For the third year, in what is becoming an annual tradition here at CarSalesBase, we are using the incoming new year as motivation to reflect back at the previous year and look at its success stories (see here for the 2016 success stories, and here for the 2016 disappointments). Also find our disappointments of 2017 and our predictions for 2018. Let us know in the comments below if you agree or disagree!
Success stories of 2016: China
A new year is always a nice opportunity to reflect on the past year and in our case, that means looking at which cars have sold surprisingly well China in 2016 and which do we expect to surprise in 2017. We’ll also look at which cars or brands have disappointed from a sales volume point of view in a separate article. Click the following links to check back on last year’s surprises or disappointments. Also find our success stories for 2016 in the US and Europe and our predictions for China in 2017.
1. Domestic crossovers
I’m short of superlatives to describe how sales of domestic brand crossovers in China have exploded in 2016. More than 5 million domestic Chinese crossovers were sold in the first 2016, that’s more than the entire car markets of Germany and Spain combined! In a market up 17%, crossovers and SUVs from Chinese brands increased their sales by 50,6%. In comparison: sales of import brand crossovers increased 29%, faster than the overall market but just over half the growth rate of their domestic rivals. This also means that the share of Chinese brands in the crossover segment grew to 57,4%, much higher than their share of the overall market, which also grew to an all-time high of 37,3%. The share of domestic brand crossovers and SUVs in the overall market grew from 16,3% in 2015 to 21,4% in 2016. The cause of this impressive surge? A flood of hot new models, aimed directly at the needs and desires of the Chinese new car buyer, with prices so low import brands can’t match them and ever-improving design and quality, both exterior and interior, and most equipped with ever-larger infotainment touch screens on top of the center console. No less than 29 new nameplates were introduced in the first 11 months of 2016, of which 3 from all-new brands: Borgward, SWM and Hanteng.
Success stories of 2016: Europe
A new year is always a nice opportunity to reflect on the past year and in our case, that means looking at which cars have sold surprisingly well in 2016 and which do we expect to surprise in 2017. We’ll also look at which cars or brands have disappointed from a sales volume point of view in a separate article. Click the following links to check back on last year’s surprises or disappointments.
1. Skoda Superb
The third generation Superb has been an instant hit, breaking all records of its predecessors. In 2016 alone, approximately 86.000 Superbs were sold (79.200 through November), one sixth of its cumulative total of 518.000 European sales in 15 years and three generations. The Superb has improved with every generation: the first generation, which basically a long wheelbase Volkswagen Passat with a Skoda grille, sold an average of 15.500 annual units during its 7-year long career. The second generation with the double trunklid took the model to the next level with an average of 46.200 annual sales in its equally long career, peaking at 56.000 in 2011. But when the third generation launched in 2015 the Superb achieved new heights: its previous annual record has been smashed by 50% and for the first time the nameplate took 2nd place in the midsized segment, behind the Passat but comfortably ahead of segment mainstays like the Opel/Vauxhall Insignia and Ford Mondeo. All on the same recipe as before: value for money, conservative styling, and above average interior room.
Success stories of 2016: US
For the second year, in what we hope will become an annual tradition here at CarSalesBase, we are using the incoming new year as motivation to reflect back at 2016 and look at its success stories (see here for the 2015 surprises, and here for the 2015 disappointments). Let us know in the comments below if you agree or disagree!
1. Jaguar
For the past two decades, ever since Ford decided to make Jaguar into a global competitor to luxury car brands such as Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, the British brand has suffered from false dawns and unfulfiffled promises. After doing surprisingly well in the US selling the much-derided X-Type and the uber-conservative S-type, with sales peaking at over 61,000 units in 2002, things took a turn for the worse, with sales dropping to around 15,000 a year, where they have been up until 2015.
This year, however, Jaguar is looking to sell over 30,000 cars for the first time in over a decade, more than doubling last year’s sales. The reason for this upswing is a barrage of new models, with particular success coming from the F-Pace SUV and the mid-sized XE (averaging about 1,500 and 1,000 units per month, respectively). The only bligth on the brand’s copybook is the relative failure of the new large XF to connect with the buyers, with sales in recent months substantially below the levels reached by its predecessor this time last year, no doubt hurt by cannibalization from its new stablemates.
Surprises of 2015 and 2016: US
A new year is always a nice opportunity to reflect on the past year and in our case, that means looking at which cars have sold surprisingly well in 2015 and which do we expect to surprise in 2016. We’ll also look at which cars or brands have disappointed from a sales volume point of view in a separate article. We’ve already covered the surprises and disappointments in Europe and in China, now let’s take a look at the US car market
Which cars sold surprisingly well in 2015:
Euro-vans
For decades, the US commercial van market has been dominated by three old-fashioned and inefficient models: the Ford E-Series, the Chevrolet Express (and its clone GMC Savana) and Dodge Ram Van. In 2001 the Sprinter was added as a kind-of replacement to the Ram Van, which stood out because of its unibody layout. Although the Sprinter, first as Freightliner, later also as Dodge, then RAM and now as Mercedes-Benz, has enjoyed continued growth, it took Ford until the second half of 2014 to see the benefits and replace its ageing E-Series with the Transit, also based on a European design. And with the Sprinter now under the Mercedes-Benz brand since the demerger of DaimlerChrysler, FCA launched the RAM ProMaster in 2014 as well, which is a rebadged Fiat Ducato.
And the result has been a sales success for the “Euro-vans”, helped undoubtedly by a recovering economy, as businesses are starting to replace their aging vans after postponing that investment during the crisis years. But also because of their better fuel economy, more cabin space, better ride and greater choice of size configurations.
In the first 11 months of 2015, these three models accounted for 53% of total large commercial van sales in the US, up from 18,5% in the same period of 2014. To put it in numbers: the Ford Transit, Mercedes-Benz Sprinter and RAM ProMaster sold a combined 155.000 units, a tripling of their volume of 47.878 units a year earlier and they helped boost the segment as a whole increase 13,3% to 292.271 sales. That means the “traditional” body-on-frame vans lost 34,6% of their volume, or if we don’t include the Ford E-Series which is being replaced by the Transit, the Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana were down 23,7% and the Nissan NV was up 12,7% but with the smallest volume of all competitors.
Surprises of 2015 and 2016: China
A new year is always a nice opportunity to reflect on the past year and in our case, that means looking at which cars have sold surprisingly well in 2015 and which do we expect to surprise in 2016. We’ll also look at which cars or brands have disappointed from a sales volume point of view in a separate article. We’ve already covered the surprises and disappointments in Europe, now let’s take a look at the Chinese car market
Which cars sold surprisingly well in 2015:


Surprises of 2015 and 2016: Europe
A new year is always a nice opportunity to reflect on the past year and in our case, that means looking at which cars have sold surprisingly well in 2015 and which do we expect to surprise in 2016. We’ll also look at which cars or brands have disappointed from a sales volume point of view in a separate article.
Which cars sold surprisingly well in 2015:
