European car market notches six months of consecutive growth

According to the latest new car sales analysis from JATO Dynamics, the leading provider of automotive intelligence, the European new car market continues to grow, with 6.1 percent year-on-year increase in February marking the sixth consecutive month of growth.

By Autocar Pro News Desk

19 Mar 2014

3870 Views

European car market notches six months of consecutive growth

Of the 30 markets studied, 25 posted increases for the month of February compared with February 2013 volumes, with the exception of Belgium, France, Norway, Poland and Switzerland.

The German market emerged as one of the strongest growth areas in Europe in February, with sales up by 8,666 units compared to February 2013. Germany also recorded the largest absolute growth in year-to-date sales volumes with 22,572 more new cars being sold or registered in Germany in the first two months of 2014 than in the same period in 2013.

Italy, Spain and Great Britain also recorded strong growth in February. Spain recorded an increase of 11,469 units on February 2013, whilst Italy was up 9,288 units, and all three reported impressive year-to-date growth compared to the first two months of 2013.

European Monthly Sales Volumes Year-on-Year Comparison

All of the top 10 brands have posted increases year-to-date, with Audi posting the largest increase within the top 10 of 9.2 percent. Eight of the top 10 brands also posted increases for the month compared to February 2013, with Opel/Vauxhall recording the largest percentage increase of 14.6 percent in the monthly top 10.

Strong growth was also recorded outside the top 10 brands; seven of the top 20 brands posted a year-on-year increase of more than 10 percent. In particular, Skoda, Suzuki and Dacia led the growth, with each brand recording more than a 20% increase in sales compared to February 2013.

This strong growth isn’t limited to just February, however. So far, in 2014, 18 of the top 20 brands have achieved a year-to-date increase, with six posting year-to-date growth of more than 10 percent. Suzuki, Mazda and Dacia are all up by more than 20 percent on 2013 year-to-date volumes.

Top 10 Brands

Make	Feb_14	Feb_13	% change Feb	YtD_14	YtD_13	% change YtD
Volkswagen	105,723	107,920	-2.0%	228,467	221,788	+3.0%
Renault	60,536	58,691	+3.1%	119,865	115,866	+3.5%
Peugeot	58,936	56,327	+4.6%	120,859	112,950	+7.0%
Ford	58,654	54,033	+8.6%	126,528	116,610	+8.5%
Opel/vauxhall	56,709	49,487	+14.6%	111,804	109,309	+2.3%
Audi	48,093	43,397	+10.8%	102,339	93,705	+9.2%
Citroen	46,561	46,961	-0.9%	96,733	95,034	+1.8%
Fiat	46,551	43,721	+6.5%	92,301	90,726	+1.7%
BMW	41,612	39,739	+4.7%	90,324	87,787	+2.9%
Mercedes	40,399	39,231	+3.0%	86,135	84,684	+1.7%

Volkswagen continued to enjoy success with its popular Golf and Polo models, finishing first and third respectively in February’s best-selling models in Europe table. Both models increased volumes in February and remain up on 2013 year-to-date volumes. Despite a fall in volumes for both the month and year-to-date, the Renault Clio was the second best-selling model in February.

Also achieving significant increases for both the month and year-to-date were the Ford Fiesta and Skoda Octavia. The fourth best-selling model in Europe in February, the Ford Fiesta, increased monthly volumes by 19.3 percent and year-to-date volumes by 13.2 percent year-on-year.

The seventh best-selling model in Europe in February was the Skoda Octavia, which recorded the largest percentage increase in the top 10 for both the month and year-to-date. Sales were up for the recently updated model by 39.3 percent in February and 35.4 percent year-to-date compared with 2013 volumes.

Top 10 Models

Make & Model	Feb_14	Feb_13	% change Feb	YtD_14	YtD_13	% change YtD
Volkswagen Golf	34,318	32,720	+4.9%	73,629	63,322	+16.3%
Renault Clio	21,236	22,384	-5.1%	42,271	43,868	-3.6%
Volkswagen Polo	20,001	19,551	+2.3%	42,783	40,444	+5.8%
Ford Fiesta	18,508	15,509	+19.3%	40,925	36,160	+13.2%
Peugeot 208	17,285	19,035	-9.2%	35,782	38,778	-7.7%
Opel/Vauxhall Corsa	16,766	13,837	+21.2%	30,957	29,959	+3.3%
Skoda Octavia	14,941	10,725	+39.3%	31,841	23,514	+35.4%
Fiat Panda	14,402	13,993	+2.9%	26,404	28,539	-7.5%
Ford Focus	14,130	14,623	-3.4%	30,268	32,305	-6.3%
Nissan Qashqai	13,171	15,811	-16.7%	25,993	32,789	-20.7%

Gareth Hession, vice-president of research at JATO Dynamics, commented: “The latest volumes offer further reassurance of sustained improvement within the European new car market. We’ve seen overall volumes increase for six months consecutively, with the majority of markets posting increased volumes for both the month and year-to-date. Manufacturers have brought some really innovative products to market and they are now beginning to reap the rewards of investing in new technology.”

Data source: JATO Dynamics