CN's car companies of 2010

Finding firmer footing in 2010, which industry heavyweight will come out on top in the race for sales success... And who will win our respect?

Car companies of the year 2010

After last year's doom and gloom some light at the end of the tunnel has seen a turnaround in fortune for many industry stalwarts. Now with a brighter future ahead, members of the Cars games ales Network team take a look back at the year that was, and nominates a favourite.

Mike Sinclair - Editor in Chief
Volkswagen has had its ups and downs. Some owners lament reliability issues (especially Golf 5 and early Touaregs) and others suggest there's still work to be done on the ownership experience (see Mike McCarthy's comments in Disappointments), but the brand that somehow defies socio-economic pigeonholing is kicking goals Down Under.

Yes, the Korean brands are on the march but it's VW that has to be at the centre of the Toyota HQ dartboard. It won't happen in 2011 or even in the next five years, but further out it's far from inconceivable that 'das Auto' will eventually park more new cars in private buyers' driveways than brands that have become Australian staples such as Honda, Nissan and, perhaps, even Mazda.


Ken Gratton - News Editor
Volvo has achieved some spectacular success this year; not necessarily measured by sales alone, although the Swedish brand has begun to climb back up the sales charts in North America. Its success also lies in the way it has remained true to its design and marketing philosophy, in spite of the distractions that beset it during the year. Those would be distractions like being sold by Ford to Chinese company Geely, for example, or seeing market share in the American market flushed down the toilet as a result of the GFC.

From what insiders have told us, Volvo is looking forward to a close working relationship with Geely and sees a rosy future for the brand, both as a recipient of R&D funding from the Chinese and as an in-house consultant for Geely's own automotive products and global marketing. It's easy to assume that Volvo was just a passenger on the ride from Ford to Geely, but the prestige manufacturer's management have been working as hard as anyone behind the scenes to ensure the smooth transition that took place.


Melissa McCormick - Production Editor
Kia impressed this year for a number of models (Soul, Cerato, Sportage, Optima...) and reasons (inviting us to visit the state-of-the-art facilities in Namyang and drive the company's latest eco-cars, and meet pattern-perfect Peter Schreyer (pictured)). Before now I've nominated Kia-Hyundai, in recognition of South Korea's double-force but this year Kia showed-up its big sister with a better-styled, more interesting lineup.


Feann Torr - Staff Journalist
Ferrari gets the gong for my Car Company of the Year in 2010 for opening a theme park in the deserts of Abu Dhabi. I remember laughing when it was first announced a few years back, and now here we are, starting at a giant red starfish in the middle of the nowhere. Lambo, it's your move...


Matt Brogan - Staff Journalist
Kia on the whole has moved beyond merely scoring the participation award in our local market to becoming a contender in just about every sector it seeks to challenge. Looking back over the last 12 months and new models such as Sorento, Sportage and Cerato have all proven just how much power Kia has to impress. The continuous improvement of those same models yet another indicator of the brand's dedication to becoming more than a 'cheap and cheerful' car company. Next year, with models like Optima and Optima Hybrid on the way, the juggernaut seems likely to continue.


Joshua Dowling - Contributing Writer
I fear I may not be alone here (the editor-in-chief Mike Sinclair doesn't let us look over each other's shoulder when we write these) but, reluctantly, I must say Korean giant Hyundai-Kia made big ground in 2010. Quality, design and sales are all on the up. Combined, Hyundai-Kia overtook Toyota in Europe this year and has the Japanese maker in its sights for global dominance.

Interestingly, it's the one company Toyota fears most. So why did I insert the word 'reluctantly'. Well, because I don't want all this rapid success going too quickly to their heads. There are still significant areas of improvement to be worked on.

I think some journalists (and customers) make allowances for the step up in quality and design because they were expecting worse before they got to the showroom. For example, if you replaced the Hyundai or Kia badges with Honda, Mazda or Toyota badges, would the flimsy feel of the power window switches and some of the harder plastics still be deemed acceptable? And Hyundai and Kia still have some way to go to make the cars drive well compared to their contemporaries. Repeat: compared to their contemporaries (not compared to a BMW). See my 'Surprises of the year' listing tomorrow.


Michael Taylor - International Correspondent
Toss up between Volkswagen, Kia and Skoda. But VW's done so well with its main stuff that nobody punished them -- or even noticed -- that two branches, Bentley and Seat, each lost €200 million in the third quarter... So VW...


Gautam Sharma - International Correspondent
I'll go with two nominations here: Kia and Lotus. A brand that not that long ago gave us crappy offerings whose only USP was a puny pricetag, Kia has suddenly emerged as a serious contender.

Immaculately penned styling (thanks to Peter Schreyer) has been matched by high-quality interiors and driving dynamics far removed from Kias of old. Sales success has followed, and deservedly so. Kia's global sales topped the one-million unit mark during the first six months of 2010, representing a huge 34.1 per cent improvement on the first half of '09.

Lotus, on the other hand, has no similar stats to gloat over, but the audacity of its Paris motor show unveilings has to be admired. Despite being tucked away in a corner hall and allocated a late-in-the-day timeslot at the Paris show media day, Lotus attracted a bigger crowd than any other manufacturer as it whipped the covers off no less than five new concepts that it plans to put into production over the next five years. Not content with being an ultra-niche brand, Lotus has designs on kicking Porsche in the family jewels. Whether or not it succeeds will only become clear in time, but I doffs me cap to the company's newfound gumption and vision.


Jeremy Bass - Green Motoring Writer
Volkswagen Group. The Polo deserves the plaudits it's gathering. The Golf R is a fine example of engine downsizing to better effect than its predecessor. The Transporter is the best developed, most versatile light commercial platform on the local market. The Bentley Mulsanne's shaping up well as a Ghostbuster. And on it goes...

Volkswagen is the powerhouse behind so many marques that are performing well, critically and commercially: VW, Skoda, Audi, Porsche, Bentley (you have to be doing well to afford a loss leader like the Bugatti Veyron). Indeed it's now the powerhouse behind an actual powerhouse, thanks to a deal supplying Hamburg energy utility LichtBlick with Caddy engines modified to burn CNG for its clever domestic powerplant network.

Honourable mentions to sub-brand Audi for its progress through EV concepts, to BMW for the speed with which its EfficientDynamics technologies flowed down to entry level models, and to UK outfit Riversimple for the radicalism and altruism of its open-source policy.


Mike McCarthy - Contributing Writer
Remember when, just a few years back, mere mention of Tata was good only for a snigger from the western motoring media and industry at large. Well, India's giant is up and on its feet, and no-one's laughing now. Tata's successful launch in 2008/2009 of the very cheap, very small, and bravely creative ultra-mini Nano is India's ticket to mass transit. Regardless, the west is gratefully (if not altogether expectedly) impressed by Tata's outwardly seamless and healthy sustenance of adoptees Jaguar and Land Rover.

Of course this year's exciting new models and concepts from both Jaguar and Land Rover reflect directions instituted during Ford's ownership. But it's a perceived credit to Tata's good governance that the eminent British brands are looking better placed, better designed and better able than ever to take the challenge to rivals from Germany and Japan.

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