Top 10: UK car sales 2013 - winners and losers

While figures published today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders revealed that new car registrations in 2013 were at their highest level for six years, individual manufacturer performances varied significantly. Some fared exceptionally well, but others experienced serious declines.

First of all, special mention has to go to Dacia, which in its UK launch year managed to achieve 17,146 registrations. To put that into perspective, the Romanian brand outsold budget rival Chevrolet by 5,470 units.

Dacia Duster Adventure (2013) Front Side

Of the marques that were also around in 2012, here are the ten that posted the largest year-on-year volume percentage increases:

Top 10: Total UK Car Registrations 2013 - Winners
Manufacturer 2013 2012 Change Change %
Lotus 256 137 119 86.9%
Mitsubishi 9,044 6,549 2,495 38.1%
Suzuki 33,088 24,893 8,195 32.9%
Škoda 66,081 53,602 12,479 23.3%
Fiat 60,198 49,907 10,291 20.6%
Mazda 31,228 26,183 5,045 19.3%
Mercedes-Benz 109,456 91,855 17,601 19.2%
Seat 45,312 38,798 6,514 16.8%
Audi 142,040 123,622 18,418 14.9%
Jaguar 16,210 14,109 2,101 14.9%
Total Market 2,264,737 2,044,609 220,128 10.8%

At the other end of the spectrum, these are the ten makes that suffered the greatest drops:

Top 10: Total UK Car Registrations 2013 - Losers
Manufacturer 2013 2012 Change Change %
Saab 3 232 -229 -98.7%
Proton 20 208 -188 -90.4%
Perodua 206 416 -210 -50.5%
MG 504 782 -278 -35.6%
Infiniti 386 530 -144 -27.2%
Chrysler 2,515 3,333 -818 -24.5%
SsangYong 662 875 -213 -24.3%
Alfa Romeo 5,687 7,253 -1,566 -21.6%
Chevrolet 11,676 13,476 -1,800 -13.4%
Smart 5,314 5,616 -302 -5.4%

Saab’s result was expected given the firm’s bankruptcy issues, although more surprising is the virtual disappearance of Proton. MG will doubtless be hoping for a stronger 2014, especially given the arrival of its new 3 supermini which has had generally favourable reviews.

Clearly the strategy to bolster the Chrysler line-up with rebadged Lancia models isn’t working particularly well. Alfa Romeo meanwhile continues to struggle without a replacement for the mid-size 159.

Related posts:
Top 10: UK car sales 2013
Top 10: Irish car sales 2013
Top 10: UK car sales 2012

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