Sales of large MPVs in Europe are up a modest 6% after the first 9 months of the year, which could make 2014 the first year since 2007 that the segment has grown year-on-year. After contracting 17% last year, with only 2 out of the 9 models in the segment increasing their sales, the trend seems to have reversed, with 6 out of 9 models gaining ground.

This means the growth of the segment isn’t due exclusively to the sell-out pricing of the Ford S-Max and Galaxy, which are to be replaced next year. The VW-group twins Volkswagen Sharan and Seat Alhambra are the two models that add the most sales, maybe a bit less surprising if you consider they are still the freshest models of the major players in the segment, at four years old.

The Lancia Voyager has been around since 2008, first under the Chrysler brand and since 2011 named Lancia, the Fords were introduced in 2006, the current generation Espace dates back as far as 2003, and the second generation PSA twins started their lifecycle as quadruplets with the Fiat Ulysse and Lancia Phedra in 2002, which have already been discontinued in 2010. [Read more…]

Sales of large MPVs in Europe are surprisingly up by a whopping 35% in the first quarter of 2014 after many years of steady declines. The only logical explanation for this unexpected phenomenon is the upcoming model changeover for the Ford Galaxy and S-Max, both of which are in sell-out mode of the current generations. The new models are expected to finally hit showrooms later this year after a 1,5 year delay because of a factory shutdown in Genk, Belgium and the subsequent relocation of the production line to Valencia, Spain.

Because of the attractive deals on the outgoing models, the Galaxy and S-Max each more than double their sales of last year’s first quarter. As a result, the S-Max jumps into the top position of the segment and the Galaxy is challenging the Seat Alhambra for the lead. This also means that Ford had a 44,5% market share of this segment in the first three months of 2014. [Read more…]

The large MPV segment in Europe has given a small sign of life in the last quarter of 2013. Sales had been down 25% from January through September, but sales were up 14% from October through December.

Ford is to credit for this, as it is heavily discounting the outgoing S-Max and Galaxy, as the new generations will finally be presented at the Geneva Autoshow in March 2014, although they might not hit showrooms until early 2015. In the last quarter, S-Max sales are up 60% on 2012 and Galaxy more than doubles its sales on last year.

Despite this last-minute surge, the S-Max has had to give up the segment’s top spot to the Volkswagen Sharan and the Galaxy has been knocked off the podium by the Sharan’s cousin Seat Alhambra, the only model in the top 8 with a year-on-year gain. [Read more…]

The large MPV segment in Europe saw a sharp fall of 25% in the first three quarters of 2013 compared to the same period last year, with just the slowest selling of the only 9 players left in the segment selling more than last year. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, looking at the age of some of the models:

Lancia Voyager has been around as Chrysler Grand Voyager since 2007, rebadged into a Lancia in 2011 to replace the even slower-selling Phedra. But don’t expect Voyager to keep up this sales pace, numbers will keep going down faster than an iPhone battery.

Ford S-Max and Galaxy were introduced in 2006, when they shook up the segment. Their replacement is long overdue, because the production will move from the soon to be shuttered Genk factory to Spain, similar to Mondeo. The current versions are kept from even further declines with steep discounts and extra kit. If you’re looking for a good deal and don’t care about being hip and trendy (as every other MPV-owner), head straight to your Ford-dealer. Don’t expect the new generations to be able repeat the magic and turn the segment around once more. They’re still nothing more than large vans. [Read more…]