Toyota and Hyundai have claimed European sales records for 2004 while Mazda boasted a 20% increase in volume.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Toyota achieved an eighth consecutive record year of sales in Europe with 915,966 vehicles delivered – 24,913 Lexus and 891,053 Toyota. Sales rose by 10% over the previous year, in a total market up an estimated 2%. This resulted in a market share of 5% – the highest ever for Toyota in Europe.
The French-built Yaris achieved its sixth consecutive year of record sales, and broke Toyota’s annual record for single model sales (227,517 units, +5%). Avensis sales also reached an annual record, with 145,111 units sold (+25%). The RAV4 and Land Cruiser SUVs also achieved record sales, with 109,059 units (+4%) and 41,874 units (+9%) respectively.
The Lexus luxury brand has struggled in Europe, compared with its success in the US, but also achieved a new annual sales record, with 24,913 units sold, 15% higher than last year, thanks to a 50% boost in volume for the RX300 SUV (14,137 units).
The UK set a new European sales record (138,097 units, +3%), and was Toyota’s largest market there in 2004. Italy was next, with an annual sales record of 128,738 units (+3%), while Germany was third-largest (120,353 units, +13%).
Hyundai posted a 21% increase in sales in Europe in 2004 to 339,767 units.
With 106,792 units sold, the Getz was Hyundai’s best-selling model in Europe in 2004, followed by the Santa Fe SUV with 39,801 units and the Matrix with 38,039 units.
Mazda Motor Europe sales in 2004 were up 20% to over 275,000 vehicles, over 46,000 more than in 2003.
Mazda has recorded double-digit year-over-year increases in Europe for 25 consecutive months.
13 markets had double-digit sales increases during 2004, with five setting yearly sales records. These include Russia, up 460%, Italy, up 68%, Spain, up 45%, Portugal, up 30%, and the UK, up 25%.
The 6 was again the best-selling vehicle in the Mazda Motor Europe line up in 2004, with 34% of total sales.
