Cyprus Auto News

The European car market is declining more sharply than forecasted, reports the FT.Even the boom in the UK car market slowed down sharply in November, and the UK was the only European country to show significant growth in new car sales this year. The market fell strongly in Germany last month, one of the most important markets, and there was an overall drop of 6.2 percent last month.

The figures for 2002 are now forecast to be 3.9 percent down on last year’s results. However, against this falling market, the Japanese car makers have recorded a 12.5 percent increase in sales, doubling their rate of growth - they now account for over 11 percent of European car sales, up from 9.5 percent last year.

Last month, growth was also recorded by Hyundai and by Land Rover, but a particularly bad time was had by Fiat - down 22 percent - and MG Rover, who saw exports tumble by 60 percent and even its UK sales fall by 18.6 percent.

Nissan’s compact crossover, the Qashqai has just hit the landmark of 100,000 customer sales in Europe.
Sales began in March and the 100,000th customer sale was completed during the last week of November.
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For years, the large, family car market in Australia has been divided between the Aussie built GM Holden Commodore and the Ford Falcon, both on the road and on the track. The large car market has been characterised not only by their size, but also by V6 or V8 powerplants running on rear-wheel drive platforms.

For years, other competitors, including Mitsubishi with their Magna and more recently their 380 models, have tried to chip away at this virtual duopoly, with limited success.

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4 cm (1 1/2 inches) shorter and 100 kg (220 pounds) lighter than its predecessor, production on the new Mazda 2 has started in Japan.

The car, developed together with Ford, will be assembled in Mazda’s plant near Hiroshima for the Japanese market, branded as Mazda Demio and at the end of the year the production will start in the Chinese factory of Changan Ford Mazda in Nanjing. Read the rest of this entry »