After a promising start of the year with an almost 10% gain in January, European car sales disappoint in February with a gain of just 2,2% to just over 1,1 million units, still the highest February volume since pre-crisis 2008. The big difference in January vs. February growth can be attributed to the number of business days, which were higher in January 2017 and lower in February, compared to the previous year. A better indication of the strength of the European car market would therefore be the year-to-date gain, which stands at +5,9% to 2,3 million units. Among the major markets, France (-2,9%), Germany (-2,6%) and the UK (-0,3%) lost volume compared to 2016, while Italy (+6,2%) and Spain (+0,2%) improved. Altogether, 8 out of the 30 markets lost volume in February. Among the smaller markets, Romania (+62,9%) and Greece (+56,9%) stood out with excellent performances.
The big volume gainers among manufacturers are Renault-Nissan (including Mitsubishi and Lada), Toyota Motor and FCA Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles, while the newly formed PSA-Opel loses the most volume as an indication there’s a lot of work to be done to make this takeover successful. VW Group and Ford Motor Company also were among the volume losers. Relatively, Tesla Motors was the biggest winner in February, as the only manufacturer to more than double its volume compared to a relatively slow 2016. Aston Martin and Suzuki are also among the fastest growing manufacturers, while on the other end of the scale we find DRB-Hicom with its Lotus brand which may be bought by PSA as well next month, as the French are the only remaining bidders on Malaysia’s Proton, the owner of Lotus. Like in January, Mazda and Honda are among the fastest shrinking manufacturers in February.
Looking at individual brands, Toyota is the big volume winner, helped by the new C-HR crossover, followed by Suzuki and Fiat, while Volkswagen is the big loser as best seller Golf is due for a facelift. Peugeot and Ford also suffer losses. Small luxury brands are showing impressive gains, with Maserati and Infiniti following Tesla as the fastest growing brands, while DS, Chevrolet and Lotus all lose more than a third of their volume.
February winners and losers
| Manufacturer biggest volume increase | Renault-Nissan | 8.626 | Manufacturer biggest volume lost | PSA-Opel | -4.656 | |
| Toyota Motor | 8.086 | Volkswagen Group | -4.035 | |||
| Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles | 6.824 | Ford Motor Comp. | -2.851 | |||
| Manufacturer biggest % increase | Tesla Motors | 125,7% | Manufacturer biggest % lost | DRB-Hicom (Lotus) | -34,9% | |
| Aston Martin | 61,9% | Mazda | -8,5% | |||
| Suzuki | 42,7% | Honda | -8,3% | |||
| Brand biggest volume increase | Toyota | 8.060 | Brand biggest volume lost | Volkswagen | -8.262 | |
| Suzuki | 5.386 | Peugeot | -2.950 | |||
| Fiat | 4.906 | Ford | -2.850 | |||
| Brand biggest % increase | Tesla | 125,7% | Brand biggest % lost | DS | -36,6% | |
| Maserati | 94,4% | Chevrolet | -36,3% | |||
| Infiniti | 70,1% | Lotus | -34,9% |
Year-to-date, Renault-Nissan, FCA and Toyota Motor also lead the pack of big gainers, while Mazda and Honda are the big losers, followed at a distance by SAIC MG. Even though the latter loses only 100 units of volume as the MG6 is discontinued and the MG GS crossover has yet to prove itself, the Chinese brand is the biggest loser in relative terms, as those 100 units are almost a quarter of its volume. In the brands ranking, Mercedes-Benz joins Toyota and Fiat among the big gainers, while no surprises in the losers isle: DS, Mazda and Honda. Fastest growers are Tesla, Aston Martin and Maserati, all three more than doubling up their volume in the first two months of 2016.
January & February winners and losers
| Manufacturer biggest volume increase | Renault-Nissan | 19.409 | Manufacturer biggest volume lost | Mazda | -3.190 | |
| Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles | 18.117 | Honda | -2.050 | |||
| Toyota Motor | 17.741 | SAIC MG | -100 | |||
| Manufacturer biggest % increase | Tesla Motors | 130,2% | Manufacturer biggest % lost | SAIC MG | -24,0% | |
| Aston Martin | 117,6% | DRB-Hicom (Lotus) | -15,7% | |||
| Suzuki | 36,6% | Mazda | -8,6% | |||
| Brand biggest volume increase | Toyota | 17.584 | Brand biggest volume lost | DS | -3.746 | |
| Fiat | 14.500 | Mazda | -3.190 | |||
| Mercedes-Benz | 12.753 | Honda | -2.050 | |||
| Brand biggest % increase | Tesla | 130,2% | Brand biggest % lost | Chevrolet | -35,9% | |
| Aston Martin | 117,6% | DS | -34,6% | |||
| Maserati | 112,6% | SAIC MG | -24,0% |
Volkswagen loses 6,7% of its volume which makes it the biggest loser in the top-19, but remains by far the largest brand in Europe, followed by Renault, Ford and Opel, for a top-4 similar to the 2016 Full Year ranking. Renault picks up two places on January and is the only brand in the top-5 to grow. Fiat gains one spot on January to reclaim 6th place, while Audi reclaims its position above luxury rivals Mercedes-Benz and BMW after both outsold Audi in January. Still, both outgrow their Ingolstadt rival in February. Toyota is the big winner in the top-10, gaining two places on last year and distancing Nissan as the best selling Asian brand in Europe. Dacia and Seat both show double digit gains to close in on Hyundai and Kia, while Suzuki outsells Mazda and Honda to become the #3 Japanese brand for the second consecutive month and the third time in four months. Considering Suzuki is on a launching spree, expect the small car specialist to hold on to that position for the rest of the year. Jaguar is also among the fastest growing brands in the top-30, distancing Japanese rival Lexus.
February brands ranking
| Brand | feb-17 | feb-16 | change | 2017 share | 2016 share | |
| 1 | Volkswagen | 114.659 | 122.921 | -6,7% | 10,4% | 11,3% |
| 2 | Renault | 79.452 | 76.452 | 3,9% | 7,2% | 7,1% |
| 3 | Ford | 70.261 | 73.111 | -3,9% | 6,4% | 6,7% |
| 4 | Opel/Vauxhall | 69.473 | 70.214 | -1,1% | 6,3% | 6,5% |
| 5 | Peugeot | 67.548 | 70.498 | -4,2% | 6,1% | 6,5% |
| 6 | Fiat | 65.276 | 60.370 | 8,1% | 5,9% | 5,6% |
| 7 | Audi | 57.837 | 57.650 | 0,3% | 5,2% | 5,3% |
| 8 | Mercedes-Benz | 57.536 | 54.417 | 5,7% | 5,2% | 5,0% |
| 9 | BMW | 55.603 | 55.350 | 0,5% | 5,0% | 5,1% |
| 10 | Toyota | 52.412 | 44.352 | 18,2% | 4,7% | 4,1% |
| 11 | Skoda | 49.738 | 49.478 | 0,5% | 4,5% | 4,6% |
| 12 | Citroën | 45.847 | 44.902 | 2,1% | 4,2% | 4,1% |
| 13 | Nissan | 41.475 | 40.053 | 3,6% | 3,8% | 3,7% |
| 14 | Hyundai | 35.184 | 34.694 | 1,4% | 3,2% | 3,2% |
| 15 | Kia | 34.152 | 32.322 | 5,7% | 3,1% | 3,0% |
| 16 | Dacia | 34.054 | 29.236 | 16,5% | 3,1% | 2,7% |
| 17 | Seat | 29.062 | 25.263 | 15,0% | 2,6% | 2,3% |
| 18 | Volvo | 20.998 | 20.516 | 2,3% | 1,9% | 1,9% |
| 19 | Suzuki | 17.986 | 12.600 | 42,7% | 1,6% | 1,2% |
| 20 | Mazda | 15.954 | 17.437 | -8,5% | 1,4% | 1,6% |
| 21 | Mini | 12.265 | 11.657 | 5,2% | 1,1% | 1,1% |
| 22 | Honda | 10.700 | 11.665 | -8,3% | 1,0% | 1,1% |
| 23 | Land Rover | 8.536 | 9.444 | -9,6% | 0,8% | 0,9% |
| 24 | Mitsubishi | 8.157 | 9.263 | -11,9% | 0,7% | 0,9% |
| 25 | Jeep | 7.955 | 7.830 | 1,6% | 0,7% | 0,7% |
| 26 | Lancia-Chrysler | 7.260 | 6.894 | 5,3% | 0,7% | 0,6% |
| 27 | Smart | 7.026 | 8.552 | -17,8% | 0,6% | 0,8% |
| 28 | Alfa Romeo | 6.176 | 5.067 | 21,9% | 0,6% | 0,5% |
| 29 | Porsche | 4.382 | 4.442 | -1,4% | 0,4% | 0,4% |
| 30 | Jaguar | 3.414 | 2.394 | 42,6% | 0,3% | 0,2% |
| 31 | DS | 3.309 | 5.219 | -36,6% | 0,3% | 0,5% |
| 32 | Subaru | 2.671 | 2.823 | -5,4% | 0,2% | 0,3% |
| 33 | Lexus | 2.449 | 2.423 | 1,1% | 0,2% | 0,2% |
| 34 | SSangYong | 1.315 | 1.380 | -4,7% | 0,1% | 0,1% |
| 35 | Tesla | 1.115 | 494 | 125,7% | 0,1% | 0,0% |
| 36 | Infiniti | 963 | 566 | 70,1% | 0,1% | 0,1% |
| 37 | Maserati | 723 | 372 | 94,4% | 0,1% | 0,0% |
| 38 | Lada | 333 | 238 | 39,9% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 39 | Bentley | 198 | 150 | 32,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 40 | Ferrari | 162 | 187 | -13,4% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 41 | SAIC MG | 111 | 103 | 7,8% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 42 | Aston Martin | 102 | 63 | 61,9% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 43 | Cadillac | 74 | 75 | -1,3% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 44 | Geely | 74 | 0 | – | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 45 | Chevrolet | 72 | 113 | -36,3% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 46 | Lotus | 56 | 86 | -34,9% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 47 | Lamborghini | 55 | 49 | 12,2% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 48 | Mahindra | 40 | 54 | -25,9% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 49 | Rolls Royce | 37 | 23 | 60,9% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 50 | Dodge | 35 | 43 | -18,6% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 51 | DR | 31 | 36 | -13,9% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 52 | Great Wall | 2 | 8 | -75,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
Year-to-date, Volkswagen is still in the black, but barely while the rest of the top-19 all outgrow it. Renault is closing in on the #2 spot it also held in the 2016 Full Year ranking after a traditionally slow start of the year. However, March will be a big month in the UK again, thanks to the twice-annual license plate change, which means Ford is likely to hold on to 2nd place for the first quarter, as it’s much stronger in the UK market than its French rival. This can also be said of Opel/Vauxhall thanks to the latter of the two sister brands, although it’s unlikely to be enough to grab 3rd place for the 1st quarter. Compared to the first two months of 2016, Audi drops to spots as it’s being leapfrogged by Fiat and Mercedes-Benz, while Toyota kicks Skoda out of the top-10. Suzuki passes Mazda thanks to sales up more than a third, while Mini passes Honda and DS drops 3 places, losing more than a third.
| Brand | 2017 | change | 2016 rank | 2017 share | 2016 share | |
| 1 | Volkswagen | 254.084 | 0,3% | 1 | 11,0% | 11,6% |
| 2 | Ford | 153.142 | 1,2% | 2 | 6,7% | 7,0% |
| 3 | Renault | 153.045 | 5,7% | 3 | 6,7% | 6,7% |
| 4 | Opel/Vauxhall | 144.259 | 2,1% | 4 | 6,3% | 6,5% |
| 5 | Peugeot | 139.989 | 2,6% | 5 | 6,1% | 6,3% |
| 6 | Fiat | 128.634 | 12,7% | 7 | 5,6% | 5,2% |
| 7 | Mercedes-Benz | 123.815 | 11,5% | 8 | 5,4% | 5,1% |
| 8 | Audi | 121.131 | 0,8% | 6 | 5,3% | 5,5% |
| 9 | BMW | 116.222 | 6,3% | 9 | 5,1% | 5,0% |
| 10 | Toyota | 110.790 | 18,9% | 11 | 4,8% | 4,3% |
| 11 | Skoda | 101.747 | 5,5% | 10 | 4,4% | 4,4% |
| 12 | Citroën | 91.259 | 4,0% | 12 | 4,0% | 4,0% |
| 13 | Nissan | 85.271 | 3,5% | 13 | 3,7% | 3,8% |
| 14 | Hyundai | 74.235 | 4,8% | 14 | 3,2% | 3,3% |
| 15 | Kia | 72.409 | 11,8% | 15 | 3,1% | 3,0% |
| 16 | Dacia | 69.132 | 13,8% | 16 | 3,0% | 2,8% |
| 17 | Seat | 57.614 | 20,1% | 17 | 2,5% | 2,2% |
| 18 | Volvo | 43.180 | 9,2% | 18 | 1,9% | 1,8% |
| 19 | Suzuki | 36.324 | 36,6% | 20 | 1,6% | 1,2% |
| 20 | Mazda | 33.956 | -8,6% | 19 | 1,5% | 1,7% |
| 21 | Mini | 24.415 | 6,8% | 22 | 1,1% | 1,1% |
| 22 | Honda | 22.343 | -8,4% | 21 | 1,0% | 1,1% |
| 23 | Land Rover | 21.142 | -5,5% | 23 | 0,9% | 1,0% |
| 24 | Mitsubishi | 17.071 | -6,6% | 24 | 0,7% | 0,8% |
| 25 | Jeep | 15.354 | -1,7% | 25 | 0,7% | 0,7% |
| 26 | Smart | 14.313 | -8,3% | 26 | 0,6% | 0,7% |
| 27 | Lancia-Chrysler | 13.094 | 4,1% | 27 | 0,6% | 0,6% |
| 28 | Alfa Romeo | 12.146 | 26,2% | 29 | 0,5% | 0,4% |
| 29 | Porsche | 9.665 | 4,3% | 30 | 0,4% | 0,4% |
| 30 | Jaguar | 9.225 | 45,9% | 31 | 0,4% | 0,3% |
| 31 | DS | 7.076 | -34,6% | 28 | 0,3% | 0,5% |
| 32 | Lexus | 6.102 | 2,7% | 32 | 0,3% | 0,3% |
| 33 | Subaru | 5.315 | -0,3% | 33 | 0,2% | 0,2% |
| 34 | SSangYong | 2.688 | 4,3% | 34 | 0,1% | 0,1% |
| 35 | Tesla | 2.548 | 130,2% | 35 | 0,1% | 0,1% |
| 36 | Infiniti | 2.073 | 87,6% | 36 | 0,1% | 0,1% |
| 37 | Maserati | 1.724 | 112,6% | 37 | 0,1% | 0,0% |
| 38 | Lada | 604 | 50,6% | 39 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 39 | Bentley | 567 | 59,7% | 41 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 40 | Aston Martin | 383 | 117,6% | 43 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 41 | SAIC MG | 316 | -24,0% | 38 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 42 | Ferrari | 314 | -16,3% | 40 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 43 | Cadillac | 148 | 19,4% | 45 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 44 | Chevrolet | 141 | -35,9% | 42 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 45 | Lotus | 107 | -15,7% | 44 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 46 | Lamborghini | 107 | 10,3% | 47 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 47 | Rolls Royce | 103 | 39,2% | 49 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 48 | Mahindra | 82 | -23,4% | 46 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 49 | Geely | 75 | – | 52 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 50 | DR | 72 | -4,0% | 48 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 51 | Dodge | 53 | -15,9% | 50 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 52 | Great Wall | 3 | -85,0% | 51 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 53 | Bugatti | 1 | – | – | 0,0% | 0,0% |
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