[WTCC/DTM/STCC/TTA & more] 2014 - Loeb for 2014 WTCC

WTCC, BTCC, DTM and Aussie V8s
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theracer120
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#1126

Post by theracer120 »

Bottom post of the previous page:

Is that for new car sales?

I'm surprised to see Volkswagen that high up.
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Everso Biggyballies
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#1127

Post by Everso Biggyballies »

theracer120 wrote:Is that for new car sales?

I'm surprised to see Volkswagen that high up.
Yeah, it is new cars only, and so was I surprised. I was more surprised about the dismal Ford figures Re VW bear in mind now that the Euro brands are generally manufactured in Asia now as far as this region goes. China is now by far the largest manufacturer of cars worldwide, and indeed the largest national market for new car sales. In 2012, despite the widespread poverty throughout China, excluding any commercial vehicles, Chinese consumers purchased 16 million new passenger cars (ie about 20 times the size of our Aussie market was then, and 20% larger than the USA. Most of the cars sold in China are made by VW controlled joint venture factories in China, but all Western makers are also expanding interests there)

It more than shows, and in a way justifies, why we have such a large trend for GPs, WTTC and other series to have events in China, given the importance of the market to Euro / US manufacturers.

The new car sales I showed in the earlier post above are this year latest available (up to October I think.) I just converted the original units sold figures to a market share by brand, based on the total units sold YTD. I cant find the link for this year that I used, but here is a summary and link to an article re end figures for last year (2013) from drive.com.au. This year they predicted to be a record selling year (in Aus) again, but in fact it is way down.

From http://www.drive.com.au/motor-news/reco ... 30cij.html
last year end figures:

2013 Top 10 manufacturers - All NEW cars sold in Aus. by brand.

Pos. Brand. Units sold

1st. Toyota - 214,630
2nd. Holden - 112,059
3rd. Mazda - 103,144
4th. Hyundai - 97,006
5th. Ford - 87,236
6th. Nissan - 76,733
7th. Mitsubishi - 71,528
8th. Volkswagen - 54,892
9th. Subaru - 40,200
10th. Honda - 39,258

Source: http://www.drive.com.au/motor-news/reco ... 30cij.html

This little sidetrack I started is getting way off the original topic now....
I know we have little Touring Car news to discuss atm, and activity in the the Touring Car race category is ultimately at the whim of the manufacturers, but maybe its a topic more relevant for opening a specific new thread in for our "On the Road" sub-forum?

I will leave that decision to Paul, Kieran, and Jesper :wink:

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#1128

Post by Cheeveer »

That the Volvo bloke says motorsport doesnt fit the brand because they are about "safety" shows what an idiot that man is. We dont know more up here than what you posted Everso, and nothing what I say can make it better. However, Volvo has threaten to leave Swedish touring car racing multiple times, but they are still there. 2015 will be their 20th consecutive season, they should celebrate that.
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SBan83
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#1129

Post by SBan83 »

Ultimately this type of racing where you're essentially putting one over the public that's buying your brand based on what you do on the track with a car that has nothing in common except the badge, is never going to be 'relevant'.. so I find this whole drama that's playing out to be pointless. Even if, by 2017, we have cars on the grid that have turbo V6 engines, those engines will still be like night and day compared to the production version (not to mention the entire spec chassis thing) so what's the point of it? Why not just go further into the night, so to speak, and stick with V8s, which sound so much better. Just to be able to say we have a turbo V6 in our race version, 'just like' you the consumer?

Random rambling, I know, but it is the off season after all..
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#1130

Post by Cheeveer »

Good points, but the manufacturers still produce their own engines. The Volvo is built in Göteborg to be sent across the world. So it is relevant TO THEM, more than to the public.
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