April 2016 marks the 32nd consecutive month of growth for car sales in Europe. At +8,9%, European car dealers sold 1.308.891 passenger cars, making it the best April since 2009 and bringing the year-to-date figure to 5.217.097, an increase of 8,1%. Of the five major markets, Spain is the most dynamic with a growth of 21,2%. Italy, which was the fastest growing market in the first few months and even outsold France in January and February, sees its growth slow down to a still very healthy +11,5%. Germany (+8,4%), France (+7,1%) and the UK (+2%) are in single digit growth, while Switzerland is the only country of the EU28 to lose volume in April, at -1%.
Volkswagen Group is back as the manufacturer adding the most volume, despite growing slower than the overall market. All of it volume brands showed volume gains, but only Audi and Porsche added market share. The performance of Daimler AG is more impressive, with an increase of 21,6% as Mercedes-Benz outsold BMW and reduced the gap to Audi by more than half. FCA passed Ford Motor Corporation thanks to strong volume gains at Fiat, Jeep and even Lancia, despite the latter being down to a single model in a single market. There are no big volume losers in April, with Mitsubishi Motors the biggest of them at -565 units, followed by Aston Martin and Tesla, both down just a handful of units.
Relatively, India’s Mahindra & Mahindra is the fastest growing manufacturer thanks to its SSangYong brand, followed by Honda, boosted by its new small cars, and Tata Motors, also from India, as its Jaguar and Land Rover brands are among the fastest growing brands in Europe, while its namesake brand has disappeared altogether. On the other end of the scale, DRB-Hicom from Malaysia, owner of the Lotus sports car brand, continues to show heavy fluctuations from month to month, down 38,5% this time, ahead of Aston Martin and China’s SAIC MG, which is eagerly awaiting the arrival of the MG GS crossover in its sole UK market.
At brand level, Mercedes-Benz is the big volume winner, ahead of Fiat and Renault, while DS, Mini and Mitsubishi are the big volume losers, although all by less than 1.000 units. Infiniti is the fastest growing brand, now that the Q30 is starting to reach showrooms, while Jaguar is boosted by the introductions of the XE and F-Pace, and Bentley grows not only from the Bentayga, but across its line-up, perhaps boosted by increased showroom traffic thanks to its mega-SUV.
April winners and losers
| Manufacturer biggest volume increase | Volkswagen Group | 16.984 | Manufacturer biggest volume lost | Mitsubishi Motors | -565 | |
| Daimler AG | 14.660 | Aston Martin | -55 | |||
| Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles | 11.381 | Tesla Motors | -44 | |||
| Manufacturer biggest % increase | Mahindra & Mahindra | 69,2% | Manufacturer biggest % lost | DRB-Hicom (Proton / Lotus) | -38,5% | |
| Honda | 60,3% | Aston Martin | -34,6% | |||
| Tata Motors | 37,9% | SAIC MG | -11,3% | |||
| Brand biggest volume increase | Mercedes-Benz | 13.759 | Brand biggest volume lost | DS | -927 | |
| Fiat | 8.855 | Mini | -650 | |||
| Renault | 7.535 | Mitsubishi | -565 | |||
| Brand biggest % increase | Infiniti | 152,1% | Brand biggest % lost | Lotus | -38,5% | |
| Jaguar | 147,1% | Chevrolet | -38,4% | |||
| Bentley | 83,2% | Aston Martin | -34,6% |
Year-to-date, VW Group passes FCA as the volume winner, while Daimler AG outgrows General Motors, for the rest there are no big changes among the manufacturer top-3 and bottom-3 rankings. Just that Aston Martin drops back into a small loss and DRB-Hicom is now the fastest shrinking manufacturer. At brand level, Fiat is still the big volume winner, now followed by Mercedes-Benz, which passes Opel/Vauxhall and Audi, while Infiniti passes Jaguar as the fastest growing brand so far in 2016. On the other hand, Mini is the volume loser ahead of Nissan and Mitsubishi.
January – April 2016 winners and losers
| Manufacturer biggest volume increase | Volkswagen Group | 49.562 | Manufacturer biggest volume lost | Mitsubishi Motors | -2.698 | |
| Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles | 48.244 | Tesla Motors | -295 | |||
| Daimler AG | 40.006 | Aston Martin | -35 | |||
| Manufacturer biggest % increase | Mahindra & Mahindra | 76,8% | Manufacturer biggest % lost | DRB-Hicom (Proton / Lotus) | -9,8% | |
| AvtoVAZ (Lada) | 51,2% | Tesla Motors | -7,3% | |||
| Tata Motors | 37,0% | Aston Martin | -6,0% | |||
| Brand biggest volume increase | Fiat | 37.698 | Brand biggest volume lost | Mini | -4.422 | |
| Mercedes-Benz | 35.049 | Nissan | -3.006 | |||
| Opel/Vauxhall | 31.525 | Mitsubishi | -2.698 | |||
| Brand biggest % increase | Infiniti | 110,8% | Brand biggest % lost | Tata | -96,6% | |
| Jaguar | 108,8% | Chevrolet | -44,8% | |||
| SSangYong | 80,0% | DR | -22,9% |
Behind perennial leader Volkswagen, Renault takes the #2 spot from Ford, which traditionally suffers a backlash in April from the high UK volume in March. Still, an 8,7% gain for the French brand vs. 1,2% for the Americans and 6,8% for Opel/Vauxhall is promising for Renault in its battle for 2nd place for the full year. With the Megane and Talisman not even at full speed, and the introduction of the new generation Scenic in the second half of the year, that battle may become pretty tight by the end of the year. Fiat has moved up a spot into the top-8 and Toyota is back ahead of Nissan for best selling Asian brand in Europe. Even Hyundai outsold Nissan in April, as its best seller Qashqai is potentially hurt by internal competition from the Renault Kadjar. Mazda is the fastest growing brand in the top-20, and Honda takes that title for the top-25.
If BMW was ahead of Audi and Mercedes-Benz in March, it is relegated into 3rd place in April, despite its 11,3% growth year-on-year. Jaguar has now officially shaken off Lexus thanks to its two new models, and Infiniti is growing even faster, but still at half the volume of its main Japanese competitor.
April 2016 brand ranking
| Brand | April 2016 | April 2015 | change | 2016 share | 2015 share | |
| 1 | Volkswagen | 157.621 | 153.489 | 2,7% | 12,1% | 12,8% |
| 2 | Renault | 94.522 | 86.987 | 8,7% | 7,2% | 7,2% |
| 3 | Ford | 88.979 | 87.925 | 1,2% | 6,8% | 7,3% |
| 4 | Opel/Vauxhall | 81.407 | 76.211 | 6,8% | 6,2% | 6,3% |
| 5 | Peugeot | 78.483 | 73.457 | 6,8% | 6,0% | 6,1% |
| 6 | Audi | 76.740 | 69.863 | 9,8% | 5,9% | 5,8% |
| 7 | Mercedes-Benz | 72.834 | 59.075 | 23,3% | 5,6% | 4,9% |
| 8 | Fiat | 67.846 | 58.991 | 15,0% | 5,2% | 4,9% |
| 9 | BMW | 67.538 | 60.690 | 11,3% | 5,2% | 5,1% |
| 10 | Skoda | 59.063 | 54.819 | 7,7% | 4,5% | 4,6% |
| 11 | Citroën | 51.092 | 47.608 | 7,3% | 3,9% | 4,0% |
| 12 | Toyota | 48.789 | 43.236 | 12,8% | 3,7% | 3,6% |
| 13 | Hyundai | 43.284 | 37.824 | 14,4% | 3,3% | 3,2% |
| 14 | Nissan | 41.589 | 40.738 | 2,1% | 3,2% | 3,4% |
| 15 | Dacia | 38.004 | 37.538 | 1,2% | 2,9% | 3,1% |
| 16 | Kia | 37.670 | 32.323 | 16,5% | 2,9% | 2,7% |
| 17 | Seat | 29.810 | 29.204 | 2,1% | 2,3% | 2,4% |
| 18 | Volvo | 25.269 | 23.098 | 9,4% | 1,9% | 1,9% |
| 19 | Mazda | 16.950 | 13.271 | 27,7% | 1,3% | 1,1% |
| 20 | Suzuki | 15.997 | 14.171 | 12,9% | 1,2% | 1,2% |
| 21 | Land Rover | 14.481 | 12.115 | 19,5% | 1,1% | 1,0% |
| 22 | Mini | 14.070 | 14.720 | -4,4% | 1,1% | 1,2% |
| 23 | Honda | 12.139 | 7.573 | 60,3% | 0,9% | 0,6% |
| 24 | Mitsubishi | 10.413 | 10.978 | -5,1% | 0,8% | 0,9% |
| 25 | Smart | 9.751 | 8.850 | 10,2% | 0,7% | 0,7% |
| 26 | Jeep | 8.841 | 7.129 | 24,0% | 0,7% | 0,6% |
| 27 | Porsche | 7.622 | 6.953 | 9,6% | 0,6% | 0,6% |
| 28 | Lancia | 7.064 | 6.129 | 15,3% | 0,5% | 0,5% |
| 29 | DS | 5.924 | 6.851 | -13,5% | 0,5% | 0,6% |
| 30 | Jaguar | 5.140 | 2.080 | 147,1% | 0,4% | 0,2% |
| 31 | Alfa Romeo | 4.839 | 4.916 | -1,6% | 0,4% | 0,4% |
| 32 | Subaru | 3.673 | 3.484 | 5,4% | 0,3% | 0,3% |
| 33 | Lexus | 3.202 | 3.143 | 1,9% | 0,2% | 0,3% |
| 34 | SSangYong | 1.707 | 994 | 71,7% | 0,1% | 0,1% |
| 35 | Infiniti | 1.656 | 657 | 152,1% | 0,1% | 0,1% |
| 36 | Tesla | 689 | 733 | -6,0% | 0,1% | 0,1% |
| 37 | Maserati | 511 | 661 | -22,7% | 0,0% | 0,1% |
| 38 | Ferrari | 403 | 337 | 19,6% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 39 | Bentley | 370 | 202 | 83,2% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 40 | Lada | 278 | 204 | 36,3% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 41 | SAIC MG | 274 | 309 | -11,3% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 42 | Chevrolet | 125 | 203 | -38,4% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 43 | Aston Martin | 104 | 159 | -34,6% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 44 | Lamborghini | 103 | 106 | -2,8% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 45 | Dodge | 73 | 47 | 55,3% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 46 | Rolls Royce | 69 | 73 | -5,5% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 47 | Lotus | 64 | 104 | -38,5% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 48 | Cadillac | 56 | 36 | 55,6% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 49 | Mahindra | 49 | 44 | 11,4% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 50 | DR | 25 | 23 | 8,7% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 51 | Great Wall | 9 | 2 | 350,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 52 | Geely | 4 | 0 | – | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 53 | Bugatti | 2 | 0 | – | 0,0% | 0,0% |
In the year-to-date ranking, Renault has moved ahead of Opel-Vauxhall to take the #3 spot behind VW and Ford, while Mercedes-Benz has passed BMW for 7th overall, behind Audi. Land Rover has reclaimed its 21st place from Honda, while DS is embarrassingly knocked down a position by Lancia. Finally, Infiniti has entered the YTD top-35 by outselling Tesla so far this year, and the American EV-maker is unlikely to reclaim that position until deliveries of the Model 3 start at the end of next year (at the earliest).
January – April 2016 brand ranking
| Brand | 2016 sales | 2015 sales | change | 2015 rank | 2016 Market share | 2015 Market share | |
| 1 | Volkswagen | 590.069 | 587.278 | 0,5% | 1 | 11,3% | 12,2% |
| 2 | Ford | 377.289 | 359.224 | 5,0% | 2 | 7,2% | 7,5% |
| 3 | Renault | 358.286 | 329.120 | 8,9% | 3 | 6,9% | 6,8% |
| 4 | Opel/Vauxhall | 348.405 | 316.880 | 9,9% | 4 | 6,7% | 6,6% |
| 5 | Peugeot | 312.379 | 294.830 | 6,0% | 5 | 6,0% | 6,1% |
| 6 | Audi | 291.325 | 261.330 | 11,5% | 6 | 5,6% | 5,4% |
| 7 | Mercedes-Benz | 274.589 | 239.540 | 14,6% | 8 | 5,3% | 5,0% |
| 8 | BMW | 271.467 | 242.310 | 12,0% | 7 | 5,2% | 5,0% |
| 9 | Fiat | 266.677 | 228.979 | 16,5% | 9 | 5,1% | 4,7% |
| 10 | Skoda | 222.339 | 204.464 | 8,7% | 11 | 4,3% | 4,2% |
| 11 | Toyota | 211.170 | 197.603 | 6,9% | 12 | 4,1% | 4,1% |
| 12 | Nissan | 201.818 | 204.824 | -1,5% | 10 | 3,9% | 4,2% |
| 13 | Citroën | 201.236 | 190.258 | 5,8% | 13 | 3,9% | 3,9% |
| 14 | Hyundai | 168.634 | 156.708 | 7,6% | 14 | 3,2% | 3,3% |
| 15 | Kia | 149.705 | 132.987 | 12,6% | 15 | 2,9% | 2,8% |
| 16 | Dacia | 140.044 | 132.427 | 5,8% | 16 | 2,7% | 2,7% |
| 17 | Seat | 116.057 | 118.224 | -1,8% | 17 | 2,2% | 2,5% |
| 18 | Volvo | 95.501 | 86.418 | 10,5% | 18 | 1,8% | 1,8% |
| 19 | Mazda | 84.779 | 66.329 | 27,8% | 19 | 1,6% | 1,4% |
| 20 | Suzuki | 65.603 | 60.035 | 9,3% | 20 | 1,3% | 1,2% |
| 21 | Land Rover | 63.701 | 51.357 | 24,0% | 22 | 1,2% | 1,1% |
| 22 | Honda | 61.555 | 45.947 | 34,0% | 23 | 1,2% | 1,0% |
| 23 | Mini | 54.710 | 59.132 | -7,5% | 21 | 1,0% | 1,2% |
| 24 | Mitsubishi | 43.038 | 45.736 | -5,9% | 24 | 0,8% | 0,9% |
| 25 | Smart | 37.221 | 32.264 | 15,4% | 25 | 0,7% | 0,7% |
| 26 | Jeep | 35.085 | 28.457 | 23,3% | 26 | 0,7% | 0,6% |
| 27 | Lancia | 26.918 | 23.926 | 12,5% | 28 | 0,5% | 0,5% |
| 28 | DS | 26.109 | 27.058 | -3,5% | 27 | 0,5% | 0,6% |
| 29 | Porsche | 24.344 | 23.909 | 1,8% | 29 | 0,5% | 0,5% |
| 30 | Alfa Romeo | 20.794 | 20.007 | 3,9% | 30 | 0,4% | 0,4% |
| 31 | Jaguar | 19.688 | 9.429 | 108,8% | 33 | 0,4% | 0,2% |
| 32 | Lexus | 15.061 | 13.098 | 15,0% | 31 | 0,3% | 0,3% |
| 33 | Subaru | 13.265 | 12.609 | 5,2% | 32 | 0,3% | 0,3% |
| 34 | SSangYong | 6.608 | 3.672 | 80,0% | 35 | 0,1% | 0,1% |
| 35 | Infiniti | 3.831 | 1.817 | 110,8% | 37 | 0,1% | 0,0% |
| 36 | Tesla | 3.726 | 4.021 | -7,3% | 34 | 0,1% | 0,1% |
| 37 | Maserati | 2.077 | 2.204 | -5,8% | 36 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 38 | SAIC MG | 1.266 | 1.169 | 8,3% | 38 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 39 | Ferrari | 1.126 | 990 | 13,7% | 39 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 40 | Bentley | 1.125 | 841 | 33,8% | 41 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 41 | Lada | 966 | 639 | 51,2% | 42 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 42 | Aston Martin | 550 | 585 | -6,0% | 43 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 43 | Chevrolet | 480 | 870 | -44,8% | 40 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 44 | Lamborghini | 286 | 317 | -9,8% | 44 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 45 | Lotus | 267 | 296 | -9,8% | 45 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 46 | Cadillac | 263 | 154 | 70,8% | 48 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 47 | Mahindra | 215 | 187 | 15,0% | 47 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 48 | Rolls Royce | 205 | 199 | 3,0% | 46 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 49 | Dodge | 204 | 154 | 32,5% | 49 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 50 | DR | 91 | 118 | -22,9% | 50 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 51 | Great Wall | 36 | 35 | 2,9% | 52 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 52 | Geely | 5 | 0 | – | 54 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 53 | Bugatti | 3 | 2 | 50,0% | 53 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 54 | Tata | 3 | 88 | -96,6% | 51 | 0,0% | 0,0% |