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<td class="article-headline">International Nameplates Outpace the Market in January</td>
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<p class="article-byline">By
Frank Giovinazzi, Contributing EditorAIADA
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<td>AIADA</td>
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<p align="left">International nameplate sales came out of the 2006 gate with a bang in January, increasing volume 11.5% over the same month last year and outpacing the market as a whole.
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Porsche, Land Rover, Saab and Suzuki
With the introduction of the brand new Cayman model, Porsche blew the doors off last January’s sales with a 48.5% increase thanks to the new models 1,023 unit sales. Not only did the new model score well, it outsold Porsche’s other two cars, the 911 and the Boxster, and barely missed out on beating the Cayenne SUV as well.
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<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">Range Rover had a similarly fine month, sales up 33.8%, thanks to the continued strong sales of their LR3 and the Range Rover Sport. With 1,400 units sold, the Sport model remains the brand’s best-selling vehicle.
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">Saab sales were up 34.1% in January, thanks mostly to the introduction of the new 9-7X SUV, with 385 units sold. Sales of the 9-3 sedan and convertible were also up, 20.3% and 32.1% respectively.
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">Suzuki’s sales were also up big, 33.2%, in this case due to several vehicles – the Grand Vitara SUV was up 588.5%, the compact Aerio was up 56.7% and the Forenza line increased sales by 77.7%.
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Honda and Toyota and Nissan
Obviously it’s harder for larger volume producers to notch big increases, so when Honda reported a 20.7% increase in January, it became one of the biggest sales stories of the month. Thanks to the recent double win for the 2006 Civic as car of the year, sales of that model increased 56.2%. The venerable Accord also did well with a 9.8% jump, but the bigger story yet may be the brand’s increase in light truck sales. The Element, Odyssey and Pilot all posted over 10% sales increases, and the Ridgeline pickup, also a double vehicle of the year winner, sold 3,814 units.
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">Toyota also had a big January – sales were up 14% across their three brands, which posted sales champs all over the map. The Avalon large sedan’s sales were up 365.9%, each of the three Scion models saw increases ranging from 13.6% to 25.4%, and the Prius remains the best-selling hybrid in America. Lexus brand cars were also up, 36.9%.
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">Nissan had a flat January, with sales down 0.9%. The Nissan Sentra sedan posted a 19.9% increase, and the Murano CUV saw a 28.6% gain.
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Volkswagen, Audi and Hyundai and BMW
VW of America, which comprises both the namesake and Audi brands, scored an overall 26.9% sales increase for the month. For VW proper, sales were good – very good – across four main models. The Beetle was up 22.6%, the Golf increased sales by 26.1%, and the Jetta and Passat’s sales were up 47.9% and 47.8% respectively.
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">Audi sales were up 19.8% on their own, with gains coming A6 sedan [23.8%] and A4 wagon [73.1%].
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">Hyundai’s sales were up 16.1% in January, with gains coming from the Sonata sedan [66.2%] and the Elantra [16.9%].
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">BMW of North America sales were up 12.5%, including MINI, which on its own posted a modest 0.9% increase. As a brand, BMW sales were up 14.4%, led by increases from the 3 Series [up 40.8%] and the 5 Series [up 34.2%].
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Mazda and Kia
Mazda’s sales were up 6.5% in January, thanks to the introduction of the new Mazda5, a 106.8% increase in volume for the MX-5 Miata, and a 16.2% increase in Mazda3 sales.
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">Kia’s sales were up 5.6% in January, due to a 118.8% increase in volume on the Sedona minivan.
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Mercedes, Mitsubishi and Subaru
Mercedes sales were up 3.05 in January, due to the continued success of the M Class SUV, which had a 100.2% increase, as well as to sales of the new R Class, which sold 686 units.
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">Mitsubishi improved its sales 2.8% over last January, due to the 159.8% sales increase of the Eclipse. All other models with the exception of the Lancer [up 3.9%] and Endeavor [up 0.4%] were down.
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">Subaru’s sales were flat in January, up 0.4%, though the Impreza line scored a 17.1% increase, and the new Tribeca SUV sold 1,421 units.
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Volvo, Jaguar, Isuzu
Volvo was down 12.6% in January, Jaguar was off 28.9% and Isuzu was down 35.2%.
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">Traditional domestic brands were also up as a whole, 4.6%, and each of the Detroit Three posted individual sales increases.
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">Because Internationals increased their sales volume by a greater percentage however, market share also increased, to 44.3%, up from 42.7% last January.
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">One phenomenon to watch in the market as a whole is the market split between cars and light trucks. Even with gas prices down from the high of $3 per gallon last summer, passenger cars captured 48.8% of the market, with light trucks recording 51.2% of the market. The last few years have seen light trucks capturing 54% of the market, and with the possibility of gas prices increasing this spring, a long-term trend toward parity between the two classes of vehicles may be in effect.
<p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">While most eyes naturally gravitate to the results posted by the largest International nameplates, several smaller brands recorded significant double-digit increases in January that deserve first look:
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