Europe's top-sellers in February
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Europe's best seller: the Volkswagen Golf
(Australian specification 103 TDI model shown)
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News
21st March, 2010
Evidence of the shifting fortunes of the car industry is
revealed in latest figures from automotive data provider, JATO Dynamics, which show the effects on
brands and European sales figures, of declining new car demand in Germany.
What was once Europe’s largest new car market is suffering a distinct ‘scrappage hangover’, with
February sales down almost one third (29.8%), versus the same period in 2009. Last month, it was
outsold again by Italy, which is operating a scrappage incentive scheme (a taxpayer funded stimulus
package) worth EUR 1,500 - 5,000, for every 10 year old car traded for a new, low emissions model.
One of the biggest casualties of this drop in demand was the Volkswagen Golf, whose lead over Ford’s
Fiesta was cut to 4,737 sales (February 2009: 9,764 sales). Overall, Golf sales were down 4.0% across
Europe last month, mainly due to a 9.4% drop in Germany; its largest market, responsible for
approximately almost half of its European sales (February 2010: 45.2%).
David Di Girolamo, Head of JATO Consult, said of the figures: “This is the true picture of
consumer confidence in the German market, after a series of smaller monthly declines. If this situation
were to affect all markets at the end of their scrappage schemes, we could lose a third of all European
new car registrations by mid-2010.”
The UK scrappage scheme extension expires at the end of March, while schemes will be phased out in
Spain, Italy and France through 2010.
The continued buoyant sales in these markets ensured overall European sales remained positive in
February, versus 2009 (Spain up 47.2%, UK up 26.4%, Italy up 20.5% and France up 18.7%).
Model Performance
Volkswagen’s Golf continues to dominate the sales charts but its reliance on German car buyers puts
this position in doubt for the first time in over a year.
Ford's Fiesta, which is much stronger in UK, Spain and Italy, has benefited and more than halved
the sales gap, compared with February 2009. These two remain clear of other top sellers, but the Renault
Clio, Fiat Punto and Volkswagen Polo all posted double-digit sales gains.
Opel/Vauxhall’s new Astra is off to a strong start, edging the Ford Focus out of the European top
ten.
Top 10 Models
| Make & Model |
Feb 2010 |
Feb 2009 |
% Change Feb |
Feb YTD 2010 |
Feb YTD 2009 |
% Change YTD |
| VOLKSWAGEN GOLF |
37,235 |
38,805 |
-4.0% |
77,206 |
73,230 |
+5.4% |
| FORD FIESTA |
32,498 |
29,041 |
+11.9% |
71,696 |
60,833 |
+17.9% |
| RENAULT CLIO |
27,334 |
17,683 |
+54.6% |
59,603 |
34,713 |
+71.7% |
| FIAT PUNTO |
26,413 |
18,577 |
+42.2% |
54,272 |
35,699 |
+52.0% |
| VOLKSWAGEN POLO |
26,026 |
19,904 |
+30.8% |
57,985 |
38,396 |
+51.0% |
| PEUGEOT 207 |
25,295 |
25,848 |
-2.1% |
50,232 |
51,205 |
-1.9% |
| FIAT PANDA |
21,854 |
21,024 |
+3.9% |
44,110 |
38,556 |
+14.4% |
| OPEL/VAUXHALL CORSA |
21,144 |
20,562 |
+2.8% |
44,213 |
39,989 |
+10.6% |
| RENAULT MEGANE |
20,726 |
14,790 |
+40.1% |
41,565 |
27,814 |
+49.4% |
| OPEL/VAUXHALL ASTRA |
19,917 |
16,946 |
+17.5% |
40,228 |
32,223 |
+24.8% |
Brand Performance
February saw scrappage-influenced small car sales continue to determine brand performances, with
Renault a particular beneficiary, from the impressive sales of its Clio.
Opel/Vauxhall, Toyota and Audi were further casualties of the declining German market, which
damaged their overall sales performances.
Top 10 Brands
| Make |
Feb 2010 |
Feb 2009 |
% Change Feb |
Feb YTD 2010 |
Feb YTD 2009 |
% Change YTD |
| VOLKSWAGEN |
110,436 |
110,899 |
-0.4% |
232,950 |
216,264 |
+7.7% |
| RENAULT |
91,698 |
71,196 |
+28.8% |
189,902 |
132,721 |
+43.1% |
| FORD |
83,431 |
81,966 |
+1.8% |
178,456 |
171,823 |
+3.9% |
| PEUGEOT |
79,268 |
66,483 |
+19.2% |
160,565 |
133,762 |
+20.0% |
| FIAT |
73,133 |
70,138 |
+4.3% |
154,037 |
136,213 |
+13.1% |
| CITROEN |
68,591 |
57,776 |
+18.7% |
137,764 |
117,728 |
+17.0% |
| OPEL/VAUXHALL |
66,354 |
69,884 |
-5.1% |
134,851 |
135,606 |
-0.6% |
| TOYOTA |
44,837 |
53,230 |
-15.8% |
102,788 |
103,187 |
-0.4% |
| AUDI |
40,735 |
43,287 |
-5.9% |
86,941 |
89,551 |
-2.9% |
| BMW |
36,516 |
33,975 |
+7.5% |
74,336 |
71,678 |
+3.7% |
National Trends
This month has seen Italy once again claim the title of “Europe’s biggest new car market”.
Dominated by Fiat and with an enduring appetite for small cars, it was the only market in
Europe selling over 200,000 cars last month and is up 25.2% YTD, compared to the same period
in 2009.
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Spain saw February 2010 sales rise by 47.2%; impressive growth which points to a recovery
from its 2008 registration crash. Major beneficiaries are Ford Fiesta, Nissan Qashqai,
Hyundai i30 and Opel Astra and Corsa.
The UK is another strong performer, up 28.7% YTD, but is also a market dependent on taxpayer
funded scrappage incentives, which has accounted for more than 320,000 sales since its
introduction and for one in five registrations in the month of February 2010, according to the
national industry body, SMMT.
Beyond the problems in Germany, there continues to be a dividing line between
scrappage-cushioned Western markets and a Central and Eastern European region void of such
expensive incentive schemes.
Concludes Di Girolamo: “The overall picture is still far from positive. The declines appear
to be less severe in Central and Eastern Europe, which is more to do with the comparison period
than any improving fortunes there. In February 2009, we were already seeing recessionary effects
that continue today. The underlying figures from Western Europe are no more encouraging once you
remove the impact of government incentives, as the evidence from Germany shows.”
Sales by Market
| Country |
Feb 2010 |
Feb 2009 |
% Change Feb |
Feb YTD 2010 |
Feb YTD 2009 |
% Change YTD |
| Austria |
21,787 |
18,827 |
+15.7% |
42,669 |
37,819 |
+12.8% |
| Belgium |
47,591 |
45,904 |
+3.7% |
96,967 |
93,594 |
+3.6% |
| Cyprus* |
871 |
1,452 |
-40.0% |
1,848 |
2,939 |
-37.1% |
| Czech Republic |
11,080 |
9,824 |
+12.8% |
21,893 |
18,669 |
+17.3% |
| Denmark |
7,044 |
7,436 |
-5.3% |
17,708 |
15,237 |
+16.2% |
| Estonia |
562 |
792 |
-29.0% |
1,321 |
1,809 |
-27.0% |
| Finland |
7,630 |
7,196 |
+6.0% |
19,969 |
18,739 |
+6.6% |
| France |
180,535 |
152,066 |
+18.7% |
352,013 |
301,438 |
+16.8% |
| Germany |
194,846 |
277,740 |
-29.8% |
376,035 |
467,125 |
-19.5% |
| Great Britain |
68,686 |
54,359 |
+26.4% |
214,165 |
166,446 |
+28.7% |
| Greece |
13,432 |
15,533 |
-13.5% |
40,017 |
35,758 |
+11.9% |
| Hungary |
3,086 |
7,254 |
-57.5% |
5,877 |
13,381 |
-56.1% |
| Iceland |
77 |
91 |
-15.4% |
165 |
217 |
-24.0% |
| Ireland |
12,306 |
8,883 |
+38.5% |
28,865 |
24,682 |
+16.9% |
| Italy |
201,577 |
167,341 |
+20.5% |
409,004 |
326,711 |
+25.2% |
| Latvia |
329 |
453 |
-27.4% |
598 |
949 |
-37.0% |
| Lithuania |
435 |
533 |
-18.4% |
874 |
1,275 |
-31.5% |
| Luxembourg |
4,081 |
2,086 |
+95.6% |
7,617 |
5,243 |
+45.3% |
| Norway |
9,094 |
6,287 |
+44.6% |
18,791 |
11,640 |
+61.4% |
| Poland |
24,390 |
30,199 |
-19.2% |
49,749 |
56,859 |
-12.5% |
| Portugal |
15,358 |
10,029 |
+53.1% |
29,917 |
19,023 |
+57.3% |
| Slovakia |
3,998 |
4,063 |
-1.6% |
7,598 |
7,662 |
-0.8% |
| Slovenia |
4,803 |
4,716 |
+1.8% |
9,853 |
9,288 |
+6.1% |
| Spain |
91,434 |
62,124 |
+47.2% |
161,769 |
121,498 |
+33.1% |
| Sweden |
17,972 |
14,603 |
+23.1% |
33,495 |
25,902 |
+29.3% |
| Switzerland* |
20,163 |
17,501 |
+15.2% |
38,897 |
35,205 |
+10.5% |
| The Netherlands |
37,799 |
33,840 |
+11.7% |
100,706 |
89,906 |
+12.0% |
| Grand Total |
1,000,966 |
961,132 |
+4.1% |
2,088,380 |
1,909,014 |
+9.4% |
*Denotes estimated data for February 2010
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