TMW - It's that time of the month again, December and full year sales in the United Kingdom.

JAGUAR

DEC 2017 2009 Sales - DEC 2016 2520 Sales - -20.28%
YTD 2017 35544 Sales - YTD 2016 34822 Sales - +2.07%

LAND ROVER 
DEC 2017 4186 Sales - DEC 2016 4967 Sales - -15.72%
YTD 2017 82653 Sales - YTD 2016 79534 Sales - +3.92%

JAGUAR LAND ROVER (COMBINED)

DEC 2017 6195 Sales - DEC 2016 7487 Sales - -20.80%
YTD 2017 118197 Sales - YTD 2016 114356 Sales - +3.36%

AUDI 
DEC 2017 10671 Sales - DEC 2016 11319 Sales --5.72%
YTD 2017 174982 Sales - YTD 2016 177304 Sales - -1.31%

BMW 
DEC 2017 13471 Sales - DEC 2016 15066 Sales - -10.59%
YTD 2017 175101 Sales - YTD 2016 182593 Sales - -4.10%

INFINITI 
DEC 2017 59 Sales - DEC 2016 78 Sales - -24.36%
YTD 2017 3515 Sales - YTD 2016 2891 Sales - +21.58%

LEXUS 
DEC 2017 772 Sales - DEC 2016 750 Sales - +2.93%
YTD 2017 12670 Sales - YTD 2016 13915 Sales - -8.95%

MERCEDES-BENZ 
DEC 2017 10427 Sales - DEC 2016 10220 Sales - +2.03%
YTD 2017 180970 Sales - YTD 2016 169828 Sales - +6.56%

INCREASES BY BRAND BY MONTH-YTD

ABARTH +11.98%

ALFA ROMEO +2.38%
ASTON MARTIN +62.36%
HYUNDAI +1.06%
KIA +4.32%
MASERATI +18.54%
MCLAREN +3050.00%
MG +5.94%
PORSCHE +7.28%
SEAT +18.28%
SUZUKI +5.70%
TOYOTA +5.42%
VOLKSWAGEN +0.69%

DECREASES BY BRAND BY MONTH

BENTLEY -10.01%
CITROEN -18.31%

DACIA -5.09%
DS AUTOMOBILES -42.87%

FIAT -26.59%
FORD -9.71%
HONDA -8.81%
JEEP -54.72%
LOTUS -17.70%

MAZDA -16.13%
MINI -1.19%

MITSUBISHI -11.76%
NISSAN -0.90%
PEUGEOT -16.55%
RENAULT -18.79%
SKODA -0.76%

SMART -14.12%

SSANGYONG -19.22%
SUBARU -25.83%
VAUXHALL -22.24%
VOLVO -1.19%

Well, we have gotten to the end of 2017 and the sales for the year are as expected, DOWN, and down by some serious numbers, Vauxhall, has lost its #2 spot in the sales chart which it has had for so many years, Ford remains number 1, but for how much longer, their sales are slipping, so no amount of new metal, segment leaders, and commercial sales are helping Uncle Henry, and as for Vauxhall, now they are in PSA hands, they are heading the same way, with all of PSA brands dropping sales like a stone, Vauxhall has joined Citroen, Peugeot and DS Auto, in publishing sales significantly lower than the year before.

MG continue to buck the trend, with the all new ZS, which we will be reviewing here later this month, they have increased the warranty on the MG3, along with the already extended warranty on the ZS, this year at the London Motor Show, we should be getting  the new MG6 and the facelifted MG3, both of which will help grow sales further, they could have just flooded the market with cars and models, but they have taken their time, and released each one, and expanded that model, which as far as i am concerned is the right way to go about it, get each model sorted and then move onto the next one, we could however do with a more sporty engine in the MG3, and that would give it the "boy racer" appeal it is lacking.

Volvo has taken a downturn which considering they have so many new or almost new models, the XC-90, XC-60, S90 and V90 are all "new Volvo" along with the soon to be launched XC-40, S40 and V40, the first for the 40 series, is an expanded range of models, but this year should see Volvo head back to growth in the UK.

Brexit, that stupid word that does nothing but cause grief, will be finally dealt wither a saving grace or a death ring, but saying that, if the Eurozone does impact a tax on cars imported from the UK to Europe, we will then do similar, with cars arriving from the Eurozone to the UK, so a no win situation, why couldnt we just stay within the Eurozone

TMW - It's that time of the month again, July's sales in the United Kingdom.

JAGUAR
MAY 2017 2639 Sales - MAY 2016 2200 Sales - -16.64%
YTD 2017 22590 Sales - YTD 2016 19236 Sales - +17.44%

LAND ROVER 
MAY 2017 5265 Sales - MAY 2016 4882 Sales - +7.82%
YTD 2017 50940 Sales - YTD 2016 47441 Sales - +7.38%

JAGUAR LAND ROVER (COMBINED)
MAY 2017 7904 Sales - MAY 2016 7082 Sales - +11.60%
YTD 2017 73530 Sales - YTD 2016 66677 Sales - +10.28%

AUDI 
MAY 2017 12896 Sales - MAY 2016 11582 Sales -+11.35%
YTD 2017 102615 Sales - YTD 2016 101103 Sales - +1.50%

BMW 
MAY 2017 9083 Sales - MAY 2016 9699 Sales - -6.35%
YTD 2017 101721 Sales - YTD 2016 101309 Sales - +0.41%

INFINITI 
MAY 2017 340 Sales - MAY 2016 399 Sales - +14.79%
YTD 2017 2472 Sales - YTD 2016 1964 Sales - +25.87%

LEXUS
MAY 2017 843 Sales - MAY 2016 774 Sales - +8.91%
YTD 2017 7285 Sales - YTD 2016 8190 Sales - -11.05%

MERCEDES-BENZ 
MAY 2017 11617 Sales - MAY 2016 11650 Sales - -0.28%
YTD 2017 110174 Sales - YTD 2016 100253 Sales - +9.90%

INCREASES BY BRAND BY MONTH-YTD

ABARTH +17.53%
ASTON MARTIN +108.20%
DACIA +6.857%
HYUNDAI +3.91%
KIA +7.52%
LOTUS +36.88%
MASERATI +26.81%
MCLAREN +0.00%
MG +4.41%
MINI +2.72%
NISSAN +7.17%
PORSCHE +17.11%
SEAT +21.14%
SKODA +3.19%
SMART +2.12%
SUZUKI +7.79%
TOYOTA +5.02%
VOLVO +6.34%

DECREASES BY BRAND BY MONTHALFA ROMEO -3.60%
BENTLEY -5.22%
CITROEN -21.47%
DS AUTOMOBILES -46.75%
FIAT -16.83%
FORD -4.23%
HONDA -8.99%
JEEP -51.88%
MAZDA -13.88%
MITSUBISHI -15.17%
PEUGEOT -15.05%
RENAULT -8.14%
SSANGYONG -6.98%
SUBARU -20.85%
VAUXHALL -18.77%
VOLKSWAGEN -1.20%

Well, its now four months on the trot and sales are still dropping like a stone, and thats not just it, since last month the UK Government has decided that that from 2040 cars will no longer be allowed for sales with petrol or diesel engines, and thats just bloody stupid, how is this going to work, what about the classic cars, what about the jobs within the motor industry, the small independant garages, petrol stations and so on and so on, the pathetic decision has been made without the thought process behind it.

Yes there are hybrids and electric cars, like the ZOE, Prius and Leaf, and semi-hybrids that rely on petrol/diesel back up engines, and what about the cars that will be virtually unsaleable, like hyper cars, McLarens, Rolls Royce and Bentley's, Ferrari and Lamborghini's, without the back up of massive car brands behind them, what future will they have, Lambo and Bentley has the VW Group, Rolls Royce has BMW, Ferrari, might be able to tap into Fiat Chrysler, but what about McLaren, Aston has the might of Mercedes behind it now, but that leaves many brands than have NO Electric or hybrids in their range.

What about some of the brands that currently have NO cars that will fall into the 2040, well, MG, they are in China, will the Chinese brands fall into place and produce the cars that are needed to be made to become eligible to be sold in the UK, i think that 23 years is a long time, but not long enough in the motoring world.

The current sales in the UK have dive-bombed, with Vauxhall sales showing massive drops in sales, now that they are a part of the PSA Group, it is now the Euro #2 company for sales not only are Vauxhall sales dropping, DS Automobiles are down by over 50%, Citroen are down 21% and Peugeot are down 15% along with Vauxhall's 18% drop, was it really the best idea in the world to combine the five brands together.

What about The other big brands in the UK, Ford, BMW, Audi and Mercedes, well Ford dropped, the others grew, in fact the German brands have shown a steady sales incline throughout the year, Suzuki is another brand that has seen sales grow significantly, they have launched the Baleno, Ignis and New Swift, and with the Swift Sport coming later in the year sales will continue to grow.

Volvo Is another brand that has seen sales grow throughout the year, mainly the steady launch of new models, first we had the XC-90, then the V90 and S90 and next was the XC60, which leaves the S and V 60 and the V/S/XC-40 range of cars.

Fiat sales continue to drop, Jeep is down by over 50% but Maserati is up by about 27, Lotus grows as does Aston Martin, Dacia not only  gets nominated as one of the most reliable brands it is also growing in sales for the year to date, so, thats about it for this month, expect some great launches throughout the rest of the year and thats for reading the blog.

TMW - Its that time of the month with UK sales figures showing a futher 8.5% drop in sales.

JAGUAR
MAY 2017 2564 Sales - MAY 2016 2590 Sales - -1.00%
YTD 2017 17430 Sales - YTD 2016 13675 Sales - +27.46%

LAND ROVER 
MAY 2017 5619 Sales - MAY 2016 6290 Sales - -10.67%
YTD 2017 39474 Sales - YTD 2016 36890 Sales - +7.00%

JAGUAR LAND ROVER (COMBINED)
MAY 2017 8183 Sales - MAY 2016 8880 Sales - -8.51%
YTD 2017 56904 Sales - YTD 2016 50565 Sales - +12.54%

AUDI 
MAY 2017 13764 Sales - MAY 2016 13970 Sales - -1.47%
YTD 2017 74638 Sales - YTD 2016 75018 Sales - -0.51%

BMW 
MAY 2017 12731 Sales - MAY 2016 15243 Sales - -17.45%
YTD 2017 73489 Sales - YTD 2016 72898 Sales - +0.81%

INFINITI 
MAY 2017 346 Sales - MAY 2016 137 Sales - +152.55%
YTD 2017 1749 Sales - YTD 2016 996 Sales - +75.60%

LEXUS
MAY 2017 715 Sales - MAY 2016 874 Sales - -18.19%
YTD 2017 5281 Sales - YTD 2016 6046 Sales - -12.65%

MERCEDES-BENZ 
MAY 2017 14660 Sales - MAY 2016 13721 Sales - +6.84%
YTD 2017 82842 Sales - YTD 2016 73037 Sales - +13.42%

INCREASES BY BRAND BY MONTH-YTD

ABARTH +16.23%
ASTON MARTIN +127.75%
BENTLEY +3.49%
DACIA +0.47%
FORD +0.19%
HYUNDAI +5.91%
KIA +12.49%
MASERATI +55.64%
MCLAREN +0.00%
MG +7.63%
MINI +2.88%
NISSAN +11.14%
PORSCHE +9.54%
SEAT +20.60%
SKODA +5.57%
SMART +7.77%
SUZUKI +10.52%
TOYOTA +5.15%
VOLVO +9.53%

DECREASES BY BRAND BY MONTH

ALFA ROMEO -1.62%
CITROEN -20.81%
DS AUTOMOBILES -44.23%
FIAT -12.09%
HONDA -11.43%
JEEP -44.03%
LOTUS -9.16%MAZDA -13.69%
MITSUBISHI -18.65%
PEUGEOT -13.36%
RENAULT -5.38%
SSANGYONG -1.85%SUBARU -19.49%
VAUXHALL -14.77%
VOLKSWAGEN -5.51%

Another month has passed and yet again another drop in sales, not as high as last month, but a rather significant 8.51% down, even the year to date has now dipped only by half of one percent but again significant, will May carry on this decline, or will it revert back to growth, we have not long to wait until we find that out.

The brands that have bucked the trend and increased in sales are few and far between MG has a third more sales in April than a year ago and Infiniti running at 150%, but then both these brands are numbering in the hundreds, but MG is growing, with another new car due by the year end, and another four cars due over the coming few years, sales will come, and expansion will continue.

Jaguar Land Rover remains ahead year to date, but April was down, along with other high volume brands, Vauxhall continues to drop of sales like nobodies business, yet they continue to launch new car after new car, we have had of late the new Mokka X, New Insignia Grand Sport and Estate, the Crossland X, we have the Viva Rocks, Insignia Country Tourer and Grandland X all coming soon, as well as the new Corsa, so has the purchase of Vauxhall and Opel hurt the brands, possibly, especially when you see that the three French brands Peugeot, Citroen and DS Automobiles ALL dropping sales, some really huge declines.

Volkswagen in the UK has yet to turn that corner and grow again, thankfully for the group, Bentley, SEAT, Skoda and Porsche have all grown, Audi is only down by an insignificant figure, but VW is down by over 5.5%, Lotus dropped the ball in the month with sales down 90%, yes NINETY, even Chevrolet, the brand thats no longer for sale here managed to register 35 cars, how many more have they left.

It is great to see Aston Martin growing, the announced it's first set of profits recently, the new facility in Wales is about ready to go with the new DBX, It is also great to see Volvo growing, not just in the UK, but worldwide, now that the Geely, that owns Volvo, now owns 49.9% of Proton, and all of Lotus as well as London Taxi Company, we may get Proton back in the UK, and Lotus could have a significant influx of cash to help replace its now aging range of cars, the Elise, Evora and Exige.

Subaru is down, WHY, they have some amazing cars, i currently have a BRZ on loan readay for a road test report in the next few days, and lastly for today, Suzuki, the unmatched leader in small cars, have the Ignis, recently tested here, and the all new Swift, again, a car thats coming for another road test report, the Ignis is a brilliant car, loads of room inside, and with some exterior design touches that move it away from other cars in that class, it has style and panache, and if you are after a small car, the Ignis, baleno, Celerio or New Swift really are cars that must be checked out first.

See you all next month.