Car Production & Car Sales in 2012

The year of 2012 has passed and there are plenty of trends in the car market of each country. From January to June there are markets that had growing numbers, like Switzerland with almost a 12% grow, and on the other side, Portugal with a decrease of 41%.

These numbers continued through the year, since the economic situation has not changed much. In Switzerland the record was hit, growing 2,9% when compared to 2011. In Portugal the market fell 37,9% when compared to 2011.

The US market rose 13,4% in 2012, the bad news was the low growth for the American industry, 5% for Ford Company, 4,3% for Chevrolet, both below the growth of 26,3% by Toyota.

This hub will help to know how each market is reacting and which brands are selling the most. The analysis will focus on cars, but it can count with commercial vehicles which represent 13 vehicles for every 60 cars sold.

To better understand the market in 2012, let's take a look at the market in 2011.

The car production in 2011 was almost sixty million, in 2012 the expectation is to have a global car production of over sixty million, that represents a share of 6% new cars in a global market of more than one billion cars that exist worldwide.

The main car producers are China (24%), Japan (12%), Germany(10%), South Korea (7%) and India (5%). These five countries are responsible for more than 58% of production worldwide.

If you want to know about the manufacturers, in 2010, the top ten was composed by Toyota (Japan), General Motors (US), Volkswagen (Germany), Hyundai (South Korea), Ford (US), Nissan (Japan), Honda (Japan), PSA (France), Suzuki (Japan) and Renault (France).

As we can see the countries where the cars are produced are not the same as the home country of the manufacturer, that also happens with the sales.

In 2012 the car global production reached 84 million and passed reaching a total of 84,1 million cars sold. 5% more percent than in the year of 2011.

Asia was responsible for more than 50% of the production and America with less than 25%. The worst market in the world seems to be the 27 countries of the European Union with a decline of 8% in production and a decline in sales.

The global sales were 82 million due to non registered cars and short term inventory.

Considering Cars and commercial light vehicles, the top twenty five internal markets that buy cars account for almost 90% of the world market.

China is the most populous country in the world, representing 20% of the world population, and with a growing economy, more people are able to purchase a car. This results in a growing car market, in which the cars are also produced, very attractive numbers for every car manufacturer.

Like other markets, there are several manufacturers with good shares, but none able to dominate the market. The market is leaded by Volkswagen with a share of almost 15%, more than the second and third combined. The Top three is completed with Nissan and Toyota, both with a share of more than 6%.

There are several manufacturers that already sell more cars in China than in other typical countries.

• Volkswagen sells more in China than in the European Union.
• South Korean Hyundai sells more in China than in its home market, and more than the USA.
• Buick, sells more than the triple in China than in the USA.

The Japanese market has a main difference from the others, the Top10 brands sold only count with one foreign brand. The other 9 brands that appear are all Japanese, and the first eight places are occupied by them.

The Japanese manufacturers control more than 95% of the market, with Toyota clearly leading with almost 30%, and with the followers Honda, Suzuki, Nissan and Daihatsu, all around 13% of share.

For the Japanese companies that is a great advantage, having the home market (second biggest market in the world) favorable for the sales.

The US market is a clearly growing market in 2012, with a growth of more than 12,5% between January and June, this market is bigger than the European, even with less population.

The market is leaded by American companies, but from the third to the seventh place, the companies are Asian, leaving the american market divided by the US companies and the Japan and South Korean companies.

As we can see in the table, the US companies have a share of more than 43%, not dominating the market, and sharing the market with almost the same amount of cars sold with the Japanese and South Korean companies, and leaving the German companies with a share of less than 8%.

This is considering the number of cars sold, because in revenue the numbers can be very different.

The european market is dominated by european companies, specially the german and french which are best sellers in their country. Italy, home of Fiat, is also a country where the main seller is the home manufacturer, Fiat.

The European market, with a crisis being managed, went down by 1,6% in the car market, with the big contribution of the southern countries, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Greece (also known as PIGS). This four countries are responsible for more than 22% of the European Union market.

If you take a look at the main manufacturers at the European market, there is a light increase of share for the German companies, with the main losses for French companies.

Germany is the fourth biggest car market in the world, and the biggest in Europe. It is also home of the main manufacturers in Europe, and home of Volkwagen.

Volkswagen is the main brand sold in Germany, with more than 20% share, it is followed by BMW, Mercedes and Audi, all around 9%, and all of them famous to be "luxury" brands.

When people talk about cars, they have a general idea about a car, but it can always be different. For example the Japanese market has a great variety of tiny cars, but in the US, the most famous are the big and sports cars.

So I searched in Google Images for terms like "American Car" or "Japanese Sport car" to see what's the most viewed. Searches like "(Country) small car" can give you very different ideas of what is a small car.