European car sales analysis January 2016 – brands

European car sales increased 5,95% in January 2016 to 1.086.564 units thanks to double digit growth in the Mediterranean countries Italy, Portugal and Spain, while the UK, Germany and France showed increases of between 2,9% to 3,9% as Italy even overtook France as the #3 country for new car sales in Europe. This means that the European car market has grown for 29 consecutive months, although the rebound from the crisis is very gradually as opposed to the US where records are being broken again.

There’s also change of guards when we look at which manufacturers are growing fast. If last year Volkswagen Group and Renault-Nissan were the clear leaders in volume growth, in January FCA took control, followed by the two big American corporations whose European operations are finally starting to climb out of the dip. Ford is already making money in Europe again and GM is hoping to return to black figures again soon as well, after cutting off excess fat (Chevrolet). The only way to do so is growth, so they’re on the right track. Mitsubishi Motors replaces Honda as the only manufacturer to lose volume, taking a break from growing so quickly in the last few years.

Looking at relative growth, the small players SAIC MG and Mahindra & Mahindra with its SSangYong brand continue the upward direction they were already following for most of last year, and they’re joined by Honda, the only loser of 2015, whose fortunes are finally turning as their European model range is getting an injection of eagerly awaited fresh products.

At brand level, Audi adds the most volume as its line of crossovers keeps scoring with consumers, but Opel/Vauxhall and Ford are following closely thanks to new products in their showrooms, as we’ll discuss in the model ranking later. Volkswagen is the big loser, as it also was in China and in the US for different reasons: a lack of focus in China, which means it doesn’t have the right products for that market, and a continued stop-sale order for diesel vehicles in the US, combined with depleted stocks of gasoline models and a huge image problem. In Europe, the fall-out from the Diesel scandal will certainly play a role in the fallback, although Audi sales seem unfazed by that scandal. Seat is also losing a lot of volume as suffers from a lack of new product, which will be solved when the Spanish brand launches its first crossover later this year. Mini takes a hit from its aging crossovers and a blow-back from having the new hatchback fresh in showrooms last year.

Jaguar is enjoying explosive growth thanks to the addition of the new “baby-Jag” XE, and UK-only MG also more than doubles its volume, and if the GS crossover makes the journey from China to the UK, the brand may be able to continue its winning streak.

Another Chinese brand, but with an Italian flavor is losing ground quickly, as DR loses almost half of its volume, trumped only by Chevrolet, which has now officially left the European market. Lamborghini is also struggling, as the Huracan is no longer brand new and customers are waiting for the Spyder version to arrive in showrooms.

Winners and losers

Manufacturer biggest volume increase	Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles	8.765		Manufacturer biggest volume lost	Mitsubishi Motors	-1.882
	General Motors	7.653
	Ford Motor Corp.	7.586
Manufacturer biggest % increase	SAIC MG	131,9%		Manufacturer biggest % lost	Mitsubishi Motors	-17,3%
	Mahindra & Mahindra	64,4%
	Honda	46,4%
Brand biggest volume increase	Audi	8.057		Brand biggest volume lost	Volkswagen	-3.230
	Opel/Vauxhall	7.773			Seat	-2.117
	Ford	7.586			Mini	-1.970
Brand biggest % increase	Jaguar	162,9%		Brand biggest % lost	Chevrolet	-54,1%
	MG	131,9%			DR	-44,7%
	SSangYong	68,0%			Lamborghini	-26,2%

 

Volkswagen is the only brand in the top-10 to lose volume, but naturally still leads with a large margin. Ford holds on to its #2 spot, while Opel/Vauxhall passes Renault, which sees a little blowback from having blockbuster sales in December and a weak home market in France. Or maybe the weak month in France is due to a large number of unsold pre-registrations by Renault in December?

Audi creates some more distance between itself and its main rivals Mercedes-Benz and BMW and even closes in on Peugeot’s fifth place. Nissan is the second brand to lose volume and drops two places as Skoda and Citroën move ahead. Hyundai and Kia keep showing nice growth, as Kia passes Dacia again. Mazda is still the fastest growing brand in the top-20 with another 37% increase, which means it overtakes Volvo for 18th place.

Land Rover and Honda jump Mini and Mitsubishi, and Honda is even closing in on Suzuki now. However, Suzuki has a few big product launches coming up this year with the Baleno and Ignis, so will strike back in a few months time. Jeep adds another third to its volume as the Renegade keeps lifting the brand, now ahead of Smart. It looks like Lancia and Alfa Romeo have hit bottom, even though the former is down to a single model and the latter is still waiting for that Giulia to arrive. The 510 hp Giulia QV will be in showrooms in a few weeks time, but won’t be a volume booster. Jaguar passes Subaru and Lexus while Tesla now outsells Maserati.

January 2016 brand ranking

	Brand	jan-16	jan-15	change
1	Volkswagen	125.110	128.340	-2,5%
2	Ford	78.185	70.599	10,7%
3	Opel/Vauxhall	71.084	63.311	12,3%
4	Renault	68.408	66.144	3,4%
5	Peugeot	65.894	63.415	3,9%
6	Audi	62.533	54.476	14,8%
7	Mercedes-Benz	56.631	52.242	8,4%
8	BMW	53.991	51.524	4,8%
9	Fiat	53.764	47.480	13,2%
10	Toyota	48.853	47.259	3,4%
11	Skoda	46.983	43.980	6,8%
12	Citroën	42.880	40.662	5,5%
13	Nissan	42.309	44.069	-4,0%
14	Hyundai	36.123	32.926	9,7%
15	Kia	32.464	29.073	11,7%
16	Dacia	31.538	31.083	1,5%
17	Seat	22.714	24.831	-8,5%
18	Mazda	19.709	14.386	37,0%
19	Volvo	19.019	18.692	1,7%
20	Suzuki	13.989	11.464	22,0%
21	Land Rover	12.939	10.772	20,1%
22	Honda	12.728	8.692	46,4%
23	Mini	9.257	11.227	-17,5%
24	Mitsubishi	9.022	10.904	-17,3%
25	Jeep	7.794	5.858	33,0%
26	Smart	7.061	6.603	6,9%
27	Lancia-Chrysler	5.686	5.619	1,2%
28	DS	5.603	5.487	2,1%
29	Porsche	4.826	5.215	-7,5%
30	Alfa Romeo	4.560	4.054	12,5%
31	Jaguar	3.927	1.494	162,9%
32	Lexus	3.521	3.313	6,3%
33	Subaru	2.506	2.116	18,4%
34	SSangYong	1.198	713	68,0%
35	Tesla	613	422	45,3%
36	Infiniti	539	359	50,1%
37	Maserati	439	475	-7,6%
38	SAIC MG	313	135	131,9%
39	Bentley	205	190	7,9%
40	Ferrari	188	186	1,1%
41	Lada	163	144	13,2%
42	Aston Martin	113	87	29,9%
43	Chevrolet	107	233	-54,1%
44	Mahindra	53	48	10,4%
45	Rolls Royce	51	44	15,9%
46	Cadillac	49	43	14,0%
47	Lamborghini	48	65	-26,2%
48	Lotus	41	37	10,8%
49	DR	21	38	-44,7%
50	Dodge	20	27	-25,9%
51	Great Wall	12	8	50,0%