Following on from strong Fiat Group car sales in Europe in April, Fiat posted strong sales again in May as it benefited from a surge in the Italian market. Market leading Volkswagen also did well in May, helped by new product.
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European new car registration figures released by the European carmakers’ association ACEA today showed a total market jump of almost 10% in May (over the same month last year) confirming provisional market estimates issued earlier this month.
Total new passenger car registrations in Europe (EU23 + EFTA) in May 2006 were put at 1.42m units, some 9.6% ahead of last year (the gain was 10% in EU15 + EFTA, ‘Western Europe’).
ACEA said that while the result was ‘encouraging’ it was also boosted by the fact that most countries in Europe enjoyed one or two more working days in May this year than in the same month of last year.
Cumulative figures for Europe (EU23 + EFTA) for car sales in the first five months show the market at 6.83m units, 2.4% ahead of year-ago sales.
Among the five main markets, four posted an increase for the month: Italy (+49.5%), Germany (+8.7%), the U.K. (+1.1%) and Spain (+0.5%).
ACEA said that the high year-on-year percentage gain for Italy ‘has to be put into perspective, as the month of May last year was disrupted by the strike of new car transporters.’
Of the big national markets, only France (-3.3%) reported a loss for May 2006.
Fiat Group sales in Europe soared in May over last year as it benefited from the abnormal Italian market comparison over last year; sales were up 55.1% at 111,700 units. But Fiat sales are also buoyant due to the positive market impact of the Grande Punto as well as the impact on sales in the year-on-year comaprison of the Croma. Over the first five months, Fiat Group sales are 22% ahead of last year at 537,100 units.
Market leading Volkswagen Group also enjoyed strong sales in May, with Volkswagen brand sales 21% ahead of last year. Volkswagen benefited, in particular, from still rising sales of the new Passat as well as the introduction of the Brazilian-built A-segment Fox model. The Portuguese-made Eos roadster will provide further product support for VW in the coming months.
The ACEA data also shows Toyota Group (Toyota plus Lexus) growing sales (up 22% in May) and share; Toyota Group share in Europe is now up to 5.7%.
For ACEA’s full brand level sales data details, click here.
Dave Leggett
