The European car market took a big hit in March as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak and the subsequent lockdownsand closures of factories and dealerships in the second half of the month. Especially Italy was hit hard in March, but other markets are due to follow the same trajectory in April, which is likely to be the worst month in terms of car sales in Europe since at least half a century. Car dealerships in most European countries have been closed for new car sales during the entire month of April, only being allowed to deliver cars already ordered before the lockdowns.
Back to March now, which is an indication of things to come: compared to March 2019, fewer than half the number of new vehicles were registered in Europe in March 2020, at 870,300 cars. And as March is traditionally the biggest month of the first quarter in terms of sales, the Q1 figure is now just over 3 million vehicles, down nearly 25% on Q1 of 2019. The UK market takes a disproportionally large share of March sales in Europe every year, because car buyers in that market postpone their deliveries of new cars in the beginning of the year to wait for the new license plates to arrive. As an indication: where the UK market over the course of a full year accounts for about 18% of the European car market, in March its share is regularly above 25%. However, with Great Brittain relatively slow to call a lockdown, its sales are down “just” 44.4% to just under 255,000 sales in March, which represents 29.9% of the total market. Meanwhile Italy saw an 85.4% decline in sales to a mere 28,300 sales. That makes it the largest relative drop among all European markets, including the smaller ones, but once again expect April figures to fall within this range across the continent. March demand also collapsed in France (-72.2%) and Spain (-69.3%). Germany recorded a less extreme drop than the other major markets, but registrations fell by 37.7% nevertheless. That means German car sales accounted for 25.2% of the total market, compared to 19.5% on a normal March and 22.8% as a normal annual share. Best performing markets both in March and Q1 are Iceland, Finland and Sweden, countries where the governments have laid down less strict lockdown measures.
Sales of car models (hatchback, sedan, stationwagon, coupe and convertible) were down 53.4% and their share of 54.4% is equal has been relatively stable in each of the first three months of the year. Crossover and SUV sales were down just 48.2% and their share of 39.5% is up slightly on February but still the second lowest of the last six months. MPV sales were down 55.2% and their share of 6.1% of the European car market is slightly down on last month but still above January’s new record low. Within these figures, sales of EVs and PHEVs continue to swim against the stream although they no longer more than double year-on-year as they’ve done in the first two months of 2020. A gain of 41% when the overall market is down 50.6% is nonetheless impressive. A total of 84,000 registrations means the plug-in share of the European car market exploded to nearly 10% (9.9% to be exact), and 6% for pure EVs alone. In Q1, the share of EVs and PHEVs stands at 7.5%, of which 4.3% is EVs. This is double the share of last year.
Q1 2020 Manufacturers
In the Q1 manufacturers ranking, Volkswagen Group continues to consolidate its leadership with an 18.4% decrease thanks to the relatively strong overall March sales in Germany and the UK, two of its stronger markets. Its nearest rivals lose share as Renault and PSA are stronger in France and Spain, two countries that are hit harder in the first quarter. Hyundai and Kia manage to keep their declines contained at -17%, as does BMW AG at -16.9%. 
Its rival Daimler AG on the other hand is down 26.7% and barely stays ahead of Toyota Motor, the best performer among top-10 manufacturers with a decline of just 6.4%. That allows it to outsell Ford Motor Company and Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles, both of which lose more than a third of their sales in Europe this quarter, for the latter obviously a result of its dependance on its home market Italy. Thanks to the relatively strong Swedish market, Geely Group with its Volvo brand is also hit less hard at -17.9%, while Tata Motors moves along with the overall market but Suzuki and Mazda are hit the hardest of all mainstream manufacturers with losses of 42% or more, followed by Subaru and Honda, also down by more than 40%. As a result, Honda is outsold by Tesla Motors, the only manufacturer to actually increase its deliveries in the first quarter.
| Group | 2020 | 2019 | change | 2020 share | 2019 share | 2019 rank | |
| 1 | Volkswagen Group | 794.623 | 974.299 | -18,4% | 26,2% | 23,9% | 1 |
| 2 | PSA | 455.076 | 679.293 | -33,0% | 15,0% | 16,7% | 2 |
| 3 | Renault-Nissan | 387.370 | 569.878 | -32,0% | 12,8% | 14,0% | 3 |
| 4 | Hyundai-Kia | 221.726 | 267.191 | -17,0% | 7,3% | 6,6% | 4 |
| 5 | BMW AG | 215.978 | 259.835 | -16,9% | 7,1% | 6,4% | 6 |
| 6 | Daimler AG | 183.079 | 249.747 | -26,7% | 6,0% | 6,1% | 8 |
| 7 | Toyota Motor | 183.056 | 195.645 | -6,4% | 6,0% | 4,8% | 9 |
| 8 | Ford Motor Comp. | 175.679 | 266.968 | -34,2% | 5,8% | 6,6% | 5 |
| 9 | Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles | 164.924 | 251.348 | -34,4% | 5,4% | 6,2% | 7 |
| 10 | Geely Group | 70.420 | 85.727 | -17,9% | 2,3% | 2,1% | 10 |
| 11 | Tata Motors | 50.891 | 67.004 | -24,0% | 1,7% | 1,6% | 12 |
| 12 | Suzuki | 39.100 | 67.359 | -42,0% | 1,3% | 1,7% | 11 |
| 13 | Mazda | 35.723 | 62.957 | -43,3% | 1,2% | 1,5% | 13 |
| 14 | Tesla Motors | 23.250 | 21.372 | 8,8% | 0,8% | 0,5% | 15 |
| 15 | Honda | 22.377 | 37.833 | -40,9% | 0,7% | 0,9% | 14 |
| 16 | SAIC | 5.064 | 3.017 | 67,8% | 0,2% | 0,1% | 18 |
| 17 | Subaru Corp. | 4.551 | 7.738 | -41,2% | 0,1% | 0,2% | 16 |
| 18 | Mahindra & Mahindra | 2.746 | 3.887 | -29,4% | 0,1% | 0,1% | 17 |
| 19 | Aston Martin | 442 | 759 | -41,8% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 20 |
| 20 | General Motors | 46 | 765 | -94,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 19 |
Q1 2020 Brands
At brand level, market leader Volkswagen performs slightly better than the overall market at -22.8% while Peugeot moves up two places compare to Q1 of 2019, despite falling harder than the market. That’s because Renault (-31.1%) and especially Ford (-34.2%) are the two biggest losers in the top-9. Luxury brands Mercedes-Benz (#4, -20.4%) BMW (#6, -15.1%) and Audi (#9, -19.9%) beat the market, but Toyota is the big winner among top-20 brands with a decline of just 7.1% to jump 3 places into #7. On the other end of the scale is Opel/Vauxhall,losing 42.9% and down from 5th to 10th place, outsold by Skoda by a large margin. Citroën and Fiat hold their places just outside the top-10 despite losing faster than the market, but not far behind are Kia and Seat, both outperforming the market. Dacia (-41.3%) is hit full frontal and falls four places in the ranking to #17. Not only the German Big-3 luxury brands outperform the market, also Volvo (-17.9%), Land Rover (-18.5%), Tesla (+8.8%), Porsche (+22.6%), Lexus (+2.3%) and DS (+21.1%) are showing great resilience so far. Also SAIC MG thanks to the success of its ZS EV is up, by 67.8% and ahead of Subaru and Smart, the latter of which is down 85.5% now that it’s become an EV-only brand. Other brands struggling are Jeep (-41.9%), Alfa Romeo (-46.4%), Maserati (-45.8%), all due to their relative popularity in Italy, although DR Motor manages to beat the market at -22.5% despite being sold almost exclusively in Italy (the brand also sells a handful of cars per month in Spain). We welcome Polestar to the brands ranking this quarter, with the first 19 (press fleet) registrations of the Polestar 1 luxury plug-in hybrid coupe.
| Brand | 2020 | 2019 | change | 2020 share | 2019 share | 2019 rank | |
| 1 | Volkswagen | 347.823 | 450.444 | -22,8% | 11,5% | 11,1% | 1 |
| 2 | Peugeot | 188.189 | 261.930 | -28,2% | 6,2% | 6,4% | 4 |
| 3 | Renault | 184.003 | 266.940 | -31,1% | 6,1% | 6,6% | 3 |
| 4 | Mercedes-Benz | 179.556 | 225.515 | -20,4% | 5,9% | 5,5% | 6 |
| 5 | Ford | 175.677 | 266.968 | -34,2% | 5,8% | 6,6% | 2 |
| 6 | BMW | 173.586 | 204.500 | -15,1% | 5,7% | 5,0% | 7 |
| 7 | Toyota | 169.749 | 182.633 | -7,1% | 5,6% | 4,5% | 10 |
| 8 | Skoda | 161.785 | 185.687 | -12,9% | 5,3% | 4,6% | 9 |
| 9 | Audi | 160.379 | 200.325 | -19,9% | 5,3% | 4,9% | 8 |
| 10 | Opel/Vauxhall | 134.509 | 235.397 | -42,9% | 4,4% | 5,8% | 5 |
| 11 | Citroën | 119.261 | 171.133 | -30,3% | 3,9% | 4,2% | 11 |
| 12 | Fiat | 116.273 | 170.804 | -31,9% | 3,8% | 4,2% | 12 |
| 13 | Kia | 115.251 | 131.071 | -12,1% | 3,8% | 3,2% | 15 |
| 14 | Seat | 107.033 | 123.225 | -13,1% | 3,5% | 3,0% | 16 |
| 15 | Hyundai | 106.475 | 136.120 | -21,8% | 3,5% | 3,3% | 14 |
| 16 | Nissan | 86.405 | 116.236 | -25,7% | 2,8% | 2,9% | 17 |
| 17 | Dacia | 83.443 | 142.216 | -41,3% | 2,7% | 3,5% | 13 |
| 18 | Volvo | 70.307 | 85.609 | -17,9% | 2,3% | 2,1% | 18 |
| 19 | Mini | 42.208 | 55.111 | -23,4% | 1,4% | 1,4% | 21 |
| 20 | Suzuki | 39.100 | 67.359 | -42,0% | 1,3% | 1,7% | 19 |
| 21 | Land Rover | 35.796 | 43.935 | -18,5% | 1,2% | 1,1% | 23 |
| 22 | Mazda | 35.723 | 62.957 | -43,3% | 1,2% | 1,5% | 20 |
| 23 | Mitsubishi | 32.597 | 40.925 | -20,3% | 1,1% | 1,0% | 24 |
| 24 | Jeep | 25.534 | 43.962 | -41,9% | 0,8% | 1,1% | 22 |
| 25 | Tesla | 23.250 | 21.372 | 8,8% | 0,8% | 0,5% | 28 |
| 26 | Honda | 22.377 | 37.833 | -40,9% | 0,7% | 0,9% | 25 |
| 27 | Porsche | 16.027 | 13.069 | 22,6% | 0,5% | 0,3% | 31 |
| 28 | Jaguar | 15.095 | 23.069 | -34,6% | 0,5% | 0,6% | 27 |
| 29 | Lexus | 13.307 | 13.012 | 2,3% | 0,4% | 0,3% | 32 |
| 30 | DS | 13.117 | 10.833 | 21,1% | 0,4% | 0,3% | 33 |
| 31 | Lancia | 12.716 | 18.528 | -31,4% | 0,4% | 0,5% | 29 |
| 32 | Alfa Romeo | 8.091 | 15.100 | -46,4% | 0,3% | 0,4% | 30 |
| 33 | SAIC MG | 5.064 | 3.017 | 67,8% | 0,2% | 0,1% | 36 |
| 34 | Subaru | 4.551 | 7.738 | -41,2% | 0,1% | 0,2% | 34 |
| 35 | Smart | 3.523 | 24.232 | -85,5% | 0,1% | 0,6% | 26 |
| 36 | SSangYong | 2.367 | 3.562 | -33,5% | 0,1% | 0,1% | 35 |
| 37 | Ferrari | 1.041 | 904 | 15,2% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 40 |
| 38 | Bentley | 900 | 874 | 3,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 42 |
| 39 | Maserati | 811 | 1.496 | -45,8% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 37 |
| 40 | DR Motor | 646 | 834 | -22,5% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 43 |
| 41 | Lada | 634 | 1.410 | -55,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 38 |
| 42 | Lamborghini | 551 | 613 | -10,1% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 45 |
| 43 | Aston Martin | 442 | 759 | -41,8% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 44 |
| 44 | Mahindra | 379 | 325 | 16,6% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 47 |
| 45 | Infiniti | 288 | 884 | -67,4% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 41 |
| 46 | Alpine | 255 | 1.267 | -79,9% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 39 |
| 47 | Dodge | 205 | 268 | -23,5% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 48 |
| 48 | Rolls Royce | 184 | 224 | -17,9% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 50 |
| 49 | Lotus | 91 | 97 | -6,2% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 51 |
| 50 | Great Wall | 50 | 0 | #DIV/0! | 0,0% | 0,0% | 49 |
| 51 | Chevrolet | 36 | 537 | -93,3% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 46 |
| 52 | Chrysler | 22 | 41 | -46,3% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 52 |
| 53 | Polestar | 19 | 0 | #DIV/0! | 0,0% | 0,0% | 53 |
| 54 | Cadillac | 10 | 226 | -95,6% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 49 |
| 55 | Bugatti | 6 | 8 | -25,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 54 |
| 56 | Geely | 3 | 21 | -85,7% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 53 |
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