Auto News For Thursday, December 17, 2015 - Lincoln Continental Will Soon Be For Real

Here are the five must-read, must-watch auto news stories and videos for Thursday, December 17, 2015.

FUTURE
The Lincoln Continental is quickly moving from concept stage to production stage, and early images suggest the production version will look very much like the concept. But is a sedan what Lincoln needs to make headway in a luxury market it controlled a couple decades ago? Lincoln fails to adequately sell the sedans they build now, and even properly popular big luxury sedans like the Mercedes-Benz E-Class and BMW 5-Series are fading as consumers turn to SUVs. 

REVIEW
So the Brits say the, “Vauxhall Mokka sells well but key rivals are better.” How interesting. We would say the same thing about the Chevrolet Trax. Which is a Vauxhall Mokka.

AUTOFOCUS
Jeep is not the most popular seller of SUVs in Canada. But Jeep is close to the top. Which brand sells the most? Autofocus has the top 25. 

TTAC
Check out these 18 auto sales numbers that help explain the U.S. auto industry’s status heading into the final month of what should be the best year ever for America’s automobile industry. 

WATCH 
Pikes Peak is a bit of a scary drive at sane speeds. But in an 800-horsepower Porsche 911 GT3 Turbo Cup racer attempting to climb Pikes in less than 10 minutes, the climb is terrifying.

Auto News For Wednesday, June 10, 2015 - Acura Recalls 19,502 Vehicles

Here are the five must-read auto news stories, reviews and videos for Wednesday, June 10, 2015.

INSIDE THE AUTO INDUSTRY
Did you know Costco was selling new cars? In fact, Costco was responsible for nearly 400,000 U.S. auto sales in 2014, more than Volkswagen and two dozen other automakers.

REVIEW
Think of the Vauxhall Corsa VXR this way. Imagine if Vauxhall/Opel’s sibling brand in America, Chevrolet, sold the Sonic subcompact hatchback with a 202-horsepower, turbocharged four-cylinder in order to make a true Fiesta ST rival. Here’s the evo review of the new £17,995 Vauxhall hot hatch.

RECALL
Volkswagen is recalling 2957 Tiguans (model year 2015) because the vehicles may be, “missing the required tire pressure information and they may state incorrect weight and loading information.”

American Honda is recalling 19,502 Acura MDX crossovers (model years 2014-2015) and RLX sedans (model year 2014) because, “the collision mitigation braking system incorrectly interpret certain roadside objects such as metal fences or metal guardrails as obstacles and unexpectedly apply the brakes.”

INSIDE THE ELECTRIC AUTO INDUSTRY
Saying that, “The Model X will be a better SUV than the Model S is a sedan,” Tesla founder Elon Musk plans for deliveries of the new model to begin before November. The Model X was originally intended to go on sale some six months ago.

WATCH
Well, it’s James May. But it’s not Top Gear. Here’s Mr. Slowly in the Ferrari 488 GTB.

November 2012 Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The United Kingdom

Clear and bright like a winter's day in Dover Denver, Colorado, is the obvious way in which the United Kingdom's new vehicle market bears no resemblance to the North American market. The Ford Fiesta is the UK's best-selling car this year, as it was last year, but in the United States, the Fiesta is the 72nd-best-selling vehicle.

Need more evidence? Consider the fact that three of the nameplates on this list of the UK's 10 best-selling cars in November aren't even available in North America. 

Ford UK also sells a three-door Fiesta but doesn't sell the ugly Fiesta sedan. The Mercedes-Benz C-Class is still available as a wagon, or rather an estate, in the United Kingdom. 

All of these cars can (and regularly are) purchased with diesel powerplants. And of the seven nameplates on this list which are on sale in North America, only one is sold here with a diesel engine: the Volkswagen Golf.

Monthly & Yearly North American Ford Fiesta Sales Figures

Of course, the Golf, sales of which rose 5% to 5165 units in November, can be had in the UK with a 168-horsepower diesel. In North America, diesel bhp tops out at 140. The Golf is America's 90th-best-selling vehicle, trailing the Mini, Fiat 500, Dodge Challenger, BMW X5, and Toyota Venza. 

This list presents the 10 most popular cars in the United Kingdom from November 2012. Just as many of these cars posted huge year-over-year gains last month, the SMMT says the UK's overall market posted a 11.3% increase in November and is up 5.4% to 1.9 million sales through the first eleven months of 2012.

Rank	Best-Selling Car	November 2012	% Change	Year To Date	YTD % Change
#1	Ford Focus	7495	+ 52.6%	77,850	+ 0.08%
#2	Ford Fiesta	7483	+ 20.8%	104,288	+ 15.0%
#3	Vauxhall Corsa	6164	+ 17.8%	84,924	+ 17.1%
#4	Volkswagen Golf	5165	+ 4.9%	59,465	+ 2.2%
#5	Vauxhall Astra	5032	+ 11.4%	57,911	+ 0.3%
#6	Nissan Qashqai	3403	+ 3.9%	42,835	+ 16.3%
#7	BMW 3-Series	3238	+ 11.7%	41,340	+ 2.8%
#8	BMW 1-Series	3135	n/a	31,292	n/a
#9	Mercedes-Benz C-Class	2901	+ 14.2%	35,328	n/a
#10	Mini	2787	n/a	n/a	n/a

Source: Manufacturers, MTI & SMMT
Red font indicates year-over-year declining sales 
* Mini refers to non-Countryman Minis. Mini UK sold 1637 Countrymans in November.

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In America - December 2012
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - October 2012
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - November 2011
UK Auto Sales By Brand - November 2012
America's 20 Best-Selling Cars - November 2012

October 2012 Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The United Kingdom

Many Of The UK's Best-Selling Cars
Are Also Available In North America.
This Passat Alltrack, However, Is Not.

Not mentioned in the table below because of lower October 2012 UK sales results are the Mercedes-Benz C-Class and Fiat 500. Respectively, they are the United Kingdom's ninth and tenth-best-selling cars through the first ten months of 2012. The C-Class trails the Volkswagen Polo by 4512 units; the Fiat 500 trails the C-Class Benz by 3212 units.

At the top of the heap sits the still-surging Ford Fiesta. The SMMT says UK new vehicle sales are up 5% this year, but Fiesta sales have risen 14.6%. Vauxhall's Corsa sales growth has also outperformed the industry with a 17.1% gain, though Corsa sales slid slightly in October 2012.

No car recorded a better year-over-year improvement last month than the Vauxhall Corsa, sales of which jumped 38.3%. Astra sales remain off last year's pace, but October still stands as a bright spot. Sales of the Nissan Qashqai were up 27.9% in October and, among industry leaders, the Qashqai's year-over-year growth through ten months is tops. 

Both the Volkswagen Golf and Polo reported drops in October; both cars are down year-to-date, as well. Overall, however, the Volkswagen brand was up 11.3% in October and is up 3% this year. Ford remains the United Kingdom's best-selling brand, outselling Vauxhall by more than 47,000 sales and Volkswagen by nearly 85,000 sales, but the Blue Oval goes it alone. Volkswagen has in its fold a stable of brands, including the UK's fourth-best-selling brand, Audi. UK auto sales brand rankings for October and YTD will be published on GoodCarBadCar in the coming hours.

For now, get to know these 10 best sellers, 70% of which are available in some form on this side of the Atlantic.

Rank	Best-Selling Car	October 2012	% Change	Year To Date	YTD % Change
#1	Ford Fiesta	8058	+ 10.3%	96,805	+ 14.6%
#2	Vauxhall Corsa	6285	- 0.2%	78,760	+ 17.1%
#3	Ford Focus	5834	+ 12.1%	70,355	- 3.5%
#4	Vauxhall Astra	5754	+ 38.3%	52,879	- 0.6%
#5	Volkswagen Golf	4158	- 5.5%	54,300	- 0.2%
#6	BMW 3-Series	3762	+ 2.7%	38,102	+ 2.1%
#7	Nissan Qashqai	3567	+ 27.9%	39,432	+ 17.5%
#8	BMW 1-Series	3029	n/a	n/a	n/a
#9	Mini	2970	n/a	n/a	n/a
#10	Volkswagen Polo	2952	- 10.2%	36,939	- 7.5%

Source: Manufacturers, MTI & SMMT
Red font indicates year-over-year declining sales 
Mini refers to non-Countryman sales. Mini sold 1295 Countrymans in the UK in October.

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - November 2012
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - September 2012
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - October 2011
United Kingdom Auto Sales By Brand - October 2012
Top 20 Best-Selling Cars In America - October 2012

UK Auto Sales By Brand - 2011 Year End

Skoda Roomster Scout

As it was last year, Ford was the United Kingdom's best-selling car brand in 2011. 265,894 Fords were sold to Britons in 2011. Two-thirds of those Fords were Fiestas and Focuses. 

While Ford was the best-selling brand, a greater share of the market was owned by Volkswagen. By owning Audi, Skoda, and Seat, 19.7% of the UK market was Volkswagen's. General Motors, by the way, recorded a very similar 19.6% market share in America in 2011. Ford has no luxury division to boost its share in the United Kingdom as it does in the United States and Canada where its market share tallies are 16.8% and 17.4%, respectively.

BMW finished 2011 as the UK's top-selling premium car brand. Land Rover finished fourth. Compare that stat with Land Rover's finish in America. The Brits do like their homegrown brands, even if the revenue is now funnelled to overseas corporations like Tata, BMW, and Volkswagen. Mini very nearly out-sold Honda (and succeeded at doing so in December) while Jaguar's declining sales were still strong enough to see off Lexus.

As for non-Ford American brands, you'll have to scroll down a ways to find any. Chevrolet sold 12,524 cars in the United Kingdom in 2011, that's down 8.4% from 2010. Jeep's UK division sold 2146 vehicles in 2011 - Jeep sells that many Wranglers each week in the U.S. The Chrysler brand accounted for 1182 of Fiat's total sales in 2011. Infiniti is very much a Japanese brand but something of a U.S. creation. The brand has been very slow to take off on the other side of the Atlantic. Initially, Lexus was as well, and despite Toyota's troubles this year, Lexus improved its UK sales total by 33% in 2011. It takes time.

All the pertinent UK auto sales figures are below. Last year's version of this table can be viewed here.

Rank	Automaker	2011 Year End	2010 Year End	% Change
#1	Ford	265,894	280,364	- 5.2%
#2	Vauxhall	234,710	247,265	- 5.1%
#3	Volkswagen	179,290	174,655	+ 2.7%
#4	BMW	116,642	109,418	+ 6.6%
#5	Audi	113,797	99,828	+ 14.0%
#6	Nissan	96,269	89,681	+ 7.4%
#7	Peugeot	94,989	109,324	- 13.1%
#8	Mercedes-Benz	81,873	74,977	+ 9.2%
#9	Toyota	73,589	87,396	- 15.8%
#10	Citroen	68,464	73,317	- 6.6%
#11	Renault	68,449	95,608	- 28.4%
#12	Hyundai	62,900	61,752	+ 1.9%
#13	Kia	53,615	56,114	- 4.5%
#14	Honda	50,577	63,652	- 20.5%
#15	Mini	50,138	43,894	+ 14.2%
#16	Skoda	45,061	41,240	+ 9.3%
#17	Fiat	41,612	53,092	- 21.6%
#18	Land Rover	37,637	37,272	+ 1.0%
#19	Seat	36,089	32,935	+ 9.6%
#20	Volvo	32,657	37,435	- 12.8%
#21	Mazda	31,219	45,449	- 31.3%
#22	Suzuki	20,295	21,484	- 5.5%
#23	Jaguar	13,787	16,417	- 16.0%
#24	Chevrolet	12,524	13,678	- 8.4%
#25	Alfa Romeo	11,563	8834	+ 30.9%
#26	Mitsubishi	9843	12,209	- 19.4%
#27	Lexus	8269	6202	+ 33.3%
#28	Porsche	6382	6784	- 5.9%
#29	smart	5044	7651	- 34.1%
#30	Saab	4138	5898	- 29.8%
#31	Subaru	2634	3897	- 32.4%
#32	Jeep	2146	2078	+ 3.3%
#33	Abarth	1291	1425	- 9.4%
#34	Chrysler	1182	1392	- 15.1%
#35	Bentley	1037	993	+ 4.4%
#36	Aston Martin	1024	1080	- 5.2%
#37	Perodua	543	761	- 28.7%
#38	Proton	446	767	- 41.9%
#39	Maserati	388	456	- 14.9%
#40	Infiniti	382	232	+ 64.7%
#41	MG	360	282	+ 27.7%
#42	Lotus	329	577	- 43.0%
#43	Ssangyong	194	242	- 19.8%
#44	Daihatsu	3	170	- 98.2%

Source: Automakers, MTI & SMMT 
Red font indicates declining year-over-year sales, bold indicates a so-called premium brand

CLICK CHART FOR LARGER VIEW

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
UK Auto Sales Brand Rankings - 2012 Year End
UK Auto Sales By Brand - 2010 Year End
UK Auto Sales By Brand - December 2011
UK Auto Sales By Brand - January 2012
UK Auto Sales By Brand - January 2011
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - 2011 Year End

Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The United Kingdom - 2011 Year End

After winning every one of 2011's monthly races except January and February, which, as it happens, were won by the year end's second and fourth-place cars, the Ford Fiesta ended 2011 as the best-selling car in the United Kingdom. That's not surprising.

What is slightly surprising is the Fiesta's margin of victory. In 2010, the Fiesta beat the Vauxhall Astra by 22,367 sales. The Fiesta's victory over this year's second-place loser was "just" 14,280 units. That second-place car was the Fiesta's big brother, Ford's Focus. Sales of the Focus increased at a 5.2% clip in 2011, Fiesta sales slid 6.7%.

Further down the list you'll find one premium-badged car. In a year when the 3-Series had reached its maximum permitted age, UK sales were up 1.1%. The overall UK market, remember, shrunk 4.4% in 2011. Among cars in the top ten, Vauxhall nabbed the crown for worst year-over-year decline (the Astra, down 22%) and best year-over-year increase (the Insignia, up 24%).

These were the ten best-selling cars in the United Kingdom in 2011. Don't expect wholesale changes when the 2012 list breaks cover a year from now.

Rank	Best-Selling Car	2011	2010	% Change
#1	Ford Fiesta	96,112	103,013	- 6.7%
#2	Ford Focus	81,832	77,804	+ 5.2%
#3	Vauxhall Corsa	77,751	77,398	+ 0.5%
#4	Volkswagen Golf	63,368	58,116	+ 9.1%
#5	Vauxhall Astra	62,575	80,646	- 22.4%
#6	Vauxhall Insignia	46,324	37,281	+ 24.3%
#7	Volkswagen Polo	45,992	45,517	+ 1.0%
#8	BMW 3-Series	42,471	42,020	+ 1.1%
#9	Nissan Qashqai	39,406	39,048	+ 0.9%
#10	Mini	35,845	41,883	- 14.4%

Source: Manufacturers, MTI & SMMT
Red font indicates year-over-year declining sales 
Mini, as always on the UK list, refers to the non-Countryman Minis

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - 2012 Year End
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - December 2011
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - January 2012
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - 2010 Year End
UK Auto Sales By Brand - 2011 Year End

Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The United Kingdom - December 2011

Three Vauxhalls, two Fords, two Volkswagens, and single entries from Mini, Nissan, and Hyundai form the UK's best-selling cars list for December 2011. In all the time GoodCarBadCar's been tracking United Kingdom best sellers, no Hyundai has ever landed in the top 10. 

The i10 is Hyundai UK's smallest car, smaller than anything Hyundai offers in North America. The sixth-ranked Volkswagen Polo is smaller than anything Volkswagen offers in North America. The Vauxhall Corsa is a Chevrolet Sonic-sized car. And the Ford Fiesta is offered in three-door form in the UK, two fewer doors than Ford fits Fiestas with in North America. Even one of the bigger cars on this list, the Vauxhall Insignia, is no bigger than its twin, the Buick Regal. The Regal, you may recall, isn't a particularly big car by North American standards.

You get the picture - the most popular cars on the other side of the Atlantic are invariably small. Last month's version of this list, absent the Hyundai i10 and Vauxhall Insignia, can be viewed here. The Ford Fiesta was Britain's best-selling car in November, as well.

Rank	Best-Selling Car	December 2011	% Change	Year To Date	YTD % Change
#1	Ford Fiesta	5411	+ 18.6%	96,112	- 6.7%
#2	Vauxhall Corsa	5258	+ 11.0%	77,751	+ 0.5%
#3	Vauxhall Astra	4856	- 9.7%	62,575	- 22.4%
#4	Ford Focus	4047	+ 5.6%	81,832	+ 5.2%
#5	Volkswagen Golf	4031	+ 23.4%	63,368	+ 9.1%
#6	Volkswagen Polo	2742	- 26.4%	45,992	+ 1.0%
#7	Mini	2706	- 36.1%	35,845	- 14.4%
#8	Nissan Qashqai	2580	- 9.2%	39,406	+ 0.9%
#9	Vauxhall Insignia	2494	- 3.6%	46,324	n/a
#10	Hyundai i10	2411	n/a	n/a	n/a

Source: Manufacturers, MTI & SMMT
Red font indicates year-over-year declining sales 
Mini, as always on the UK list, refers to the non-Countryman Minis

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In America - December 2012
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - 2011 Year End
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - January 2012
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - November 2011
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - December 2010
UK Auto Sales By Brand - December 2011