Europe keeps growing

European new-car sales leapt 10 per cent in August, with 855,466 cars sold across the common market and its free-trade partners in the summer.

Renault, Daimler, Kia, Toyota and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles all boomed to double-digit growth in the month, picking up the considerable slack left by the crisis-hit Volkswagen Group, which continues to stumble.

The European Automobile Manufacturers Association yesterday claimed a return to normal after a -1.4 percent dip in July, which ended a 34-month growth streak on the Continent.

Over the first eight months of the year, EU buyers snapped up 9,787,760 new cars, with Italy (17.4 percent), Spain (11.3%), France (6.1%) and Germany (5.7%) all posting significant growth compared to 2015.

Italy outdid its own year-to-date record in August, though, with 20.1 percent growth in the month, with Spain registering 14.6 per cent, Germany 8.3 per cent and France 6.7 per cent.

While it’s suffering growth doldrums after its poorly handled, still-unresolved Dieselgate crisis, the Volkswagen brand was easily the biggest-selling badge both for August and for 2016 year-to-date (YTD).

Its 106,846 sales in August sent it to 1,107,287 sales for the year, giving it an 11.3 per cent share of the new car market across the EU and its free-trade partners.

Still, when the market rises 9.5 per cent and Volkswagen grew only 6.9 per cent, it effectively lost market share against its rivals, though it has sold 2,434,119 cars this year when Audi, Skoda, Seat, Porsche, Lamborghini and Bentley are added to the total, and that means almost one out of every four cars sold came from its stable.

Opel ran it a distant second, with 54,420 sales as it phased out the Chevrolet brand and ramped up the new Astra, with Ford third with 55,317 sales for the month, proving GM and the Blue Oval fight fiercely everywhere in the world. They were followed closely by Mercedes-Benz (53,129), whose surprising surge pushed volume French maker Renault (52,067) into fifth for the month.

Toyota is the only Asian brand in the top 10, scraping in at the bottom of the August sales with 37,617 to trail Peugeot (44,896) and Skoda (41,797) at the bottom of the top 10.

The three-pointed star comfortably won the August battle of the premium brands, finishing fourth overall for the month to topple Audi (47,283 and sixth overall) and BMW (46,788 and seventh).

Audi flips that around over the course of the year, with 556,765 sales to put it sixth outright, more than 10,000 cars ahead of Mercedes-Benz and more than 25,000 ahead of BMW.

While Volkswagen still leads the YTD standings comfortably, it has dropped 0.4 percent compared to this time last year (remember, before the Dieselgate crisis engulfed it).

Renault sat in a solid second place, selling 719,483 cars for the year, followed by Ford (703,988) and Opel (627,844).

There were some standout performers for the month, too, with Jaguar jumping up 41.8 per cent, Renault’s budget brand Dacia spurting 39 per cent and Jeep leaping 29.7 per cent.

While that’s much harder to sustain across a year, Jaguar has actually outstretched it, growing 85.1 per cent to be the fastest growing brand on the Continent. Honda is also having a strong year, with 31.6 per cent growth, followed by Jeep (22.2%) and Mazda (20.9%).

The French brands had a lackluster month by comparison, with the Renault Group’s sales mostly pushed by Dacia, while Citroen dropped half a per cent and its luxury brand DS falling 15 per cent. Its volume player Peugeot could only manage 2.8 per cent growth.

While the countries involved had an extra selling day compared to 2015, the growth was partly put down to a surge before Britain’s Brexit confusion kicks in.

Germany remains by far the biggest market in Europe, with 245,074 sales for the month, followed by France (98,211), the UK (81,640), Italy (71,576) and Spain (64,089).

Growth markets (August)
Romania +68.6%
Hungary +43.7%
Iceland +40.3%
Croatia +38.7%
Lithuania +28.6%
Luxembourg +27.4%
Bulgaria +26.3%
Belgium +23.7%
Poland +20.2%
Italy +20.1%
Estonia +20.1%

Biggest markets
Germany 245,074
France 98,211
United Kingdom 81,640
Italy 71,576
Spain 64,089
Belgium 38,655
Poland 28,323
Sweden 27,316
The Netherlands 27,110
Austria 23,760

Biggest Growth (Year to date)
Jaguar 85.1%
Honda 31.6%
Jeep 22.2%
Mazda 20.9%
Lexus 18.5%
Fiat 16.0%
Land Rover 15.4%
Kia 14.8%
Suzuki 14.3%
Mercedes-Benz 14.2%

Biggest brands (year to date)
Brand/Sales/Share of market/% growth to 2015
Volkswagen 1,152,304 / 11.4 / -0.5
Renault 719,483 / 7.1 / 12.6
Ford 703,388 / 7.0 / 5.1
Opel 672,543 / 6.7 / 7.1
Peugeot 589,170 / 5.8 / 4.6
Audi 556,765 / 5.5 / 8.0
Mercedes-Benz / 544,602 / 5.4 / 14.2
BMW / 531,841 / 5.3 / 11.7
Fiat / 513,517 / 5.1 / 16.0
Skoda / 440,893 / 4.4 / 6.1