The European passenger car market is back into a double digit decline enjoys in August 2020, after the market seemed to have stabilized in July. A 15.1% loss makes August the slowest non-lockdown month in 2020 in absolute terms, with 887,000 deliveries. The Year-to-Date figure improves only slightly to -31.3% with 7.33 million deliveries. Cyprus (+14.1%) was the only country in the region to register more sales than in August 2019. Among the five major European markets, Italy performed best, with a slight drop of 0.4%, while the strongest declines were seen in Germany (-20%) and France (-19.8%).
Sales of car models (hatchback, sedan, stationwagon, coupe and convertible) are down 18% to 53.2% share, the lowest ever after last December. Crossover and SUV sales are down 11.3% to top 41% share, down slightly on last month’s record, and MPV sales are down 34.1% to 5.8% share. Within these figures, EVs and PHEVs are up 171% to around 97,000 registrations in August, EVs were up 112% to 50,232 deliveries and PHEVs were up 285% to just under 47,000 deliveries. The share of plug-in cars stood at 11% in August (5.7% for pure EVs alone). The Year-To-Date share of EVs and PHEVs now stands at 8.4% (4.5% for EVs).
August 2020 Manufacturers
The top-3 manufacturers all lose market share in August, with PSA down 18% in 2nd place, leader VW Group down 23.7% and Renault-Nissan down 24.1%. In contrast, Hyundai-Kia is up 4.6% and BMW AG is the biggest winner among major manufacturers at +11.6%, as both leapfrog Daimler AG, down 18.7%. Ford Motor Company drops behind BMW in the Year-To-Date ranking as well, and feels Daimler breathing down its neck as well. Toyota Motor, Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles and Geely Group see single digit declines and therefore gain market share, while Suzuki sees its sales drop to less than half of last year’s figures, Subaru delivers 43.2% fewer vehicles and Mazda and Honda deliveries decline by more than a quarter. Tata Motors also loses market share, but Tesla Motors is back in the black with a 9.4% gain and SAIC Motor almost triples its deliveries.
| Group | Aug-20 | Aug-19 | change | YTD 2020 | YTD 2019 | change | |
| 1 | Volkswagen Group | 221.416 | 290.014 | -23,7% | 1.874.676 | 2.658.135 | -29,5% |
| 2 | PSA | 123.430 | 150.489 | -18,0% | 1.068.089 | 1.729.266 | -38,2% |
| 3 | Renault-Nissan | 114.049 | 150.358 | -24,1% | 994.538 | 1.503.654 | -33,9% |
| 4 | Hyundai-Kia | 72.456 | 69.247 | 4,6% | 524.592 | 697.881 | -24,8% |
| 5 | BMW AG | 63.040 | 56.508 | 11,6% | 512.919 | 669.022 | -23,3% |
| 6 | Daimler AG | 58.875 | 72.438 | -18,7% | 443.472 | 662.162 | -33,0% |
| 7 | Ford Motor Comp. | 55.315 | 60.340 | -8,3% | 434.582 | 668.245 | -35,0% |
| 8 | Toyota Motor | 51.699 | 53.061 | -2,6% | 417.849 | 529.363 | -21,1% |
| 9 | Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles | 50.029 | 50.982 | -1,9% | 405.173 | 653.627 | -38,0% |
| 10 | Geely Group | 18.078 | 18.601 | -2,8% | 173.509 | 218.579 | -20,6% |
| 11 | Suzuki | 12.872 | 27.354 | -52,9% | 99.461 | 186.809 | -46,8% |
| 12 | Mazda | 10.768 | 14.718 | -26,8% | 85.329 | 154.404 | -44,7% |
| 13 | Tata Motors | 7.677 | 9.243 | -16,9% | 97.166 | 148.742 | -34,7% |
| 14 | Tesla Motors | 7.215 | 6.594 | 9,4% | 45.813 | 56.429 | -18,8% |
| 15 | Honda | 6.331 | 8.655 | -26,9% | 48.245 | 85.024 | -43,3% |
| 16 | SAIC | 1.752 | 663 | 164,3% | 12.256 | 7.991 | 53,4% |
| 17 | Subaru Corp. | 1.333 | 2.346 | -43,2% | 11.315 | 19.576 | -42,2% |
| 18 | Mahindra & Mahindra | 1.063 | 995 | 6,8% | 7.138 | 9.783 | -27,0% |
| 19 | Aston Martin | 94 | 133 | -29,3% | 912 | 1.705 | -46,5% |
| 20 | General Motors | 37 | 365 | -89,9% | 162 | 2.711 | -94,0% |
August 2020 Brands
In the brands ranking, Volkswagen is the biggest loser in the top-8 with a 25.7% decline for over 30,000 lost sales and sister brand Audi is the biggest loser in the top-13 with a 26.5% decline. Mercedes-Benz is in 2nd place for the third time ever, after last March and September 2019, ahead of Ford which is back in the top-3 for the first time in 2020. Only 3,000 sales separate the #2 and the #5, with Peugeot just ahead of Renault. BMW is the big winner in the top-10 with sales up 12.2%, and the only brand in the black. Toyota is down just 1.7% and Hyundai is down 4.2% as the next best performers in the top-10. This is the first time since last September that Hyundai is in the monthly top-10 in Europe. Sister brand Kia is up 15.7%, passing Citroën, Fiat and Opel/Vauxhall to jump into 11th place for the second consecutive month. Fiat sales are actually stable at +1.2% while Opel/Vauxhall, Dacia and Mitsubishi lose more than 36%, Seat, Jaguar and DS all lose around 29%, but Smart is the biggest loser at -83.4%, followed by Alpine at -82.9% and DR Motor at -71.9%. Polestar is up to #37 behind SsangYong and ahead of Lada, Ferrari and Maserati.
| Brand | Aug-20 | Aug-19 | change | 2020 share | YTD rank | 2020 | change | |
| 1 | Volkswagen | 96.020 | 129.214 | -25,7% | 10,9% | 1 | 818.494 | -32,2% |
| 2 | Mercedes-Benz | 56.825 | 60.099 | -5,4% | 6,5% | 5 | 432.105 | -26,6% |
| 3 | Ford | 55.315 | 60.338 | -8,3% | 6,3% | 4 | 434.580 | -35,0% |
| 4 | Peugeot | 54.379 | 57.031 | -4,7% | 6,2% | 3 | 459.578 | -30,9% |
| 5 | Renault | 53.768 | 61.387 | -12,4% | 6,1% | 2 | 501.715 | -29,8% |
| 6 | BMW | 50.814 | 45.281 | 12,2% | 5,8% | 6 | 410.688 | -23,0% |
| 7 | Toyota | 48.971 | 49.828 | -1,7% | 5,6% | 8 | 389.848 | -21,2% |
| 8 | Skoda | 48.445 | 56.771 | -14,7% | 5,5% | 7 | 398.138 | -21,7% |
| 9 | Audi | 42.830 | 58.273 | -26,5% | 4,9% | 9 | 371.203 | -30,4% |
| 10 | Hyundai | 36.820 | 38.454 | -4,2% | 4,2% | 14 | 256.090 | -29,6% |
| 11 | Kia | 35.636 | 30.793 | 15,7% | 4,1% | 13 | 268.502 | -19,6% |
| 12 | Citroën | 33.371 | 37.331 | -10,6% | 3,8% | 11 | 284.784 | -35,5% |
| 13 | Fiat | 33.295 | 32.912 | 1,2% | 3,8% | 12 | 284.768 | -36,5% |
| 14 | Opel/Vauxhall | 33.261 | 52.674 | -36,9% | 3,8% | 10 | 296.225 | -49,8% |
| 15 | Dacia | 32.367 | 50.974 | -36,5% | 3,7% | 15 | 241.746 | -40,2% |
| 16 | Seat | 28.724 | 40.357 | -28,8% | 3,3% | 16 | 237.821 | -33,6% |
| 17 | Nissan | 19.633 | 23.616 | -16,9% | 2,2% | 17 | 175.447 | -35,6% |
| 18 | Volvo | 17.227 | 18.556 | -7,2% | 2,0% | 18 | 172.209 | -21,1% |
| 19 | Suzuki | 12.872 | 27.354 | -52,9% | 1,5% | 20 | 99.461 | -46,8% |
| 20 | Mini | 12.190 | 11.194 | 8,9% | 1,4% | 19 | 101.883 | -24,5% |
| 21 | Jeep | 10.825 | 11.710 | -7,6% | 1,2% | 23 | 68.951 | -41,3% |
| 22 | Mazda | 10.768 | 14.718 | -26,8% | 1,2% | 21 | 85.329 | -44,7% |
| 23 | Mitsubishi | 7.805 | 12.693 | -38,5% | 0,9% | 22 | 72.677 | -28,8% |
| 24 | Tesla | 7.215 | 6.594 | 9,4% | 0,8% | 26 | 45.813 | -18,8% |
| 25 | Honda | 6.331 | 8.655 | -26,9% | 0,7% | 25 | 48.245 | -43,3% |
| 26 | Land Rover | 5.182 | 5.701 | -9,1% | 0,6% | 24 | 67.980 | -29,0% |
| 27 | Porsche | 5.070 | 5.034 | 0,7% | 0,6% | 27 | 45.449 | -3,2% |
| 28 | Alfa Romeo | 2.802 | 3.068 | -8,7% | 0,3% | 32 | 20.352 | -46,0% |
| 29 | Lexus | 2.728 | 3.233 | -15,6% | 0,3% | 29 | 28.001 | -19,5% |
| 30 | Jaguar | 2.495 | 3.542 | -29,6% | 0,3% | 28 | 29.186 | -45,0% |
| 31 | DS | 2.419 | 3.453 | -29,9% | 0,3% | 30 | 27.502 | -17,8% |
| 32 | Lancia | 2.267 | 2.509 | -9,6% | 0,3% | 31 | 24.679 | -40,6% |
| 33 | Smart | 2.050 | 12.339 | -83,4% | 0,2% | 34 | 11.367 | -84,5% |
| 34 | SAIC MG | 1.752 | 663 | 164,3% | 0,2% | 33 | 12.256 | 53,4% |
| 35 | Subaru | 1.333 | 2.346 | -43,2% | 0,2% | 35 | 11.315 | -42,2% |
| 36 | SSangYong | 967 | 898 | 7,7% | 0,1% | 36 | 6.354 | -29,1% |
| 37 | Polestar | 778 | 0 | New | 0,1% | 43 | 950 | New |
| 38 | Lada | 392 | 967 | -59,5% | 0,0% | 40 | 1.833 | -55,5% |
| 39 | Ferrari | 330 | 242 | 36,4% | 0,0% | 37 | 2.930 | 7,3% |
| 40 | Maserati | 305 | 341 | -10,6% | 0,0% | 38 | 2.011 | -51,0% |
| 41 | DR Motor | 260 | 924 | -71,9% | 0,0% | 41 | 1.724 | -40,0% |
| 42 | Bentley | 179 | 205 | -12,7% | 0,0% | 39 | 1.873 | -18,1% |
| 43 | Lamborghini | 106 | 144 | -26,4% | 0,0% | 42 | 1.360 | -19,0% |
| 44 | Mahindra | 96 | 97 | -1,0% | 0,0% | 46 | 784 | -4,7% |
| 45 | Aston Martin | 94 | 133 | -29,3% | 0,0% | 44 | 912 | -46,5% |
| 46 | Dodge | 92 | 96 | -4,2% | 0,0% | 47 | 635 | -25,7% |
| 47 | Alpine | 82 | 479 | -82,9% | 0,0% | 45 | 798 | -76,9% |
| 48 | Lotus | 65 | 40 | 62,5% | 0,0% | 50 | 297 | -22,0% |
| 49 | Rolls Royce | 36 | 33 | 9,1% | 0,0% | 48 | 348 | -28,2% |
| 50 | Chevrolet | 31 | 274 | -88,7% | 0,0% | 52 | 120 | -94,4% |
| 51 | Great Wall | 24 | 0 | +++ | 0,0% | 51 | 236 | 475,6% |
| 52 | Geely | 8 | 5 | 60,0% | 0,0% | 54 | 53 | -27,4% |
| 53 | Chrysler | 7 | 4 | 75,0% | 0,0% | 53 | 58 | -32,6% |
| 54 | Cadillac | 6 | 91 | -93,4% | 0,0% | 55 | 38 | -93,3% |
| 55 | Infiniti | 2 | 242 | -99,2% | 0,0% | 49 | 322 | -85,8% |
| 56 | Bugatti | 2 | 3 | -33,3% | 0,0% | 56 | 17 | -19,0% |
European car sales statistics are from the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom. They exclude vehicles registered as commercial vehicles. Source: ANDC, JATO Dynamics