Although May 2020 passenger car sales are still less than half of last year’s sales, it was a nice improvement on April, and the graph is showing signs of a V-shaped recovery. In May, 625,000 new passenger cars were registered in Europe, which translates to a loss of 55.6% on the same month last year, but is already much better than April’s -74.1% and just 350,000 sales. Every European market was down by double digits, with the best performers being tiny Cyprus at -29.4%, Slovenia at -31.7% and Belgium at -32% while the markets still struggling the most were the United Kingdom at a harsh 89% to just over 20,000 sales Croatia at -76.2%, Portugal at -74.7% and tiny Iceland at -74.4%. Besides the UK, Spain saw the next biggest decline among the five major EU markets (-72.7%), while sales fell by roughly half in France (-50.3%), Italy (-49.6%) and Germany (-49.5%).
After a dominating share of over 33% in April, Germany is back to 27% of the European car market, still up from the 25% it held in May 2019. The UK on the other hand accounts for just 3.2% of the total market, compared to 12.8% in May 2019, and is smaller than markets like Poland an Austria, which should affect the rankings negatively for brands and models that are relatively popular in the UK.
Sales of car models (hatchback, sedan, stationwagon, coupe and convertible) are down 58.5%, crossover and SUV sales are down 52.8% to top 40% share for only the second time ever after last December, and MPV sales down 66%. Within these figures, sales of gasoline and diesel vehicles declined by 62% and 59% respectively, while EVs and PHEVs are back up by 23% to around 46,800 sales, giving plug-in vehicles a share of 7.5% of the European car market (3.8% for pure EVs alone).
May 2020 Manufacturers
The top-9 manufacturers all fall between -51% and -60%, so no big movements there. Ford Motor Company is hurting the most at -59.5% because of its relative strength in the UK market, while Hyundai-Kia outperforms its rivals at -51.8%, which allows it to move ahead of BMW AG both in the May ranking and the YTD ranking. Geely Group in 10th place does even better at -49.1%, but the manufacturers just outside the top-10 are struggling. Suzuki and Mazda are down by nearly 60%, Tata Motors due to its dependence on the UK is down 65.6% and Honda is down 72%. Tesla is the best performing manufacturer in Europe with sales down “just” 47.5%, while General Motors is the worst performer at -95.8% to just 15 deliveries.
| Group | May-20 | May-19 | change | YTD 2020 | YTD 2019 | change | |
| 1 | Volkswagen Group | 155.303 | 344.464 | -54,9% | 1.047.593 | 1.311.462 | -20,1% |
| 2 | PSA | 95.268 | 230.747 | -58,7% | 599.375 | 1.130.084 | -47,0% |
| 3 | Renault-Nissan | 89.058 | 199.798 | -55,4% | 521.741 | 957.610 | -45,5% |
| 4 | Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles | 43.259 | 100.620 | -57,0% | 221.536 | 439.774 | -49,6% |
| 5 | Hyundai-Kia | 42.466 | 88.086 | -51,8% | 287.330 | 444.692 | -35,4% |
| 6 | BMW AG | 39.392 | 88.904 | -55,7% | 285.003 | 435.062 | -34,5% |
| 7 | Daimler AG | 38.370 | 87.817 | -56,3% | 242.294 | 424.817 | -43,0% |
| 8 | Ford Motor Comp. | 33.822 | 83.553 | -59,5% | 233.851 | 436.529 | -46,4% |
| 9 | Toyota Motor | 32.762 | 72.488 | -54,8% | 234.004 | 333.467 | -29,8% |
| 10 | Geely Group | 14.834 | 29.126 | -49,1% | 96.166 | 143.863 | -33,2% |
| 11 | Suzuki | 9.278 | 22.728 | -59,2% | 53.132 | 110.382 | -51,9% |
| 12 | Mazda | 7.823 | 19.448 | -59,8% | 47.550 | 81.067 | -41,3% |
| 13 | Tata Motors | 6.555 | 19.035 | -65,6% | 61.413 | 105.266 | -41,7% |
| 14 | Honda | 2.819 | 10.081 | -72,0% | 26.658 | 57.304 | -53,5% |
| 15 | Tesla Motors | 2.779 | 5.295 | -47,5% | 29.275 | 31.118 | -5,9% |
| 16 | Subaru Corp. | 1.225 | 2.537 | -51,7% | 6.553 | 12.827 | -48,9% |
| 17 | Mahindra & Mahindra | 639 | 1.257 | -49,2% | 3.679 | 6.469 | -43,1% |
| 18 | SAIC | 454 | 1.212 | -62,5% | 5.693 | 5.209 | 9,3% |
| 19 | Aston Martin | 63 | 215 | -70,7% | 546 | 1.180 | -53,7% |
| 20 | General Motors | 15 | 354 | -95,8% | 76 | 1.498 | -94,9% |
May 2020 Brands
In the brands ranking, the pain is also shared relatively equally among the top players, as the top-12 brands all fall between -52% and -57%, with Audi as the best berformer and Fiat hit the hardest. But that’s only because Opel/Vauxhall has fallen out of the top-12 from last year’s #6 position, due to a loss of 68.6%. That’s not even the biggest loss among major brands, as Nissan is down 68.8% into 18th place, Honda is down 72% and Jaguar is down 72.5%. On the other hand, Volvo (-49%), Kia (-49.9%), Mitsubishi (-43.4%), Porsche (-40.3%), Tesla (-47.5%) and DS (-47.7%) are the only brands in the top-30 to lose less than half of their volume year-on-year. Among smaller brands, Smart is down 89.3%, Maserati is down 74.3% and Chevrolet is down 94.7%, while Ferrari is down just 11.7%, Dodge is down 16.9% and DR Motor is actually up 18.2%.
Year-to-date, not a single brand is in the black, with Ferrari (-5.6%), Tesla (-5.9%) and Lexus (-8.3%) the only brands to lose sales by less than double digits and BMW the best performer in the top-10 at -13.4% into fifth place.
| Brand | May-20 | May-19 | change | 2020 share | 2019 share | YTD rank | 2020 | 2019 | change | |
| 1 | Volkswagen | 68.406 | 154.316 | -55,7% | 11,0% | 11,0% | 1 | 458.176 | 603.072 | -24,0% |
| 2 | Renault | 45.502 | 98.159 | -53,6% | 7,3% | 7,0% | 2 | 252.503 | 455.898 | -44,6% |
| 3 | Peugeot | 40.874 | 88.196 | -53,7% | 6,6% | 6,3% | 3 | 248.572 | 438.216 | -43,3% |
| 4 | Ford | 39.345 | 83.553 | -52,9% | 6,3% | 5,9% | 6 | 228.326 | 436.529 | -47,7% |
| 5 | Mercedes-Benz | 37.415 | 78.931 | -52,6% | 6,0% | 5,6% | 4 | 237.355 | 381.229 | -37,7% |
| 6 | Audi | 32.870 | 68.432 | -52,0% | 5,3% | 4,9% | 9 | 207.698 | 334.276 | -37,9% |
| 7 | Skoda | 32.408 | 67.811 | -52,2% | 5,2% | 4,8% | 7 | 219.064 | 317.889 | -31,1% |
| 8 | BMW | 31.684 | 73.355 | -56,8% | 5,1% | 5,2% | 5 | 230.231 | 265.844 | -13,4% |
| 9 | Fiat | 30.893 | 71.782 | -57,0% | 5,0% | 5,1% | 12 | 157.152 | 305.185 | -48,5% |
| 10 | Toyota | 30.808 | 67.624 | -54,4% | 5,0% | 4,8% | 8 | 217.940 | 311.086 | -29,9% |
| 11 | Citroën | 27.231 | 59.255 | -54,0% | 4,4% | 4,2% | 11 | 159.625 | 288.738 | -44,7% |
| 12 | Dacia | 25.505 | 53.286 | -52,1% | 4,1% | 3,8% | 16 | 127.334 | 174.017 | -26,8% |
| 13 | Opel/Vauxhall | 24.697 | 78.581 | -68,6% | 4,0% | 5,6% | 10 | 174.226 | 383.936 | -54,6% |
| 14 | Kia | 21.411 | 42.752 | -49,9% | 3,4% | 3,0% | 13 | 148.745 | 216.769 | -31,4% |
| 15 | Hyundai | 21.055 | 45.334 | -53,6% | 3,4% | 3,2% | 14 | 138.585 | 227.923 | -39,2% |
| 16 | Seat | 17.003 | 46.061 | -63,1% | 2,7% | 3,3% | 15 | 133.666 | 233.403 | -42,7% |
| 17 | Volvo | 14.805 | 29.033 | -49,0% | 2,4% | 2,1% | 18 | 96.002 | 143.579 | -33,1% |
| 18 | Nissan | 10.913 | 35.032 | -68,8% | 1,8% | 2,5% | 17 | 103.081 | 183.281 | -43,8% |
| 19 | Suzuki | 9.278 | 22.728 | -59,2% | 1,5% | 1,6% | 20 | 53.132 | 110.382 | -51,9% |
| 20 | Mazda | 7.823 | 19.448 | -59,8% | 1,3% | 1,4% | 21 | 47.550 | 100.515 | -52,7% |
| 21 | Mini | 7.690 | 15.490 | -50,4% | 1,2% | 1,1% | 19 | 54.551 | 86.080 | -36,6% |
| 22 | Jeep | 7.187 | 16.619 | -56,8% | 1,2% | 1,2% | 24 | 34.729 | 74.055 | -53,1% |
| 23 | Mitsubishi | 6.887 | 12.162 | -43,4% | 1,1% | 0,9% | 22 | 43.688 | 65.773 | -33,6% |
| 24 | Land Rover | 4.661 | 12.139 | -61,6% | 0,7% | 0,9% | 23 | 42.913 | 68.237 | -37,1% |
| 25 | Porsche | 4.337 | 7.270 | -40,3% | 0,7% | 0,5% | 27 | 23.218 | 28.360 | -18,1% |
| 26 | Honda | 2.819 | 10.081 | -72,0% | 0,5% | 0,7% | 26 | 26.658 | 57.436 | -53,6% |
| 27 | Tesla | 2.779 | 5.295 | -47,5% | 0,4% | 0,4% | 25 | 29.275 | 31.118 | -5,9% |
| 28 | DS | 2.466 | 4.715 | -47,7% | 0,4% | 0,3% | 29 | 16.952 | 19.194 | -11,7% |
| 29 | Lancia | 2.438 | 6.100 | -60,0% | 0,4% | 0,4% | 31 | 15.264 | 30.367 | -49,7% |
| 30 | Alfa Romeo | 2.086 | 5.037 | -58,6% | 0,3% | 0,4% | 32 | 10.984 | 24.874 | -55,8% |
| 31 | Lexus | 1.954 | 4.864 | -59,8% | 0,3% | 0,3% | 30 | 16.064 | 17.517 | -8,3% |
| 32 | Jaguar | 1.894 | 6.896 | -72,5% | 0,3% | 0,5% | 28 | 18.500 | 37.029 | -50,0% |
| 33 | Subaru | 1.225 | 2.537 | -51,7% | 0,2% | 0,2% | 33 | 6.553 | 12.827 | -48,9% |
| 34 | Smart | 955 | 8.886 | -89,3% | 0,2% | 0,6% | 35 | 4.939 | 43.588 | -88,7% |
| 35 | SSangYong | 576 | 1.160 | -50,3% | 0,1% | 0,1% | 36 | 3.232 | 5.930 | -45,5% |
| 36 | SAIC MG | 454 | 1.212 | -62,5% | 0,1% | 0,1% | 34 | 5.693 | 3.997 | 42,4% |
| 37 | Ferrari | 293 | 332 | -11,7% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 40 | 1.575 | 1.668 | -5,6% |
| 38 | DR Motor | 188 | 159 | 18,2% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 41 | 849 | 1.122 | -24,3% |
| 39 | Maserati | 145 | 565 | -74,3% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 39 | 657 | 2.607 | -74,8% |
| 40 | Lada | 135 | 427 | -68,4% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 40 | 893 | 2.269 | -60,6% |
| 41 | Bentley | 134 | 345 | -61,2% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 38 | 1.135 | 1.534 | -26,0% |
| 42 | Alpine | 116 | 404 | -71,3% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 45 | 408 | 2.160 | -81,1% |
| 43 | Lamborghini | 111 | 227 | -51,1% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 42 | 768 | 965 | -20,4% |
| 44 | Dodge | 74 | 89 | -16,9% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 46 | 338 | 476 | -29,0% |
| 45 | Aston Martin | 63 | 215 | -70,7% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 43 | 546 | 1.180 | -53,7% |
| 46 | Mahindra | 63 | 97 | -35,1% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 44 | 447 | 539 | -17,1% |
| 47 | Great Wall | 61 | 0 | +++ | 0,0% | 0,0% | 50 | 114 | 0 | +++ |
| 48 | Lotus | 27 | 58 | -53,4% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 49 | 131 | 222 | -41,0% |
| 49 | Rolls Royce | 18 | 59 | -69,5% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 48 | 221 | 344 | -35,8% |
| 50 | Chevrolet | 14 | 265 | -94,7% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 51 | 61 | 1.133 | -94,6% |
| 51 | Chrysler | 7 | 4 | 75,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 52 | 32 | 63 | -49,2% |
| 52 | Polestar | 2 | New | 0,0% | 0,0% | 53 | 30 | 0 | New | |
| 53 | Bugatti | 2 | 0 | +++! | 0,0% | 0,0% | 55 | 8 | 11 | -27,3% |
| 54 | Cadillac | 1 | 88 | -98,9% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 54 | 15 | 361 | -95,8% |
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