Here is the list of the August Car Sale data. We have included only the top selling cars and excluded the trucks from this list. A separate list is being compiled for the trucks. Take a close look at the figures presented in the Table.

Table : August 2011 Passenger Car Sale Data

Rank	Make and Model	August 2011 Sale	August 2010 Sale	% Change
1	Totoya Camry	30,185	30,758	-1.9%
2	Altima	23,016	18487	+24.5%
3	Chevy Cruze	21,807	21,807	0%
4	Hyundai Sonata	20,682	21,410	-3.4%
5	Ford Escape	20,607	14,836	38.9%
6	Honda Accord	18,439	22,514	-18.1%
7	Ford Fusion	17,925	17,088	+4.9%
8	Chevy Malibu	17,840	18,185	-1.9%
9	Chevy Equinox	16,606	10,537	+57.6%
10	Honda CR-V	16,572	19,450	-14.8%
11	Toyota Corolla	16,420	20,272	-19.0%
12	Hyundai Elantra	15,054	15,175	-0.8%
13	VW Jetta	14,500	10,670	+35.9%
14	Ford Focus	14,093	15,470	-8.9%
15	Kia Sorento	13,573	9,043	+50.1%
16	Chevrolet Impala	13,329	17,333	-23.1%

The Toyoya Camry continues to lead the sale chart and can undoubtedly be crowned as the “Most Popular Car” in US. This is even after the recall issues that Toyota is facing.

We found that the 2011 Toyota Camry has been placed on position 14 by US News and Ranking. They have placed 2012 Ford Fusion and the 2011 Ford Fusion Hybrid at number one and number 2 spots respectively. If we go by the sales figure the Ford Fusion, which is ranked similar to Toyota Camry in terms of pricing and options – is nowhere in the list of 16 best selling cars.

USA News and ranking has been notorious for favoring Ford. They are NOT impartial. It is unclear if they have a marketing propaganda for the Ford. However, their ranking of the cars is clearly skewed in favor of Ford and is probably one of the worst cases of misuse of journalism.

It is possible that the editorial team is composed of the patriotic American with natural bias towards the US cars, which is too bad but, to rank the cars based upon what your heart says is clearly a mis use of the journalism power that they are automatically entitled to.

Update :

Toyota Prius does not figure in the list of the top 16. Its Sales figure of  9,491 units in August 2011 is not so impressive.It is down by 20% compared to the same month last year. But it still leads in the category of the Hybrid Cars. The Hybrid Camry on the other hand has been a great disappointment with with just 318 Sales in August 2011.

 

 

By reducing the price of its Etios Model, Toyota has made the Etios Liva more affordable without compromising its quality. The lowering of cost was essential, as, Indian middle class, though richer than it was a decade ago, is not willing to put money of more expensive cars. The sweet spot and lust for cars seems to be reserved for 4 laks to 7 lakhs car with all entry level features including Air Conditioner. This is where the Toyota Etios Liva seems to Fit in.

Toyota has been advertising heavily with Liva. This should give a tough competition to the Swift – the closest competition from Maruti ( Tata’s Indigo is still a relatively smaller payer in this field)

The Liva features an Extral Large cabin. Its fuel economy is one of the best in its class and its prices are affordable for masses. mass-market price. Toyata was so confident of the demand that it had to delay its launch from April to June as it feared that it could not cope up with demand.

The Etios Liva has a length of only 3.775 meters as compared to 4.265 for Etios. The wheel base stands reduced by 9 cm. The reduction in size should actually help people in driving in narrowly spaced Indian roads.

Whereas the Etios sedan has a length of 4265mm, the Liva gets a length of 3775 mm with a 9cm reduction in wheelbase (roughly the passenger cell’s length). The Etios as well as the Liva variant look similar from fron side. It will be hard to distinguish the Etios and the Liva just by looking from the front. Maruti also attempted similar changes by releasing Dzire model as a variant of Swift, but Dzire is still recognizibly distict from Swift.

The Engine in the Liva is smaller – 1.2L as compared to 1.5L in the Etios.Liva is about 10 kg lighter than the Etios.The Etios Liva give 80 bhp while the Etios gives out 90 bhp. On the negative side, the Etios as well as the Etios Liva are offered only in manual transmission – no Automatic transmission is available. The music system is nice in Liva and it is surprisingly pleasant to see that it comes with a USB socket and Audio Auxilliary drive.

The Etios Liva gives out 18 km per liter can be said to be good for a car of its class.The standard Safety includes ABS, EBD and Airbags.

In overall Toyota’s quality brand will be the most important reason to take a closer look at Liva. The only question is will it deliver on the quality promises – in long run ?

“Not  everything that is in the government leads to failure.” This was the motto for lndia’s first public sector automotive company. And after the government exited in 2003, Maruti-Suzuki continued to win over millions and firmly established itself as the most successful car manufacturer in lndia. After the Maruti 800, their most triumphant flag bearer is the Alto lndia’s highest selling car for almost six years now. Selling an average of 20,000 units a month, the Alto is now recognized as a brand in itself. And now Maruti have just transformed the Alto by putting in their acclaimed BS4 compliant K10B engine. The 998cc K10B engine isn’t stranger to the market. lt drives the A-Star, the Zen Estilo and the new WagonR to their respective destinations. The F8D engine on the old Alto makes a very modest 46bhp.

The K10 generates 20 horses more making up for the old Alto’s lack of them. The massive increase in power doesn’t come at the price of fuel efficiency as Maruti-Suzuki claim it delivers a fuel efficiency of 20.2kpl. The 3-cylinder K10B rocks and rolls a bit at ignition and idle. But on being renewed it smoothes out and even lets out a pleasant rumble. The added power is also evident the moment you step on the gas. Like on the new WagonR, the cable type transmission makes shifting gears very comfortable. ‘ To accommodate the larger KI0B, the engine bay length has been stretched by about I 25mm. This increases the overall length of the car, but the wheelbase remains the same. The all-aluminium K10B engine weighs just about 7kg more than the existing F8D. So the overall kerb weight even with the increase in length is just 50kg more. Twenty more horses and an increase in weight of only 5Okg, mean the power-to-weight ratio has altered drastically in favour of power. And this has transformed the new Alto K10 into a little punchy rocket. The underpinnings have also been tweaked to accommodate the increase Alto continues to be nimble and the power assisted steering is also light. Push it hard and there is some understeer, but the overall handling is quite good and throwing this peppy baby around is real fun. Wider tyres would of course aid the handling further.

The styling of the Alto K10 has been worked upon and the increase in length also adds to its street presence. The new headlamps have the currently fashion- able eagle-eyed look, and the new wide grille complements the headlights nicely. The bumper also has wide vents to add  aggression and the p-shaped taillamp give the Alto K10 a distinctive rear end.

Changes in the interior include a new three spoke steering wheel, amber illumination for the instruments and a new speedometer, tachometer and digital tripmeter. Some new storage spaces have been created and the upholstery material is also new.

Assuming Mahindra is  able to acquire Ssangyong, what are we,, as car buyers, going to get in lndia?  Well, the vehicle that we should get first  could very well be the Ssangyong  Rexton or the other bigger SUVs in the range. Though the one that we should eagerly wait for is Ssangyong’s newest,   the C200 or the Korando C as it will, in all likelihood, be called. Unveiled for the first time as a concept at the 2008 edition  of the Paris motor show, the C200 has evolved over the years to its latest   incarnation – unveiled a few months ago ‘ at the 2010 Busan lnternational Motor  shown – as the new Korando C concept  with more aggressive styling claimed to  be representative of the production  version, the Korando C is a soft roader  that could do very well in lndia if  Mahindra – with their ‘frugal engineering – are able to bring costs down to  under Rs l0 lakhs.

With an overall length of 4.4 metrics on a wheelbase of 2.65 metres the Korando C promises Honda CR-V kind of space and functionality in a slightly smaller vehicle that with its monocoque I body construction and Giugiaro design will leapfrog Mahindra into modern times – a vehicle with a more passenger car look, feel and comfort. performance wise, the Korando C looks great on paper: choice of powertrains inciude a ( new 2.O-litre turbo-diesel engine that , develops I 80bhp and 360Nm of torque, r other than a I.8 turbocharged petrol J with similar power specs. The tranny I options include an automatic and a six- I speed manual. The interior too is very modern and stylish. The platform is adaptable, and the chassis can be used for front-wheel drive and four-wheel-drive passenger cars. Extensive use of aluminium suspension components reduces weight and together with a low centre of gravity, ensures a comfortable ride with the kind of sharp and agile handling demanded by European drivers’
Though the Korando C was expected to be in Production late l45t Year’ Ssangyong’s bankruptcy seems to have aefayeO that, and in all likelihood the car will’be in production some time next year, so the availability for lndia may well be into later next year’ In the meantime, if the deal goes through’ we can expect Mahindra to launch the Rexton foi sure, mainlY as CKD assemblY’ Launched as a Daewoo waY back in 2002 (when Ssangyong was supplying the Rexton to Daewoo) the 4’72-metrelong Rexton is derived from the SsangYong Musso, with engines from Mercedes-Benz (either a choice of ‘ t ozbf,p 2.7 and 2’9 common rail diesels or a 217bhp 3’2-litre petrol)’ obviously for lndia we can very well expect Mahindra to bringin the 2’7 diesel. Alternatively, it just may be possible that the five/seven-seater Rexton may be launched in lndia with Mahindra’s own2.2 common rail unit.

The other body-on-chassis models in the range include the Kyron, the Actyon and the Rodius. The 4.66-metre-long Kyron is an old-fashioned SUV with questionable styling that was launched in 2005, then extensively revised in 2O07. Powertrains include a Merc-derived .. I41 bhp 2.0-litre diesel other than the same2.7 diesel and 3.2 petrol as in the Rexton. The r1.45-metre-long Actyon is the ‘sports activity’ version of the Kyron that wai launched in 2005, predating the ‘similar’ BMW X6 by two years. The Actyon Sports is a longer wheelbase twin-cab pick-up derivative of the Actyon. And the Rodius is an aesthetic challenging giant of an,MPV that has been around since 2004. We don’t expect Mahindra to bring in any of these to lndia, and neither do we expect them to bring in their suPer saloon, the Chairman, which ls 5.1 I metres (5.41 metres in long wheelbase form) and has been derived from the l99Os Wl 24 Mercedes-Benz E-Class.

The 2009 Car   2009 Car Manufacturer Ranking

Presented by starredreviews.com

The table below listing out the top car  manufacturer’s figures could be an interesting one.

From India’s perspective Tata has the best chance to rank somewhere in top 10 in th near future.  Mahindra & Mahindra is not far behind with a lot of mergers and associations.

 

Table : Ranking of Car Manufacturers by number of Vehicles sold

Manufacturer	Rank	Number of  Vehicles Produced ( In 000)
Toyota	1	7,232
GM ( General Motors)	2	6,459
Volkswagen	3	6,067
Ford	4	4,685
Hyundai – Kia	5	4,646
PSA Peugeot Citreon	6	3,042
Honda	7	3,013
Nissan	8	2,745
Fiat	9	2,460
Maruti Suzuki	10	2,388
Renault	11	2,296
Daimler	12	1,448
CHANA Automobile	13	1,426
BMW	14	1,258
Mazda	15	985
Chrysler	16	959
Mitsubishi	17	802
Beijing AIG	18	685
TATA ( Includes Jaguar Land Rover)	19	672
DongFeng	20	663
FAW Group	21	650
Chery Auto	22	509
FUJI (Subaru)	23	491
BYD	24	428
SAIC-SSANGYONG	25	348
ANHUI Jianghuai	26	337
Zhejiang Gely	27	330
Brilliance ( excluding BMW)	29	314
AVTOVAZ	30	295
Great Wall Motor	31	227
Mahindra & Mahindra	32	223
Shangdong Kaim	33	169
Proton	34	153
China National	35	121
Volvo-Renault Trucks-Mack-US Trucks	36	106
Chongquing Lifan	37	104
Fujian	38	103
Kuozui	39	93
Shannxi Auto	40	79
Porsche	41	76
Ziyang Nanjin	42	72
GAS	43	70
Navistar	44	65
Auto Guangzhou	45	63
Paccar-DAF	46	59
Chenzhou Ji AO	47	51
Qingling Motor	48	50
Hebei Zhongxing	49	48
Ashok Leyland	50	48
Total Manufacturers		59,983
Other Manufacturers ( Not listed above)		1,783

Since not all the figures are available for the Calender year 2010, starredreviews has compiled the list from the calender year 2009 which gives a good picture of what is in store in future.

 

With the figures being so close, the ranking could change and by the end of this year it is quite possible that GM may be back at the top of the heap, regaining the number one position after a few  years being dethroned by Toyota,which in turn have had their share of problems,from recalls to an earthquake in Japan. At the same time one must remember the Hyundai Kia is doing very well and when you combine the figures of Renault and Nissan,which are sister companies despite their so-called independent structures, their ranking could change the world order too.You  may notice that Tata is ranked 19th in world. That could have changed despite the fact the Tata numbers are up singnificantly in 2010,as the Chinese carmakers are worth looking out for. Chana and Beijing are already ahead  of Tata and a whole host of others like Dongfeng,FAW,Chery,etc ,are snapping at the heel. So, 2010 could  change drastically.