Doom and Boom: Surprise Auto Brands Will Crush It in 2019

Some automakers are challenging a shrinking market in 2019

Yes, the Australian new car market in 2019 was mostly a dark story, but there are some brands that have defied the shrinking market and posted record sales results in March.

Heading here is Mitsubishi, which, bolstered by huge sales across its entire lineup, overtook Mazda to take second place on the sales charts with a staggering 10,135 vehicles sold in March, up from 8495 in February. More impressively, results are up 15% from the brand's March 2018 figures and up 20% year-to-date.

Kia also continues its steady growth, with 5303 sales up 3.7% in March compared to the same month last year, and brand sales up XNUMX% year-to-date.

But Mitsubishi and Kia are hardly alone. While many big brands are hitting the hammer this year, smaller brands are kicking all sorts of targets.

Take the results of the Chinese brand MG, which achieved unprecedented heights in 2019. In March, MG changed 703 vehicles, up from 142 last year, led by the MG ZS (320) and MG 3 (289). Those numbers represent – wait – the brand’s 581% year-to-date growth.

Bentley's 21 sales in March are nearly double the 11 sales in the same month last year, while another major brand, Rolls-Royce, had eight sales, exactly double the number in March 2018.

There must be something in the water of the high rollers because Ferrari is up 10% year-to-date and 18% month-on-month with 14 cars sold in March while Lamborghini, led by Urus, is up XNUMX% % in year. cent month after month too.

McLaren's March figures were also up 12.5%, though that represents a jump to just nine cars sold, up from eight in March 2018. percent compared to March 129 and about six percent since the beginning of the year.

Both Great Wall and Haval are also celebrating big results, with Great Wall Steed sales doubling to 96 compared to March 2018, and Haval's numbers rising from 53 to 92 in the same period. The figures show that Chinese brands are up 167% and 69% respectively since the beginning of the year.

Ram sales for March 201 (177 of which are 1500 models) rose 773% in the month for a year-to-date total growth of 910%.

Infiniti, Nissan's luxury division, will also be champagne after changing 93 vehicles in March - up from 43 in the same period last year. This increases the brand's results since the beginning of the year by 55%.

And it's just as happy a story for Jaguar: 331 the brand's sales are up 41% from March 2018, and its year-to-date numbers are also up 38%. Meanwhile, sales of 1371 vehicles from sister brand Land Rover were up 25% from the same month last year.

Mercedes-Bens Vans (home of the X-Class ute) is up 52% m/m and 30% y/y, recording 681 sales in March, while Skoda has 531 sales, led by Karoq (120) and Kodiaq . (155) SUVs are up 24% month-on-month and 22% year-to-date.

And a number of Volvo's international awards have not gone unnoticed by buyers: in March, the Swedish brand sold 748 vehicles, up 49% month-on-month and 36% year-to-date.