The European passenger car market enjoys its best month of 2020 in July, both in terms of absolute volume and of Year-on-Year decline. With 1.28 million registrations, July is the biggest month of the year so far, a result which is typically reserved for March. The 2.4% decline of July 2020 on July 2019 is also the best result so far, even better than the first two months of the year which were still free of lockdowns and virus-induced financial crises. Would August make the recovery complete and give us the first positive month of 2020? A number of individual markets were already in the black for July, most notably Lithuania (+21.9%), Luxembourg (+14.9%) and Denmark (+13.8%). Among the five major markets, the UK was the best performer at +11.3%, followed by France (+3.9%) whose second consecutive positive month this is, and Spain (+1.1%). Italy (-11.2%) and Germany (-5.4%) are still in negative territory.
Sales of car models (hatchback, sedan, stationwagon, coupe and convertible) are down 6.1% to 52.9% share, the lowest ever after last December. Crossover and SUV sales are up 4.3% to top 41.4% share, which is a new record, and MPV sales are down 28.8% to 5.8% share. Within these figures, EVs and PHEVs are up by their highest growth rate in 5 years at +213% to around 113,000 sales. This is a second consecutive monthly record for plug-in vehicles, after the 93,000 registrations of June. PHEVs are up 365% to 57,800 registrations and EVs are up 127% to 55,200 registrations. The share of plug-in cars stood at 8.7% in July (4.1% for pure EVs alone). The Year-To-Date share of EVs and PHEVs now stands at 8%. When adding hybrids and mild hybrids, which were up 89% to 121,700 registrations, electrified cars set a new record of over 230,000 deliveries, which is just over 18% of the total European car market.
The overall European passenger car market is down 33% to 6.45 million registrations in the first seven months of 2020.
July 2020 Manufacturers
In the manufacturers ranking, PSA in second place is the biggest loser among top-10 manufacturers, with a loss of 16.1% while leader Volkswagen Group is down 3.8% and Renault-Nissan is actually up by 7.5%. As a result, the French-Japanese group is fewer than 3,000 sales behind its rival. Hyundai-Kia manages to improve its share with sales up 2.5% while BMW AG is the big winner among major players with a gain of 17.8% to move past Ford Motor Company and Daimler AG, both of which are down by single digits. FCA reduces its losses to -6.2% to narrowly stay ahead of Toyota, stable at +1%. Geely Group continues to gain market share with sales up 8.7% while Suzuki is crashing down, losing over a third of its sales of last year and now just ahead of Mazda. Honda manages to reduce its losses to -1.9%, while SAIC Motor is the big winner with sales up by 142%, passing Subaru. Tesla is struggling greatly as its supply chain is disrupted by lockdowns. It manages to deliver less than 1,100 cars in July, down from over 4,600 last year, just when EV adoption is taking off in Europe thanks to generous subsidies on green vehicles.
| Group | Jul-20 | Jul-19 | change | YTD 2020 | YTD 2019 | change | |
| 1 | Volkswagen Group | 335.783 | 349.151 | -3,8% | 1.653.260 | 2.368.066 | -30,2% |
| 2 | PSA | 178.057 | 212.146 | -16,1% | 944.659 | 1.578.777 | -40,2% |
| 3 | Renault-Nissan | 175.300 | 163.098 | 7,5% | 880.489 | 1.353.296 | -34,9% |
| 4 | Hyundai-Kia | 94.968 | 92.637 | 2,5% | 452.136 | 628.634 | -28,1% |
| 5 | BMW AG | 91.351 | 77.575 | 17,8% | 449.879 | 612.514 | -26,6% |
| 6 | Ford Motor Comp. | 79.351 | 83.446 | -4,9% | 379.267 | 607.905 | -37,6% |
| 7 | Daimler AG | 79.262 | 82.446 | -3,9% | 384.597 | 589.724 | -34,8% |
| 8 | Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles | 70.377 | 74.991 | -6,2% | 355.144 | 602.645 | -41,1% |
| 9 | Toyota Motor | 69.798 | 69.078 | 1,0% | 366.150 | 476.302 | -23,1% |
| 10 | Geely Group | 29.064 | 26.748 | 8,7% | 155.431 | 199.978 | -22,3% |
| 11 | Suzuki | 16.461 | 25.390 | -35,2% | 86.589 | 159.455 | -45,7% |
| 12 | Mazda | 15.364 | 18.055 | -14,9% | 74.561 | 139.686 | -46,6% |
| 13 | Tata Motors | 15.120 | 15.743 | -4,0% | 89.489 | 139.499 | -35,8% |
| 14 | Honda | 9.149 | 9.329 | -1,9% | 41.914 | 76.369 | -45,1% |
| 15 | SAIC | 2.521 | 1.041 | 142,2% | 10.504 | 7.328 | 43,3% |
| 16 | Subaru Corp. | 1.914 | 2.126 | -10,0% | 9.982 | 17.230 | -42,1% |
| 17 | Mahindra & Mahindra | 1.352 | 1.138 | 18,8% | 6.075 | 8.788 | -30,9% |
| 18 | Tesla Motors | 1.094 | 4.612 | -76,3% | 38.598 | 49.835 | -22,5% |
| 19 | Aston Martin | 142 | 178 | -20,2% | 818 | 1.572 | -48,0% |
| 20 | General Motors | 27 | 453 | -94,0% | 125 | 2.346 | -94,7% |
July 2020 Brands
In the brands ranking, Renault is flexing its muscles with sales up by more than a quarter, making it the biggest winner in the top-20. Volkswagen loses share at -5.6% while Peugeot gains share at +1.7% to claim 3rd place off Ford, down 4.9%. Despite BMW’s strong improvement at +17%, it finishes the month in 6th place behind Mercedes-Benz, up 3%, while Audi is down in 9th place with a loss of 6.7%, falling behind Skoda and Toyota. Fiat completes the top-10 with stable sales, but Kia is closing in fast at +13.6%, which is in sharp contrast to sister brand Hyundai at -6.9%. 2020 looks to become the first year that Kia is the best selling South-Korean car brand in Europe. Sales at Opel/Vauxhall continues to plummet at -35.4% as its small cars are discontinued and GM-based cars like the Astra and Insignia are out of favor. Dacia has been unable to turn its fate around (-7.1%) but at least it beats Citroën and Seat which both lose by double digits.
Nissan contains its heavy losses of recent months to -6.9%, while Volvo keeps going strong at +8.1%. Mini suddenly picks up the pace at +20.8%, moving past Suzuki and Mazda, both in trouble. Jeep also loses share while Mitsubishi manages a slight uptick despite announcing it will leave Europe soon. Porsche is the big winner among top-30 brands with a 45.8% increase to close in on Land Rover. Lexus beats Jaguar and DS, while Smart is the big loser in the top-35. Among small brands, Polestar sells over 100 cars for the first time, and it’s expected to continue setting new records every month for the rest of this year as customer deliveries begin.
| Brand | Jul-20 | Jul-19 | change | 2020 share | 2019 share | YTD rank | 2020 | 2019 | change | |
| 1 | Volkswagen | 146.485 | 155.156 | -5,6% | 11,6% | 11,8% | 1 | 722.474 | 1.077.725 | -33,0% |
| 2 | Renault | 89.043 | 71.048 | 25,3% | 7,0% | 5,4% | 2 | 447.947 | 653.491 | -31,5% |
| 3 | Peugeot | 81.758 | 80.383 | 1,7% | 6,5% | 6,1% | 3 | 405.199 | 607.933 | -33,3% |
| 4 | Ford | 79.351 | 83.446 | -4,9% | 6,3% | 6,4% | 4 | 379.265 | 607.905 | -37,6% |
| 5 | Mercedes-Benz | 76.370 | 74.129 | 3,0% | 6,0% | 5,7% | 5 | 375.280 | 528.961 | -29,1% |
| 6 | BMW | 72.395 | 61.865 | 17,0% | 5,7% | 4,7% | 6 | 359.874 | 488.318 | -26,3% |
| 7 | Skoda | 71.663 | 66.276 | 8,1% | 5,7% | 5,1% | 7 | 349.693 | 451.733 | -22,6% |
| 8 | Toyota | 65.100 | 64.498 | 0,9% | 5,1% | 4,9% | 8 | 340.877 | 444.766 | -23,4% |
| 9 | Audi | 64.907 | 69.589 | -6,7% | 5,1% | 5,3% | 9 | 328.373 | 475.039 | -30,9% |
| 10 | Fiat | 49.316 | 49.323 | 0,0% | 3,9% | 3,8% | 11 | 251.473 | 415.383 | -39,5% |
| 11 | Kia | 48.279 | 42.509 | 13,6% | 3,8% | 3,2% | 13 | 232.866 | 303.241 | -23,2% |
| 12 | Hyundai | 46.689 | 50.128 | -6,9% | 3,7% | 3,8% | 14 | 219.270 | 325.393 | -32,6% |
| 13 | Opel/Vauxhall | 46.644 | 72.199 | -35,4% | 3,7% | 5,5% | 10 | 262.964 | 536.936 | -51,0% |
| 14 | Dacia | 45.498 | 48.968 | -7,1% | 3,6% | 3,7% | 15 | 209.379 | 353.539 | -40,8% |
| 15 | Citroën | 45.397 | 54.883 | -17,3% | 3,6% | 4,2% | 12 | 251.413 | 403.896 | -37,8% |
| 16 | Seat | 42.246 | 50.797 | -16,8% | 3,3% | 3,9% | 16 | 209.097 | 317.881 | -34,2% |
| 17 | Nissan | 29.094 | 31.256 | -6,9% | 2,3% | 2,4% | 17 | 155.814 | 248.684 | -37,3% |
| 18 | Volvo | 28.869 | 26.697 | 8,1% | 2,3% | 2,0% | 18 | 154.982 | 199.569 | -22,3% |
| 19 | Mini | 18.911 | 15.651 | 20,8% | 1,5% | 1,2% | 19 | 89.693 | 123.744 | -27,5% |
| 20 | Suzuki | 16.461 | 25.390 | -35,2% | 1,3% | 1,9% | 20 | 86.589 | 159.455 | -45,7% |
| 21 | Mazda | 15.364 | 18.055 | -14,9% | 1,2% | 1,4% | 21 | 74.561 | 139.686 | -46,6% |
| 22 | Jeep | 12.844 | 15.477 | -17,0% | 1,0% | 1,2% | 24 | 58.126 | 105.795 | -45,1% |
| 23 | Mitsubishi | 11.279 | 10.662 | 5,8% | 0,9% | 0,8% | 22 | 64.872 | 89.427 | -27,5% |
| 24 | Land Rover | 10.454 | 9.834 | 6,3% | 0,8% | 0,8% | 23 | 62.798 | 90.006 | -30,2% |
| 25 | Porsche | 9.808 | 6.729 | 45,8% | 0,8% | 0,5% | 26 | 40.379 | 41.912 | -3,7% |
| 26 | Honda | 9.149 | 9.329 | -1,9% | 0,7% | 0,7% | 25 | 41.914 | 76.369 | -45,1% |
| 27 | Lexus | 4.698 | 4.580 | 2,6% | 0,4% | 0,3% | 29 | 25.273 | 31.536 | -19,9% |
| 28 | Jaguar | 4.666 | 5.909 | -21,0% | 0,4% | 0,5% | 28 | 26.691 | 49.493 | -46,1% |
| 29 | DS | 4.258 | 4.681 | -9,0% | 0,3% | 0,4% | 30 | 25.083 | 30.012 | -16,4% |
| 30 | Lancia | 3.640 | 4.324 | -15,8% | 0,3% | 0,3% | 31 | 22.412 | 39.042 | -42,6% |
| 31 | Alfa Romeo | 3.355 | 4.536 | -26,0% | 0,3% | 0,3% | 32 | 17.550 | 34.617 | -49,3% |
| 32 | Smart | 2.892 | 8.317 | -65,2% | 0,2% | 0,6% | 35 | 9.317 | 60.763 | -84,7% |
| 33 | SAIC MG | 2.521 | 1.041 | 142,2% | 0,2% | 0,1% | 33 | 10.504 | 7.328 | 43,3% |
| 34 | Subaru | 1.914 | 2.126 | -10,0% | 0,2% | 0,2% | 34 | 9.982 | 17.230 | -42,1% |
| 35 | SSangYong | 1.223 | 1.044 | 17,1% | 0,1% | 0,1% | 36 | 5.387 | 8.062 | -33,2% |
| 36 | Tesla | 1.094 | 4.612 | -76,3% | 0,1% | 0,4% | 27 | 38.598 | 49.835 | -22,5% |
| 37 | Ferrari | 602 | 422 | 42,7% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 37 | 2.600 | 2.489 | 4,5% |
| 38 | Maserati | 351 | 598 | -41,3% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 38 | 1.706 | 3.765 | -54,7% |
| 39 | Bentley | 321 | 330 | -2,7% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 39 | 1.694 | 2.083 | -18,7% |
| 40 | DR Motor | 307 | 564 | -45,6% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 40 | 1.464 | 1.947 | -24,8% |
| 41 | Lamborghini | 285 | 248 | 14,9% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 42 | 1.254 | 1.535 | -18,3% |
| 42 | Lada | 211 | 462 | -54,3% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 41 | 1.441 | 3.148 | -54,2% |
| 43 | Alpine | 171 | 434 | -60,6% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 44 | 716 | 2.974 | -75,9% |
| 44 | Aston Martin | 142 | 178 | -20,2% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 43 | 818 | 1.572 | -48,0% |
| 45 | Mahindra | 129 | 94 | 37,2% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 45 | 688 | 726 | -5,2% |
| 46 | Polestar | 117 | 0 | #DIV/0! | 0,0% | 0,0% | 50 | 172 | 0 | New |
| 47 | Dodge | 101 | 165 | -38,8% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 46 | 543 | 759 | -28,5% |
| 48 | Lotus | 66 | 45 | 46,7% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 49 | 232 | 341 | -32,0% |
| 49 | Rolls Royce | 45 | 59 | -23,7% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 48 | 312 | 452 | -31,0% |
| 50 | Chevrolet | 14 | 401 | -96,5% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 52 | 89 | 1.867 | -95,2% |
| 51 | Geely | 12 | 6 | 100,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 54 | 45 | 68 | -33,8% |
| 52 | Cadillac | 11 | 52 | -78,8% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 55 | 32 | 474 | -93,2% |
| 53 | Chrysler | 11 | 13 | -15,4% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 53 | 51 | 82 | -37,8% |
| 54 | Infiniti | 4 | 268 | -98,5% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 47 | 320 | 2.033 | -84,3% |
| 55 | Bugatti | 2 | 1 | 100,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 56 | 15 | 18 | -16,7% |
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