In the first half of 2018, European passenger car sales are up 3% to 8,6 million, with new EU member states contributing the most at +11,4%. Among major markets, Spain (+10,1%) is the biggest gainer, followed by France (+4,7%) and Germany (+2,9%) while sales in Italy (-1,4%) and the UK (‐6,3%) are falling. Crossover sales are up 22,9% in the first half, while car models lost 3,1% and MPVs lost 17,5%.
The biggest winner among manufacturers is Volkswagen Group with almost 150.000 additional sales in the first half of the year. Hyundai-Kia follows with almost 45.000 additional sales and Renault-Nissan grew its volume by just over 26.000 sales, which is 3.000 more than its French rival PSA. Seven out of the 20 manufacturers have lost volume on the first half of last year, most notably Daimler AG and FCA, both by more than 10.000 units, with Ford Motor Company also almost at that threshold as well. Relatively, SAIC Motor is the only manufacturer to more than double its sales year-on-year, thanks to the ZS crossover, while Tesla Motors is the only other manufacturer to improve by double digits, with Subaru Corporation just below that mark. On the losing side, Aston Martin is the only manufacturer to lose by double digits, with Mahindra & Mahindra just below that mark and fellow Indian manufacturer Tata Motors at -5,3%.
At brand level, Volkswagen is the big winner with 84.000 additional sales, with Dacia and Peugeot at over 40.000 additional sales, Seat just below that mark and Skoda at +30.000. Fiat is the big loser with over 40.000 fewer sales, followed by Opel/Vauxhall at -33.000 and Nissan at -28.000. Mercedes-Benz and Lancia are the only two other brands to lose over 10.000 sales. Relatively, the small brands are obviously the fastest growing, with Dodge virtually tripling its sales to outsell Cadillac and close in on Chevrolet. Bugatti jumps from 6 sales in the first half of 2017 to 15 this year, and SAIC MG is the only other brand to more than double up. Chinese-Italian DR Motor improves by 84% thanks to the DR4. Infiniti is the fastest shrinking brand, losing more than half of its volume on last year, with Lotus and Aston Martin also struggling. The latter upper luxury brand is not alone in its fate, as both Bentley and Maserati also lose more than 20% of their sales.
First half winners and losers
| Manufacturer biggest volume increase | Volkswagen Group | 148.597 | Manufacturer biggest volume lost | Daimler AG | -14.355 | |
| Hyundai-Kia | 44.976 | Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles | -12.657 | |||
| Renault-Nissan | 26.059 | Ford Motor Comp. | -9.555 | |||
| Manufacturer biggest % increase | SAIC | 114,9% | Manufacturer biggest % lost | Aston Martin | -28,4% | |
| Tesla Motors | 12,1% | Mahindra & Mahindra | -9,9% | |||
| Subaru Corp. | 9,9% | Tata Motors | -5,3% | |||
| Brand biggest volume increase | Volkswagen | 84.001 | Brand biggest volume lost | Fiat | -41.681 | |
| Dacia | 45.015 | Opel/Vauxhall | -33.162 | |||
| Peugeot | 44.071 | Nissan | -28.093 | |||
| Brand biggest % increase | Dodge | 197,2% | Brand biggest % lost | Infiniti | -57,4% | |
| Bugatti | 150,0% | Lotus | -31,9% | |||
| SAIC MG | 114,9% | Aston Martin | -28,4% |
Volkswagen Group is the fastest growing manufacturer in the top-5 and grows its market share by 0,6 percentage points to 13,6%. The rest of the top-5 loses share while Hyundai Group is the fastest growing manufacturer in the top-14 and jumps from #8 to #6, passing BMW Group and Daimler AG in the proces. Suzuki passes Tata Motors (Jaguar–Land Rover), with Mazda not far behind either.
First half group ranking
| Group | 2018 | 2017 | change | 2018 share | 2017 share | 2017 rank | |
| 1 | Volkswagen Group | 2.104.376 | 1.955.779 | 7,6% | 13,6% | 13,0% | 1 |
| 2 | PSA | 1.386.481 | 1.363.377 | 1,7% | 8,9% | 9,1% | 2 |
| 3 | Renault-Nissan | 1.267.233 | 1.241.174 | 2,1% | 8,2% | 8,3% | 3 |
| 4 | Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles | 592.227 | 604.884 | -2,1% | 3,8% | 4,0% | 4 |
| 5 | Ford Motor Comp. | 572.649 | 582.204 | -1,6% | 3,7% | 3,9% | 5 |
| 6 | Hyundai-Kia | 551.888 | 506.912 | 8,9% | 3,6% | 3,4% | 8 |
| 7 | BMW Group | 542.271 | 543.544 | -0,2% | 3,5% | 3,6% | 6 |
| 8 | Daimler AG | 510.899 | 525.254 | -2,7% | 3,3% | 3,5% | 7 |
| 9 | Toyota Motor | 405.138 | 386.590 | 4,8% | 2,6% | 2,6% | 9 |
| 10 | Geely Group | 171.847 | 160.795 | 6,9% | 1,1% | 1,1% | 10 |
| 11 | Suzuki | 134.849 | 124.829 | 8,0% | 0,9% | 0,8% | 12 |
| 12 | Tata Motors | 126.046 | 133.048 | -5,3% | 0,8% | 0,9% | 11 |
| 13 | Mazda | 124.230 | 119.287 | 4,1% | 0,8% | 0,8% | 13 |
| 14 | Honda | 78.147 | 76.781 | 1,8% | 0,5% | 0,5% | 14 |
| 15 | Subaru Corp. | 19.886 | 18.090 | 9,9% | 0,1% | 0,1% | 15 |
| 16 | Tesla Motors | 13.426 | 11.974 | 12,1% | 0,1% | 0,1% | 16 |
| 17 | Mahindra & Mahindra | 8.928 | 9.914 | -9,9% | 0,1% | 0,1% | 17 |
| 18 | SAIC | 4.286 | 1.994 | 114,9% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 18 |
| 19 | General Motors | 1.831 | 1.920 | -4,6% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 19 |
| 20 | Aston Martin | 1.142 | 1.595 | -28,4% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 20 |
In the brands ranking, the top-3 ranking remains unchanged, as Peugeot passes its new stablemate Opel/Vauxhall for fourth place and Fiat drops to #9 as Audi and BMW move ahead. The three German luxury brands move closer to each other with leader Mercedes-Benz down almost 3%, the middle player Audi down 2% and the #3 BMW down just 1%. Just 30.000 sales separate the #1 luxury brand from the #3 and fewer than 2.000 sales separate Audi and BMW. Dacia moves up no less than 3 spots, from #16 to #13, passing the two South-Korean brands and Nissan, with the Japanese brand also giving up its position as the #2 Asian brand to Hyundai. Jeep also moves up 3 places, from #25 to #22, passing Land Rover, Honda and Mitsubishi, even though the two Japanese brands also improve their sales. Further down the ranking, SAIC MG also moves up 3 spots, from #40 to #37, passing Infiniti, Lada and Bentley, with the Japanese brand also leapfrogged by Maserati. Newly founded Alpine brand lands at #46 with 632 deliveries in the first half of the year, with deliveries improving every month, peaking at 232 in June.
First half brands ranking
| Brand | 2018 | 2017 | change | 2018 share | 2017 rank | |
| 1 | Volkswagen | 982.416 | 898.415 | 9,3% | 11,4% | 1 |
| 2 | Renault | 621.608 | 616.748 | 0,8% | 7,2% | 2 |
| 3 | Ford | 572.648 | 582.204 | -1,6% | 6,6% | 3 |
| 4 | Peugeot | 538.962 | 494.891 | 8,9% | 6,3% | 5 |
| 5 | Opel/Vauxhall | 489.522 | 522.684 | -6,3% | 5,7% | 4 |
| 6 | Mercedes-Benz | 458.674 | 472.420 | -2,9% | 5,3% | 6 |
| 7 | Audi | 431.119 | 439.872 | -2,0% | 5,0% | 8 |
| 8 | BMW | 428.237 | 432.498 | -1,0% | 5,0% | 9 |
| 9 | Fiat | 417.731 | 459.412 | -9,1% | 4,8% | 7 |
| 10 | Skoda | 394.087 | 364.076 | 8,2% | 4,6% | 10 |
| 11 | Toyota | 380.619 | 364.059 | 4,5% | 4,4% | 11 |
| 12 | Citroën | 331.546 | 320.748 | 3,4% | 3,8% | 12 |
| 13 | Dacia | 285.806 | 240.791 | 18,7% | 3,3% | 16 |
| 14 | Hyundai | 284.918 | 264.608 | 7,7% | 3,3% | 14 |
| 15 | Nissan | 284.153 | 312.246 | -9,0% | 3,3% | 13 |
| 16 | Kia | 266.970 | 242.304 | 10,2% | 3,1% | 15 |
| 17 | Seat | 250.238 | 210.452 | 18,9% | 2,9% | 17 |
| 18 | Volvo | 171.453 | 160.224 | 7,0% | 2,0% | 18 |
| 19 | Suzuki | 134.849 | 124.829 | 8,0% | 1,6% | 19 |
| 20 | Mazda | 124.230 | 119.287 | 4,1% | 1,4% | 20 |
| 21 | Mini | 113.619 | 110.658 | 2,7% | 1,3% | 21 |
| 22 | Jeep | 89.115 | 53.716 | 65,9% | 1,0% | 25 |
| 23 | Land Rover | 84.355 | 92.873 | -9,2% | 1,0% | 22 |
| 24 | Honda | 78.147 | 76.781 | 1,8% | 0,9% | 23 |
| 25 | Mitsubishi | 69.588 | 61.145 | 13,8% | 0,8% | 24 |
| 26 | Smart | 52.225 | 52.834 | -1,2% | 0,6% | 26 |
| 27 | Alfa Romeo | 50.331 | 46.333 | 8,6% | 0,6% | 27 |
| 28 | Porsche | 43.990 | 40.309 | 9,1% | 0,5% | 28 |
| 29 | Jaguar | 41.691 | 40.175 | 3,8% | 0,5% | 29 |
| 30 | Lancia | 27.190 | 37.271 | -27,0% | 0,3% | 30 |
| 31 | DS | 26.451 | 25.054 | 5,6% | 0,3% | 31 |
| 32 | Lexus | 24.518 | 22.531 | 8,8% | 0,3% | 32 |
| 33 | Subaru | 19.886 | 18.090 | 9,9% | 0,2% | 33 |
| 34 | Tesla | 13.426 | 11.974 | 12,1% | 0,2% | 34 |
| 35 | SSangYong | 8.653 | 9.697 | -10,8% | 0,1% | 35 |
| 36 | Maserati | 4.381 | 5.562 | -21,2% | 0,1% | 37 |
| 37 | SAIC MG | 4.286 | 1.994 | 114,9% | 0,0% | 40 |
| 38 | Infiniti | 3.291 | 7.721 | -57,4% | 0,0% | 36 |
| 39 | Lada | 2.787 | 2.523 | 10,5% | 0,0% | 38 |
| 40 | Ferrari | 1.934 | 1.813 | 6,7% | 0,0% | 41 |
| 41 | Bentley | 1.621 | 2.139 | -24,2% | 0,0% | 39 |
| 42 | Chevrolet | 1.346 | 1.412 | -4,7% | 0,0% | 43 |
| 43 | Aston Martin | 1.142 | 1.595 | -28,4% | 0,0% | 42 |
| 44 | Lamborghini | 847 | 501 | 69,1% | 0,0% | 44 |
| 45 | Dodge | 838 | 282 | 197,2% | 0,0% | 48 |
| 46 | Alpine | 632 | 0 | New | 0,0% | – |
| 47 | Cadillac | 457 | 489 | -6,5% | 0,0% | 45 |
| 48 | DR | 427 | 231 | 84,8% | 0,0% | 49 |
| 49 | Rolls Royce | 415 | 388 | 7,0% | 0,0% | 47 |
| 50 | Lotus | 305 | 448 | -31,9% | 0,0% | 46 |
| 51 | Mahindra | 275 | 217 | 26,7% | 0,0% | 50 |
| 52 | Geely | 89 | 123 | -27,6% | 0,0% | 51 |
| 53 | Chrysler | 62 | 45 | 37,8% | 0,0% | 52 |
| 54 | Bugatti | 15 | 6 | 150,0% | 0,0% | 53 |
| 55 | Great Wall | 2 | 3 | -33,3% | 0,0% | 54 |
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