European new sales off to a good start in 2014

European new car sales for 2014 have begun on a good note. January 2014 numbers are up 4.9 percent year on year. As per the latest new car sales analysis from JATO Dynamics, the leading provider of automotive intelligence, building on a strong finish to 2013, 44,823 more units were sold in January 2014 compared to the same period last year, confirming a fifth consecutive month of year-on-year growth in sales volumes.

Twenty-three out of 30 European countries showed sales growth in January, Volkswagen continued to perform strongly, with a 7.8 percent increase in January volumes, with the Golf and Polo models taking first and second in the top 10 models table respectively, and eight of the top 10 brands increased their sales in the month.

Sales growth was reported in the vast majority of European markets, including all of the ‘Big Five’ – France, Italy, Spain, Germany and Great Britain. The latter two continue to perform well, with year-on-year growth of 7.2 percent and 7.6 percent respectively. While unable to replicate December’s double-digit growth, Spanish volumes still increased by 8.9 percent. Just seven of the 30 countries analysed showed negative growth for January culminating in a very positive start for the sector.

Sales by market

 Note: * denotes estimated volumes for January 2014

In January, Volkswagen expanded its market share to remain the number one brand in Europe thanks to a 7.8 percent increase in volumes. Opel/Vauxhall, however, had a slower start to the year with sales down 8.0 percent on 2013 mainly due to lower sales of the Astra in Great Britain and Germany.

Peugeot (9.4%) and Renault (3.7%) both took advantage of this to move up to third and fourth places respectively in the top 10 brands table. It was also a good month for second-placed Ford (8.5%) and sixth-placed Audi (7.7%).

Outside the top 10, Dacia, Mazda, Skoda and Toyota also recorded significantly increased sales in January.

Top 10 Brands

Increases of 28.4 percent for the Golf and 9.0 percent for the Polo, the top two models by sales, were key to Volkswagen’s strong performance during January. The Ford Fiesta dropped from second to third place as a result, despite an 8.4 percent increase in volumes.

The new Skoda Octavia climbed to sixth place following a strong start to the year with year-on-year sales up by 32.7 percent. The Audi A3 was the only top 10 model to better this, recording a significant increase of 83.7 percent for its recently expanded model range.

A number of new models were amongst the top performers, including Peugeot’s new 308 (50.2%) Citroën’s new C4 Picasso / Grand C4 Picasso range (77.5%) and the new Seat Leon (59.3%). It was also a good January for Dacia’s Sandero (58.0%) and Duster (35.9%) ranges.

At the premium end of the market, Tesla and Maserati both recorded high growth. Tesla’s Model S electric car performed particularly well in low-emission friendly markets such as Norway. It has also been a successful debut for Maserati’s new Ghibli executive saloon, which accounted for over 75 percent of the brand’s sales across Europe in January.

Gareth Hession, vice-president of research at JATO Dynamics, commented: “This is an encouraging start to 2014 for the European new car market, with volumes up almost five percent on this time last year. The industry has been hoping to avoid the slow start we witnessed at the start of 2013, so a fifth successive month of growth and the fact that the five biggest individual markets all grew during January should be grounds for optimism.”

Top 10 Models

Data source: JATO Dynamics