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Car sales show enormous variations across Europe
publication date: Jul 24, 2010
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author/source: Robin Roberts
Europe’s new car market continues to be a place of marked contrasts, with certain brands and markets growing sales and others not, as revealed by the latest monthly analysis from JATO Dynamics.
European sales have fallen again in June (down 6.5pc vs. June 2009), dragging down the overall YtD figure to just 1.1pc above the same period last year. The continued weakness in German and Italian new car markets (down 32.3pc and 19.1pc, respectively) is the main contributory factor to lower sales volumes, which is also affected by the lack of strong Central and Eastern Europe economies. This is affecting some of the major brands – including Fiat, Ford and Volkswagen – that traditionally sell well to German and Italian buyers. In France and UK, by contrast, things look better: sales figures are in the black (up 2.3pc and 10.8pc, respectively), helping certain brands whose sales are based on these markets, to show more positive sales figures. However, as David Di Girolamo, Head of JATO Consult cautions, this should not be taken at face value: “It is certainly true that demand is weak today in Germany, but direct comparisons to June 2009 should bear in mind that Germany’s scrappage scheme was active in this period, driving high sales, whereas the UK scheme had only just begun and in June 2009 this market was still relatively depressed.” One brand that has seen a net benefit over the past year is Renault. In June 2009, Renault was fifth in the new car sales YtD; it is now second and just 196,694 behind Volkswagen, with its Clio and Mégane both up again in June. Elsewhere, new models have offered the key growth opportunities. Opel/Vauxhall Astra is performing strongly in many European markets, pushing the brand to third in overall sales, while the increased popularity of Volkswagen’s new Polo is lifting the German brand’s fortunes outside its scrappage-hit home market. Both Ford and Volkswagen are showing declines in sales, in part affected by the German market downturn, which followed a 35.1pc decline in May, with a 32.3pc drop in June, vs. the same periods, 2009. Similarly, Fiat is suffering from the Italian market’s weakness. While it retains the top three selling models in Italy for June, each recorded a drop in sales, vs. 2009. |
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