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BMW has emerged as the top selling car brand in Singapore for the first half of 2011, followed closely by rivals Mercedes-Benz The Bavarian carmaker led the German charge by selling 2,479 cars in Singapore for the first half of 2011, a 2.3% increase over the same period in 2010. Rivals Mercedes-Benz was second with 1,943 cars sold from January to June this year, a 0.4% rise. Long-time leaders Toyota/Lexus are now third, with 1,678 units shifted in Singapore in the first half of 2011, a massive 52.5% decrease. This can be attributed to a major reduction in COE quota and the subsequent rising COE prices, especially in Category A where Toyota has been the dominant player over the past few years. With COE prices reaching new highs, premium carmakers like BMW and Mercedes-Benz now have the advantage as buyers are less hard hit by the rising COE prices. The trend can also be seen downwards, with fellow German brands Volkswagen and Audi rounding off the top five. Volkswagen sold 1,548 cars from January to June 2011, a remarkable achievement despite it being a minor 1.7% decrease from 2010. Audi shifted 986 cars during the same period to end up fifth, a 4.4% improvement. The rest of the top 10 saw major decreases for several Korean and Japanese marques, with Kia, Hyundai, Honda and Nissan all seeing significant drops in 2011 compared to 2010. Kia sold 584 cars, down by 72.2%, Hyundai shifted 524, decreasing by 70%, Honda saw a fall of 67% with 503 cars sold, and Nissan recorded 446 sales, down by 73.6%. The final spot in the top 10 was taken by Volvo, which leapfrogged Porsche with a 7.6% increase in sales for the first half of 2011, having sold 376 cars. In terms of models, the BMW 5-Series was the top seller, with 1,268 units sold. This was significantly ahead of the second placed model, the Mercedes-Benz E-Class, which sold 962 cars. Toyota

I've only just posted about how BMW's sales have gone up worldwide, and now comes the news that the Bavarian carmaker are the top selling make in Singapore for February! Wow! While Mercedes-Benz has topped the charts here before, I believe that this is the first time BMW has become number 1 in Singapore. BMW sold a total of 378 cars in February to snatch the monthly top spot from Toyota, and by over 140 units too. Quite an impressive feat really. Despite that, Toyota still remains the overall top dog in Singapore for 2011 so far, with its 235 cars sold in Feburary helping it maintain its lead over its German rivals. Volkswagen remain second after having sold 147 cars last month. It is pretty telling that positions 2nd to 5th in the sales chart for 2011 overall are occupied by German makes, with Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi respectively. Honda in sixth breaks the gap between them and Porsche in seventh. Could we be looking at a major shift in car sales patterns in Singapore now, with the Germans now dominating over the traditional Japanese? Only time will tell when the year is out...