Euro new car sales recover in 2014

Car sales across Europe rose in 2014 for the first time since 2007. And growth at opposite ends of the new car spectrum was at its heart — strong performances from the Big Three premium brands plus surges by Skoda and Dacia.

Analysts credited tax breaks, discounting and fleet incentives as the key to the full-year sales of 13,006,451 cars in EU and European Free Trade Agreement (EFTA) countries, insisting private buyers had either stayed out of the market or moved to cheaper brands.

There was some evidence of this in the sales figures, with the mass-volume Fiat brand in the embarrassing position of barely clinging to a top 10 spot in the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) registration figures after being outsold by Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz across Europe.

December alone saw growth of around five per cent ending at less than 3000 cars shy of a million-car month to give Europe 16 consecutive months of growth.

The biggest drivers for volume came from Spain (up 18.1 per cent), the United Kingdom (up 9.3 per cent), Italy (up 4.2 per cent) and Germany (up 2.9 per cent), while the French market shrunk marginally.

They didn’t deliver the biggest percentage growth spurts, though, with current or ex-financial basket-case countries like Portugal (up 34.8 per cent), Iceland (up 31.1 per cent), Ireland (up 29.6 per cent), Greece (up 21.3 per cent), Romania (up 21.6 per cent) and Hungary (up 20.2 per cent) leading the charge.

Not a single Asian brand found its way into the top ten brands, with Volkswagen again dominating, both as a brand and as its multi-branded Volkswagen Group.

Volkswagen Group cars found 3,313,435 buyers in Europe and EFTA countries in 2014, which more than doubled the next most successful brand, France’s PSA.

While Volkswagen itself held stable, with four per cent growth, it saw Skoda leap 13.9 per cent to 582,140 cars. By year end the Czech brand trailed 10th ranked Fiat by just 4000 cars

VW's Spanish brand, Seat, jumped 13.5 per cent to 328,334 cars.

Skoda rose on the back of a facelifted Yeti SUV and the new Rapid, while Seat took a running leap off the back of its all-new Leon, which is its version of the Golf VII. Both Volkswagen Group sub-brands sell for a lower price than the main badge.

Another sub-brand to help its big brother out was Dacia. The low-cost brand jumped 23.3 per cent in 2014 to contribute 363,102 cars and add significantly to the 874,787 Renault-badged cars from the Renault Group.

PSA delivered 782,855 Peugeots and 608,045 Citroens to rank as the second strongest Group in Europe, while the one-badge Ford operation fought strongly to come in at 947,961 cars.

Plenty of Ford’s European product is heading to Australia shortly, and the same can be said of Opel/Vauxhall, which delivered 924,275 cars, including a batch of now-discontinued Chevrolets.

Audi turned the tables on premium nemesis, BMW. Just days after BMW confirmed it had won the global premium sales race, the European results confirm Audi’s 726,059 sales had comfortably trumped its fellow Bavarians, with a margin of around 50,000 cars.

Mercedes-Benz trailed both premium badges, with 652,373 cars sold in Europe, and all three premium makes grew appreciably. Audi grew 4.5 per cent, BMW grew 5.5 per cent and Mercedes-Benz edged ahead with 5.7 per cent of year-on-year growth.

Would-be Japanese foe, Lexus, outstripped them all for growth, though, with a 30.3 per cent improvement, however that led to a sales total of just 31,079. In Europe last year more than 23 Audis are sold for every Lexus.

Volvo jumped 10.7 per cent to 254,610 while Jaguar, the other name often thrown into the premium mix in Europe, managed only 28,616 and was once again carried by stablemate Land Rover, with its 115,826 sales.

There were bumpier waters for some in Europe in 2014, though, with smart down 15.3 per cent as people waited for the new generation of fortwo and forfour. Alfa Romeo tumbled 8.6 per cent on uncompetitive and limited product, Lancia was down 3.5 per cent and Honda fell four per cent.

However, the growth may not be all it appears, according to analysts. EY automotive analyst Peter Fuss insisted that corporate and commercial operations made up most of the sales.

“Not since the year 2000 have so few cars been bought by private individuals,” he claimed.

“The main drivers were high discounts, cheap financing, government-subidized schemes for buying new cars and a number of new models,” he concluded.