The European car market enjoys its 31st consecutive month of growth in March, but an increase of 6% is the second lowest relative improvement of the last twelve months, just ahead of last October’s +2,9%. This can be partially attributed to Easter falling in March instead of last year’s April, which means we’ve had fewer selling days. On an even more positive note, the 1,7 million sales volume was close to the March 2007 level. As traditional, and as predicted last month, the UK posts a strong volume in March, helped by the twice yearly change to the new license plates, as the UK takes 30% of total EU sales this month, compared to about 18,5% over the course of a full year. UK sales were up 5,3%, while the French car market grew by 7,5% and Italy is still on fire with an increase of 17,4%. Germany is the outsider of the large markets with sales down by less than a tenth of a percent, one of six countries to lose volume.
If Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles was the big winner in February, it keeps doing well in March even though Renault-Nissan adds even more volume. BMW is among the winners this month as well, adding over 12.000 units on the same month last year. On the other side of the spectrum, Mitsubishi continues to lose volume, and is joined by Ford and Tesla this month. At Ford, slowdown of its core hatchback line-up is not offset by growth of its MPV and crossover models, while Tesla suffers from a general slowdown in Norway, its most important market, and from buyers waiting for the updated version of the Model S. Looking at relative growth, Mahindra & Mahindra with its SSangYong brand is the fastest growing manufacturer again, closely followed by AvtoVAZ which has jump started Lada sales again and Tata Motors whose Jaguar and Land Rover brands are enjoying nice growth thanks to a flood of new models. Lotus continues its on again off again cadence, after being the fastest growing manufacturer in February, it’s the biggest loser in March, followed by Tesla Motors and surprisingly SAIC MG, who have enjoyed solid growth for two years now on strong sales of the MG3 subcompact hatchback. That model still continues to improve, but sales of the MG6 midsized sedan have collapsed, bringing the brand down.
Brands-wise, BMW is the big winner of the month, helped by its front-wheel drive models X1 and 2-Series Active Tourer, proving the brand right in that most of its buyers don’t care about RWD. Renault is boosted by the successful launch of the Kadjar crossover and Fiat by a record month of the facelifted 500 at almost 26.000 sales. Volkswagen and Nissan lose the most volume, followed by Mitsubishi. It’ll be interesting to see how Mitsubishi sales will be affected by their fuel economy irregularities which have been going on for 25 years and unlikely to have been limited to just domestic sales of the already plagued company. In terms of relative growth, Cadillac adds a whopping 150% to its double digit monthly volume in Europe, followed by Infiniti thanks to the introduction of the Q30, which should keep the Japanese brand in this side of the table for the rest of the year, accompanied by SSangYong in the first half, after which point the Tivoli reaches its first anniversary, bringing down the impressive growth rate of the brand.
March winners and losers
| Manufacturer biggest volume increase | Renault-Nissan | 13.437 | Manufacturer biggest volume lost | Mitsubishi Motors | -789 | |
| Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles | 12.801 | Ford Motor Corp. | -643 | |||
| BMW AG | 12.081 | Tesla Motors | -443 | |||
| Manufacturer biggest % increase | Mahindra & Mahindra | 79,4% | Manufacturer biggest % lost | DRB-Hicom (Proton / Lotus) | -38,7% | |
| AvtoVAZ (Lada) | 73,9% | Tesla Motors | -18,7% | |||
| Tata Motors | 27,5% | SAIC MG | -13,0% | |||
| Brand biggest volume increase | BMW | 12.657 | Brand biggest volume lost | Volkswagen | -3.471 | |
| Renault | 12.235 | Nissan | -3.094 | |||
| Fiat | 10.320 | Mitsubishi | -789 | |||
| Brand biggest % increase | Cadillac | 151,5% | Brand biggest % lost | Tata | -87,5% | |
| Infiniti | 103,8% | Great Wall | -50,0% | |||
| SSangYong | 82,1% | Chevrolet | -45,1% |
The Q1 total of 3,9 million sales is 8,2% more than last year, and FCA is still the big winner so far this year, followed by VW Group and GM, while Mitsubishi Motors is no longer the only manufacturer to lose volume, as it is now accompanied by Tesla Motors. The relative winners among manufacturers are similar to those in March. At brand level, Fiat adds the most volume, with Opel/Vauxhall not far behind and Audi in third, while Nissan replaces Volkswagen as the biggest loser, followed by Mini and Seat. Jaguar is the fastest growing brand in this quarter, almost doubling its volume, while Bugatti is among the losers, dropping from 2 units to just 1, possibly the last Veyron before deliveries of the Chiron start later this year.
2016 Q1 winners and losers
| Manufacturer biggest volume increase | Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles | 36.863 | Manufacturer biggest volume lost | Mitsubishi Motors | -2.133 | |
| Volkswagen Group | 32.578 | Tesla Motors | -251 | |||
| General Motors | 26.025 | |||||
| Manufacturer biggest % increase | Mahindra & Mahindra | 79,6% | Manufacturer biggest % lost | Tesla Motors | -7,6% | |
| AvtoVAZ (Lada) | 58,2% | Mitsubishi Motors | -6,1% | |||
| Tata Motors | 36,7% | |||||
| Brand biggest volume increase | Fiat | 28.843 | Brand biggest volume lost | Nissan | -3.857 | |
| Opel/Vauxhall | 26.329 | Mini | -3.772 | |||
| Audi | 23.118 | Seat | -2.773 | |||
| Brand biggest % increase | Jaguar | 98,0% | Brand biggest % lost | Tata | -94,8% | |
| Infiniti | 87,5% | Bugatti | -50,0% | |||
| SSangYong | 83,0% | Chevrolet | -46,8% |
The brands that have a strong presence in the UK always perform well in March, and that means Ford and Opel/Vauxhall are firmly on the podium this month, relegating Renault to #4 after the French brand enjoyed last month in second place when its rivals had an off-month in preparation of their strong March volume. The three German luxury brands move ahead of Fiat, while Nissan is back ahead of Toyota. Compared to last year, BMW has passed its two rivals Audi and Mercedes-Benz, while Fiat has moved ahead of Nissan. Jaguar jumps three spots to kick Alfa Romeo out of the top-30.
March 2016 brand ranking
| Brand | March 2016 | March 2015 | change | |
| 1 | Volkswagen | 179.221 | 182.692 | -1,9% |
| 2 | Ford | 137.014 | 137.656 | -0,5% |
| 3 | Opel/Vauxhall | 125.700 | 117.931 | 6,6% |
| 4 | Renault | 118.904 | 106.669 | 11,5% |
| 5 | Peugeot | 97.520 | 96.138 | 1,4% |
| 6 | BMW | 94.588 | 81.931 | 15,4% |
| 7 | Audi | 94.402 | 87.481 | 7,9% |
| 8 | Mercedes-Benz | 90.693 | 83.148 | 9,1% |
| 9 | Fiat | 84.697 | 74.377 | 13,9% |
| 10 | Nissan | 77.867 | 80.961 | -3,8% |
| 11 | Toyota | 69.176 | 67.024 | 3,2% |
| 12 | Skoda | 66.815 | 62.699 | 6,6% |
| 13 | Citroën | 62.362 | 61.470 | 1,5% |
| 14 | Hyundai | 54.533 | 55.280 | -1,4% |
| 15 | Kia | 47.249 | 43.400 | 8,9% |
| 16 | Dacia | 41.266 | 37.515 | 10,0% |
| 17 | Seat | 38.270 | 38.175 | 0,2% |
| 18 | Volvo | 30.697 | 27.807 | 10,4% |
| 19 | Mazda | 30.683 | 26.696 | 14,9% |
| 20 | Land Rover | 26.837 | 22.516 | 19,2% |
| 21 | Honda | 25.023 | 21.952 | 14,0% |
| 22 | Suzuki | 23.017 | 22.168 | 3,8% |
| 23 | Mini | 21.913 | 22.493 | -2,6% |
| 24 | Mitsubishi | 14.340 | 15.129 | -5,2% |
| 25 | Smart | 11.857 | 9.628 | 23,2% |
| 26 | Jeep | 10.620 | 9.203 | 15,4% |
| 27 | DS | 9.363 | 9.823 | -4,7% |
| 28 | Jaguar | 8.227 | 4.979 | 65,2% |
| 29 | Porsche | 7.454 | 7.489 | -0,5% |
| 30 | Lancia-Chrysler | 7.274 | 6.248 | 16,4% |
| 31 | Alfa Romeo | 6.328 | 6.341 | -0,2% |
| 32 | Lexus | 5.916 | 4.768 | 24,1% |
| 33 | Subaru | 4.263 | 4.488 | -5,0% |
| 34 | SSangYong | 2.323 | 1.276 | 82,1% |
| 35 | Tesla | 1.930 | 2.373 | -18,7% |
| 36 | Infiniti | 1.070 | 525 | 103,8% |
| 37 | Maserati | 755 | 735 | 2,7% |
| 38 | SAIC MG | 576 | 662 | -13,0% |
| 39 | Bentley | 400 | 352 | 13,6% |
| 40 | Ferrari | 348 | 357 | -2,5% |
| 41 | Lada | 287 | 165 | 73,9% |
| 42 | Aston Martin | 270 | 286 | -5,6% |
| 43 | Chevrolet | 135 | 246 | -45,1% |
| 44 | Lamborghini | 86 | 90 | -4,4% |
| 45 | Cadillac | 83 | 33 | 151,5% |
| 46 | Lotus | 76 | 124 | -38,7% |
| 47 | Dodge | 68 | 52 | 30,8% |
| 48 | Rolls Royce | 62 | 58 | 6,9% |
| 49 | Mahindra | 59 | 52 | 13,5% |
| 50 | DR | 28 | 36 | -22,2% |
| 51 | Great Wall | 7 | 14 | -50,0% |
| 52 | Tata | 2 | 16 | -87,5% |
| 53 | Bugatti | 1 | 1 | 0,0% |
Year-to-date Opel/Vauxhall leapfrogs Renault again to take the brand podium, while Skoda enters the top-10 at the cost of Nissan, which also drops behind Toyota as it’s the biggest loser in the top-15, with only Volkswagen the other brand to lose volume.
Q1 2016 brand ranking
| Brand | 2016 sales | 2015 sales | change | 2015 rank | 2016 Market share | 2015 Market share | |
| 1 | Volkswagen | 432.448 | 433.789 | -0,3% | 1 | 11,1% | 12,0% |
| 2 | Ford | 288.310 | 271.299 | 6,3% | 2 | 7,4% | 7,5% |
| 3 | Opel/Vauxhall | 266.998 | 240.669 | 10,9% | 4 | 6,8% | 6,6% |
| 4 | Renault | 263.764 | 242.133 | 8,9% | 3 | 6,8% | 6,7% |
| 5 | Peugeot | 233.896 | 221.373 | 5,7% | 5 | 6,0% | 6,1% |
| 6 | Audi | 214.585 | 191.467 | 12,1% | 6 | 5,5% | 5,3% |
| 7 | BMW | 203.929 | 181.620 | 12,3% | 7 | 5,2% | 5,0% |
| 8 | Mercedes-Benz | 201.755 | 180.465 | 11,8% | 8 | 5,2% | 5,0% |
| 9 | Fiat | 198.831 | 169.988 | 17,0% | 9 | 5,1% | 4,7% |
| 10 | Skoda | 163.276 | 149.645 | 9,1% | 12 | 4,2% | 4,1% |
| 11 | Toyota | 162.381 | 154.367 | 5,2% | 11 | 4,2% | 4,3% |
| 12 | Nissan | 160.229 | 164.086 | -2,4% | 10 | 4,1% | 4,5% |
| 13 | Citroën | 150.144 | 142.650 | 5,3% | 13 | 3,8% | 3,9% |
| 14 | Hyundai | 125.350 | 118.884 | 5,4% | 14 | 3,2% | 3,3% |
| 15 | Kia | 112.035 | 100.664 | 11,3% | 15 | 2,9% | 2,8% |
| 16 | Dacia | 102.040 | 94.889 | 7,5% | 16 | 2,6% | 2,6% |
| 17 | Seat | 86.247 | 89.020 | -3,1% | 17 | 2,2% | 2,5% |
| 18 | Volvo | 70.232 | 63.320 | 10,9% | 18 | 1,8% | 1,7% |
| 19 | Mazda | 67.829 | 53.058 | 27,8% | 19 | 1,7% | 1,5% |
| 20 | Suzuki | 49.602 | 45.864 | 8,2% | 20 | 1,3% | 1,3% |
| 21 | Honda | 49.416 | 38.374 | 28,8% | 23 | 1,3% | 1,1% |
| 22 | Land Rover | 49.220 | 39.242 | 25,4% | 22 | 1,3% | 1,1% |
| 23 | Mini | 40.640 | 44.412 | -8,5% | 21 | 1,0% | 1,2% |
| 24 | Mitsubishi | 32.625 | 34.758 | -6,1% | 24 | 0,8% | 1,0% |
| 25 | Smart | 27.470 | 23.414 | 17,3% | 25 | 0,7% | 0,6% |
| 26 | Jeep | 26.244 | 21.328 | 23,0% | 26 | 0,7% | 0,6% |
| 27 | DS | 20.185 | 20.207 | -0,1% | 27 | 0,5% | 0,6% |
| 28 | Lancia-Chrysler | 19.854 | 17.797 | 11,6% | 28 | 0,5% | 0,5% |
| 29 | Porsche | 16.722 | 16.956 | -1,4% | 29 | 0,4% | 0,5% |
| 30 | Alfa Romeo | 15.955 | 15.091 | 5,7% | 30 | 0,4% | 0,4% |
| 31 | Jaguar | 14.548 | 7.349 | 98,0% | 33 | 0,4% | 0,2% |
| 32 | Lexus | 11.859 | 9.955 | 19,1% | 31 | 0,3% | 0,3% |
| 33 | Subaru | 9.592 | 9.125 | 5,1% | 32 | 0,2% | 0,3% |
| 34 | SSangYong | 4.901 | 2.678 | 83,0% | 35 | 0,1% | 0,1% |
| 35 | Tesla | 3.037 | 3.288 | -7,6% | 34 | 0,1% | 0,1% |
| 36 | Infiniti | 2.175 | 1.160 | 87,5% | 37 | 0,1% | 0,0% |
| 37 | Maserati | 1.566 | 1.543 | 1,5% | 36 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 38 | SAIC MG | 992 | 860 | 15,3% | 38 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 39 | Bentley | 755 | 639 | 18,2% | 41 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 40 | Ferrari | 723 | 653 | 10,7% | 40 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 41 | Lada | 688 | 435 | 58,2% | 42 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 42 | Aston Martin | 446 | 426 | 4,7% | 43 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 43 | Chevrolet | 355 | 667 | -46,8% | 39 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 44 | Cadillac | 207 | 118 | 75,4% | 48 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 45 | Lotus | 203 | 192 | 5,7% | 45 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 46 | Lamborghini | 183 | 211 | -13,3% | 44 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 47 | Mahindra | 166 | 143 | 16,1% | 46 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 48 | Rolls Royce | 136 | 126 | 7,9% | 47 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 49 | Dodge | 131 | 107 | 22,4% | 49 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 50 | DR | 66 | 95 | -30,5% | 50 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 51 | Great Wall | 27 | 33 | -18,2% | 52 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 52 | Tata | 3 | 58 | -94,8% | 51 | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 52 | Bugatti | 1 | 2 | -50,0% | 53 | 0,0% | 0,0% |