The number of new cars put on the road last
year surged by more than half from 2015, with the top four brands
now being Japanese.
Thanks to an expanded certificate of entitlement (COE)
quota, there were a total of 87,504 registrations last year, up 52
per cent from 57,589 in 2015, said the Land Transport Authority
(LTA).
But the line-up of top three brands differed from that
in 2015.
Honda took over as Singapore's favourite car brand from
the second half of last year, followed by Toyota, which had ruled
the roost in 2015 and 2014.
At No. 3 was Mazda, which displaced Nissan.
Mercedes-Benz, once Singapore's fourth most popular
make, is now No. 5, giving Japanese car-makers a sweep of the top
four spots.
But unlike in previous years, where Toyota led the
runner-up by a big margin, Honda managed only a slim lead last
year.
Its total of 19,349 passenger cars (see table above)
was only 858 units more than second-placed Toyota.
The registration numbers included parallel-import
models, which are not sold by authorised distributors.
Mazda, which was No. 5 in 2015, also had only a small
gap between it and Nissan.
Elsewhere down the Top 10 were the same brands as in
the year before, except that Volkswagen overtook Hyundai in Q4 2016
to move up one place to No. 9.
The Hyundai tally, of course, does not include taxis,
which authorised Hyundai distributor Komoco sold 2,742 units of
last year.
Outside the Top 10, Audi also advanced one place to No.
11, switching places with Kia, which closed last year in 12th
place.
Among authorised distributors, the Toyota Corolla Altis
remained Singapore's top model for the third consecutive year, with
a total of 4,923 units registered (see table above).
As in 2015, the Mazda3 and Nissan Qashqai were in
second and third places, respectively.
Also similar to 2015 was that the only luxury models in
the Top 10 were two Mercedes-Benz saloons - the compact C-Class and
the mid-sized E-Class.
Between the two, the E-Class is usually sold in higher
numbers, but a full model change in 2016 affected its
availability.
A new entrant to the Top 10 was the Mitsubishi Attrage,
with 1,726 units.
The strong demand for this budget mini-sedan last year
came from private-hire companies.
Also noteworthy was the return of the Toyota Camry
(1,096) to the Top 10.
The mid-sized sedan edged out the Nissan Sylphy compact
sedan into 11th place in Q4 2016.
This report first appeared in
The
Business Times yesterday.
