35.9% to 825 cars): Around 25,000 deliveries amounted to an increase of 2.1 percent in the region.

In China, Audi once again benefited from its pioneering role in the local premium compact segment last month: Dealers handed over 7,359 units of the A3, 14.8 percent more than a year ago. 

For the Q3, sales figures show 7,246 Chinese customers in May, up 29.1 percent. Sales of all Audi models in China increased last month by 5.5 percent to 50,002. 

Among the other markets in the region, which have developed heterogeneously of late, Australia provided positive momentum for Audi with an increase of 4.0 percent to 2,002 cars delivered. Overall, the brand with the four rings closed out the month of May in the Asia-Pacificregion with a sales increase of 5.7 percent to around 58,300 units.
Sales for AUDI AG
In May


Cumulative



2016
2015
Change from 2015
2016
2015
Change from 2015
 World
164,150
153,854
+6.7%
784,250
744,863
+5.3%
 Europe
76,000
69,251
+9.7%
376,600
348,193
+8.2%
 - Germany
28,031
24,727
+13.4%
138,138
123,598
+11.8%
 - UK
14,020
13,641
+2.8%
75,405
72,548
+3.9%
 - France
5,232
4,851
+7.9%
26,500
25,172
+5.3%
 - Italy
5,520
5,336
+3.4%
26,312
23,157
+13.6%
 - Spain
4,860
4,043
+20.2%
23,699
20,468
+15.8%
 USA
18,728
18,428
+1.6%
78,489
75,353
+4.2%
Mexico
1,303
1,181
+10.3%
6,054
5,333
+13.5%
 Brazil
825
1,288
-35.9%
5,838
7,158
-18.4%
China(incl Hong Kong)
50,002
47,410
+5.5%
239,118
226,021
+5.8%