Global new car sales: the key trends and what they mean for the future

People carriers and vans continued their respective slides in popularity, with a decline of up to 10% globally for MPVs being more than offset by the growth of SUVs, which swelled by nearly 12%.

About 27.6 million SUVs were sold in 2017, making up a quarter of all global sales.

The top ten nations: winners and losers in 2017:

We have already discussed China’s onward march as the biggest car market. In contrast, the UK went into retreat in 2017 with the biggest percentage drop of any global market, down 5.4% to 2,902,754 sales as a result of economic uncertainties and new motoring taxes.

The decline at least wasn’t sufficient to push the UK behind France, where 2,539,826 cars were sold, but a drop of 166,000 units repeated in 2018 alongside a rising French market would put the UK’s position under threat.

EV sales are up, but market share is tiny:

Much has been written about global electric vehicle sales accounting for 1% of the total global market in 2017, a significant indication of the growing acceptance of battery-powered vehicles. But JATO’s numbers suggest this isn’t quite the case.

“The final figures are still not confirmed,” says JATO global auto analyst Felipe Munoz, “but preliminary data shows 581,000 EV cars were sold – that’s about 0.8% of the global market.”

So close, but no cigar, to reaching the 1% considered the ‘tipping point’ for a technology to become permanent.

In its run-out year, the Nissan’s Leaf Mk1 lost its number-one crown the cheaper BAIC EC, a little-known Chinese EV with a 20kW battery and price tag starting at £17,000. That the executive-priced Model S also outsold the Leaf is a testament to the power of Tesla’s appeal.

China’s ZD Zhidou was fourth, outselling the Renault Zoe and Tesla Model X.

SUVs on the march to world domination:

“Yes, they are taking over the world, everywhere,” says Munoz. “It is a long-term trend that is now also impacting India, Brazil and south-east Asia.”

Every SUV market segment is growing, with the biggest expansion coming from mid-size and large SUVs. In China, a number of 5+2 and full seven-seat SUVs were launched last year.

Which countries are buying the most electric vehicles?

With 332,994 EVs sold, China was the number-one market last year, well ahead of the US and Europe. “Demand also doubled in 2017 in China,” says Munoz, “while US interest was 14% lower.”

Supercars still make a bang:

The gold standard for loud and expensive fast cars remains the Porsche 911 with 30,700 examples sold last year, an increase of 4% compared with 2016. In fact, the 911 dominates its segment like no other model – the second best- seller is the Mercedes-Benz SL with 5800 units (down 14%).

Ferrari and Aston Martin enjoyed year-on-year sales growth of 10.1% and 58.1% respectively. Lexus made a remarkable jump up the charts. The LC (5700 sales) grabbed third spot from the Mercedes-AMG GT (5100 sales).

Total global volume was 75,400 units, a year-on-year rise of 5.3% – highly respectable given that this is a segment of cars with starting prices around £80,000.

The demise of the three-box saloon:

The rise of SUVs has historically meant a corresponding slide in conventional saloons. And although isolating sales of four-door saloons from those of hatchback and estate body styles is not easy, JATO’s figures suggest that trend continued globally, with the exception of China.

Three of the four main saloon/hatchback/estate segments in China actually expanded last year: mid-size (10% year-on-year growth), executive (14%) and luxury (109%). Only the compact segment decreased (-5%).

The opposite is true in America, where all four segments posted declines, and Europe, where both mainstream and premium compact and mid-size segments fell.

Luxury is buoyant – all thanks to China:

Mercedes-Benz S-Class - 72,613 sales - The great secret success story of global luxury car sales is Cadillac. Invisible in Europe, the storied US brand has three models in the global luxury top ten best- sellers list.

The explanation, according to JATO Dynamics, is the rapid growth in the number of billionaires in China.

Cadillac XTS - 60,980 sales - Mercedes’ mighty S-Class takes top spot, as always, but its lead over the Cadillac XTS narrowed last year.

When Lincoln is included, there are two American brands in the top five. Where are Rolls-Royce and Bentley? Of course, it’s all down to price and volume.

BMW 7 Series - 55,990 - More food for thought: there’s a case for including the Range Rover in this list – it would feature in the top three if it did. Also consider Jaguar, as it readies a new XJ saloon, which is expected to be pure electric. It would need to find 25,000-plus units to enter the top five.

Europe recovers: Germany top, UK falls:

Growing sales in Italy, Spain, Poland, France and, to some extent, Germany and France put Europe’s new car market back on track. Germany was top, with 3,432,928 cars sold. SUVs became the biggest-selling segment in 23 of 29 Western European markets, according to JATO, largely at the expense of MPVs, which lost 11% of market share.

“Most of Europe is enjoying economic stability, which improves consumer confidence,” says Munoz. Even sales in Greece, where the economy was wrecked by the debt crisis, improved by 15%.

But there are some warning signs for 2018: Italian sales last year are suspected of being boosted by self-registrations.

5 global market trends that shrank in 2017: 

This might sound like a nightmare football World Cup result, but not often does the UK new car market come unstuck to minnows such as Mexico and Puerto Rico. Due to the sales slide at home, the UK ended 2017 as the market with the third-biggest year- on-year percentage decline. The bow wave of Brexit and poor euro-sterling exchange rates hit Ireland even more acutely, with buyers choosing used imported cars over new ones. The US also suffered, with a 1.9% decline.

The death of a home-grown car industry:

Last year the sole remaining local production plant in Australia was closed. What went wrong? “Demand for Australian-built vehicles has been in a continuous decline since 2006,” says Munoz.

He lists three main reasons. First, plants pumped out saloons and pick-ups that catered specifically to the local market and couldn’t be exported.

Second, the industry didn’t switch to SUV production to match changing tastes. Just one local SUV, the Ford Territory, ever went into production, despite SUVs accounting to 45% of the Australian market.

Third, Munoz says poorly drawn free-trade agreements excluded the automotive sector – resulting, for example, in Thailand becoming a regional hub for pick-up exports.

Sports cars: demand in some areas dwindling:

Highlights of the sports car segment were continuing strong sales of Mazda’s fine-handling MX-5 (nearly 40,000 units), while Porsche’s 718 family was also on the up.

Abarth’s new 124 Spider had a strong first year of full sales, claiming 10th spot, and fell only just short of the well- established Mercedes SLC. Meanwhile, Toyota’s GT86 found new support as it approaches run-out years.

But, overall, the segment suffered from a drop in demand for US muscle cars, led by the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Corvette, and, in Europe, the Audi TT.