Analysis of motoring magazine ABC results - Jan-Jul 2011
Analysis of motoring magazine ABC results - Jan-Jul2011
The total general motoring magazine market fell by 4.4%. This sector should be viewed in the context of overall car sales, which were also down in the first half of 2011.
BBC Top Gear’s circulation was flat (+0.1% year on year and -0.5% period on period). It remains the biggest circulating general motoring title. UK newstrade copies dropped from over 100,000 to 92,387. The total circulation of 190,535 has been bolstered by 11,415 copies distributed free on airlines, airports, cruise ships and ferries. 16.5% (over 31,000 copies) are distributed overseas.
The biggest loser in the sector was Car, which posted an ABC of just over 54,000, down 13.5% year on year. Nearly one third of the circulation is overseas, and 8.9% of copies are bulk sales. As this is part of a longer term trend, it is clear that there are still investment and product challenges ahead for Bauer with this magazine.
What Car? fell by 2.8% year on year. As a buyers guide, it’s clear that What Car? has been affected by the decline in registrations, but has at least outperformed the overall market. 99.7% of the circulation is actively purchased and 97.9% is UK. What Car? is now under the stewardship of new editor-in-chief Chas Hallett, and his influence on the product will be seen in the coming months.
Surprisingly, given recent audits, Evo registered a drop in circulation of 5.0% year on year to 61,417, driven by a 10.5% fall in UK newstrade sales.
In the weekly marketplace, the biggest news was that Auto Express experienced a year on year decline of 9.0% and a period on period fall of 7.3%. Auto Express has a resilient subscription base (although the majority of these are sold at about half the cover price). Auto Express has been without an editor for many months now, and it is clear that the arrival of Steve Fowler in the autumn can’t come soon enough.
Haymarket’s Autocar posted a year on year decline of 6.5%, although the period on period figures are flat (+0.0%), which may hint at a reversal of fortunes. Autocar published its 5000th road test issue in this period, and have recently appointed a new editor, Jim Holder. Autocar is the first and only motoring magazine to declare digital copy sales on their ABC certificate, with 348 paid for copies.
Download a summary of all the figures here.
Click here to read Haymarket's press release on the results.