Which countries bought the most cars in H1 2018?

Are you one of those people who have been cursing EDSA (or the entire country) for having too many cars on it that it gets clogged every day? You may want to praise EDSA this time, as it seems like it’s just a sub-atomic dot in the map in terms of vehicle volume. There are more cars in these countries we’re about to show you so you may breathe fine now. 

JATO Dynamics, a research organization in the automotive industry, just named the top 10 countries with the most bought vehicles in the first half (H1) of 2018. Over the course of 12 months, JATO recorded a 3.6% increase in the total automotive sales in 57 markets around the world. From 42 million units of 2017, the world now has 44 million bought cars. 

In JATO’s data, China has the most number of vehicles bought. It is considered to be the largest automotive market in the world, as it has even higher numbers compared to a continent, which is Europe. China has 12.23 million vehicles bought, while Europe is at 9.77 million. 

Despite having a positive annual growth of 3.9%, China is situated as the second lowest sales improvement for H1 since 2009. It may have sold an additional 8% of sedans in the latest figures for June but market was offset by the 7% decrease in SUV and MPV sales. A contributing factor to also consider is the ongoing trade war between China and USA, which may get even worse in the coming years.

On the second spot is USA, which showed a modest market performance this half, which is quite opposite to their economic performance. Although this year was moderate, USA secured the second spot with 8.62 million vehicles bought this H1 2018. According to JATO, their boosting economy, plus the low unemployment rate and tax cuts, have surely made a great impact on their car market. Americans seem to love SUVs and trucks better, as these segments have risen 13% and 6%, respectively. 

Japan continues to play better, as it was able to close 2.69 million cars bought in H1 2018. It still is the third largest car market in the world although figures declined by 2% compared to H1 2017. It’s then followed by India with 1.98 million sales this half. It is expected that India may overtake Japan in 2021, as it was able to outsell Germany – according to JATO's partner LMC Automotive. 

Collectively, Europe is again the second largest market in the planet with its 3.0% market improvement. Having to buy 9.77 million cars in 6 months, we bet you, Europeans really do fancy cars. They may not be as fond of it as Chinese car buyers but the market in Europe showed better love for SUVs with 24% more of it being bought in H1 2018. However, small car sales went down by 4%. 

The European market is led by Germany, having bought 1.97 million vehicles in H1 2018. It's followed by United Kingdom (UK) with 1.49 million, then France and Italy with 1.42 million and 1.2 million, respectively.