Demons, duds & debutants
YOU KNOW it’s been an odd year when Ford’s Mustang outsells its Falcon sedan by 1774 units and the year’s best seller is a ute (Toyota Hilux on 42,104). Meanwhile, Holden’s Commodore was bumped from the nation’s top-three selling cars to finish sixth overall. And in 2016’s last month alone, Ford’s Mustang easily finished on top for yearly growth, as Morgan languished in last place again.
CAR NOV DEC YTD YTD +/- Ford Mustang 389 614 6208 >999% BMW 7 Series 9 49 293 215% Caterham 0 0 3 200% BMW Z4 21 6 194 199% Jaguar XE 14 129 1524 163% McLaren 4 30 93 158% Mercedes-AMG GT S 16 5 144 148% Audi R8 9 15 94 124% Merc C-Class coupe/con.323 374 2524 79% Mazda MX-5 103 187 1577 72%
CAR NOV DEC YTD YTD +/- Morgan 0 0 5 -76% Lotus Elise 1 0 8 -64% Alfa Romeo 4C 2 2 68 -54% Bentley sedan 2 4 26 -54% Citroen DS3 1 0 33 -54% BMW 2 Series 45 28 896 -49% Chrysler 300 34 27 460 -48% BMW i8 1 2 32 -48% BMW 5 Series 43 31 545 -48% Subaru BRZ 3 82 331 -46%
WINNERS AND LOSERS OF DECEMBER 2016
200 PERCENT
CATERHAM’S burst back on to the charts to steal a top 10 spot. The brand’s triple-figure YTD performance comes after 10 months of no figure at all, as Caterham’s sole sale in 2015 didn’t arrive until November. By that time in 2016, though, it tripled that with three Sevens sold, which puts the company into our spotlight.
-48 PERCENT
NO SURPRISE here, really.
BMW’s packing up the current 5 Series to make way for its allnew, lightened successor. But while the new generation, codenamed G30, is due to arrive within months, there aren’t any run-out specials on the current F10-gen car. So it wound down to 31 sales in December last year, a quarter of Mercedes E-Class sales.
Comes with a new 260kW turbo six-pot.
Folding hardtop mite from Hiroshima.
AMG-lite V6 makes its way into new E-Class.
Frightening 441kW GT-R now locked in for a Feb arrival. Costing $299K.
Planned to be lighter, faster, more comfortable.
Reborn GTS with new lick of paint available in limited numbers.
Land Rover slips SVR engine into flagship SUV during 2017 range update.
Hotted up Macan scores more power and dynamic upgrades.
All-new stretch sedan debuts for Stuttgart.
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New alloy five-pot drops into four-door RS.
Flagship coupe arrives with hot alloy five-pot.
Rag-top V10 rocket locks on to Ferrari’s 488 Spider.
Firm’s quasi-M7 arrives with twin-turbo V12.
Combines GT3 RS chassis with Turbo S-beating power. We’re sh*tting ourselves.
Due for 476kW LS9 from Stateside.
Hyundai’s first proper attempt at a hot hatch.
Lexus LC500 Lexus LC500 All-new Lexus flagship.
Drift-ready super sedan thunders in with allwheel drive and 430kW.
Ain’t no simple chop-top job. Steals a few bits from the GT R.
Musk’s shockingly quick (guffaw!) Model S lands with hi-po battery.