European new car registration figures for June released by the European carmakers’ association Acea today showed a market decline of 4.1% over the same month of last year.
Go deeper with GlobalData
However, the decline over last year needs to be seen in the context of an incentives fuelled boom at the end of 2005’s second quarter and fewer reporting days in the month of June this year.
As just-auto reported earlier this week, analysis by market research firm JD Power shows that the underlying trend in June was actually very positive. In fact, the month of June recorded the second highest seasonally adjusted and annualised sales rate (SAAR) for Western Europe this year (see news item here) according to JD Power.
ACEA said that total new passenger car registrations in Europe (EU23 + EFTA) in June 2006 amounted to 1,489,561 units, down 4.1% on June 2005. Most countries had one working day less in the month of June this year, over last year.
The cumulative car sales total for the first half of the year showed a slight increase of 1.3% for Europe (8.32m units) and 1.4% for the EU15 (7.74m units).
How well do you really know your competitors?
Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.
Thank you!
Your download email will arrive shortly
Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample
We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form
By GlobalDataACEA also pointed out that a 12.6% decline in the Italian car market in June has to be seen in the context of an exceptionally strong June last year following the end of a transporters’ strike. In May the Italian market showed a corresponding sales surge (+55%) in terms of the comparison with strike-depleted sales in May of last year.
With the exception of the French car market, which recorded a marginal gain of 0.2%, the other large national markets recorded sales declines in June. The German car market was 4.6% off last year’s pace, the UK was down 3.6% and the Spanish market was 3.5% adrift of June last year.
JD Power Forecasting analyst Jonathan Poskitt told just-auto that June was actually a much better month for car sales in Europe than the headline numbers suggest.
“You have to consider the impact of fewer reporting days and also the Italian market distortion to June’s result. In fact, the seasonally adjusted annualised figure for the month was strong,” said Poskitt.
“Our new car sales forecast for Western Europe this year is for a market of around 14.9m units – a gain of between 1 and 2%.
“Consumer confidence is beginning to build in Germany and we expect a pull-forward of sales in Germany towards the end of the year ahead of a VAT increase planned for early 2007,” added Poskitt.
At the manufacturer level, June’s results provided few surprises.
In spite of the adverse impact of the transporters’ strike on the year-on-year comparison for the Italian market in June, Fiat Group posted another strong month. Fiat Group car sales in Europe were 10.1% ahead of last year as the company continues to benefit from key product renewals – most notably the market impact of the Grande Punto.
Fiat Group’s cumulative European car sales in the first half of 2006 were just a shade under 645,000 units – an impressive 20.1% gain over the same period last year.
Market leading Volkswagen Group’s first half sales reached 1.62m units – 7% ahead of last year, with the Volkswagen brand boosted by the impact of the new Passat and the Brazilian-built A-segment Fox.
Ford Group was 1.8% down in the first half, but Land Rover was up 11.2%, helped by the positive impact on sales of the Range Rover Sport (Land Rover can also look forward to a boost from Freelander 2 in the second half of the year).
GM also showed a decline overall in the first half (-2.4%) but there was at least some light in the sluggish results in the form of improved Saab sales (up 24.4%).
Both of the big French car-making groups were down in the first half (Renault off 9.4% and PSA down 2.5%), largely reflecting unfavourable model cycles in the period. However, Renault’s Dacia is starting to make a significant volume impact with the Logan (H1 23,369 units versus 6,973 units last year).
Besides Fiat Group, Toyota Group emerges as a significant first half winner with Toyota brand sales in Europe up 5.2% to 455,699 units and Lexus doubling sales to 21,831 units as new models are being rolled out.
Indeed, Lexus is comfortably on course to hit its European market sales target of 45,000 units this year.
Dave Leggett
