The European new car market is showing no signs of recovery as sales plunged 26% year on year to 954,234 units last month.
“Nobody in the industry is surprised at what we’re witnessing across the European market, but the in the cold light of day, the raw figures do paint a very bleak picture”, said David Di Girolamo, head of JATO Consult, which analyses the markets by make and model.
“There are few high spots to focus on, but we can see that successful new model launches do seem to deliver a very welcome shot in the arm for the market. Witness what the new XF has achieved for Jaguar with a 35.5% improvement in sales. It’s a buyers market, so purchasers are looking for the best deals on the best cars.”
Brands
Volkswagen was again Europe’s top-selling car brand in January, ahead of Ford, Peugeot, Opel/Vauxhall and Fiat.
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By GlobalDataNone of the top 10 increased overall sales in January, but, outside, Jaguar recorded an outstanding 35.5% increase due to strong sales of the highly regarded XF.
Models
The Volkswagen Golf, now in ‘Mark Six’ form, maintained its stranglehold on the European new car market in January 2009, increasing its share of the market when compared to January 2008 despite lower sales.
The Golf led the Ford Fiesta, Peugeot 207, Ford Focus, Opel/Vauxhall Corsa, Volkswagen Polo, Fiat Panda, Audi A4, Fiat Punto and Renault Clio.
The Fiesta and Audi A4, both having received full model updates during 2008, bucked the market to post sales increases of 11.4% and 20.8% respectively.
Other models showing an increase over January 2008 include the hugely popular new Fiat 500 (up 5.9%), Nissan Qashqai (up 2.8%, thanks to additional seven set ‘+2’ versions), Peugeot 107 (up 11.5%), Volkswagen Tiguan (up 62.1% due to greater availability) and the Honda Jazz (up 28.7%, redesigned model).
National Trends
As expected given the global economic conditions, all markets across Europe recorded significantly lower new car sales in January 2009 than a year before.
France was least affected by the downturn, with only a 7.9% drop in new car registrations. In contrast, Iceland, hit by banking and economic woes, saw a 88.1% fall.
Top 10 Brands
Make | Jan_09 | Jan_08 | % Change Jan | Jan YtD_09 | Jan YtD_08 | % Change ytD |
VOLKSWAGEN | 104,430 | 129,231 | -19.2% | 104,430 | 129,231 | -19.2% |
FORD | 90,434 | 110,389 | -18.1% | 90,434 | 110,389 | -18.1% |
PEUGEOT | 68,016 | 89,364 | -23.9% | 68,016 | 89,364 | -23.9% |
OPEL/VAUXHALL | 66,363 | 100,136 | -33.7% | 66,363 | 100,136 | -33.7% |
FIAT | 65,435 | 91,429 | -28.4% | 65,435 | 91,429 | -28.4% |
RENAULT | 62,786 | 92,119 | -31.8% | 62,786 | 92,119 | -31.8% |
CITROEN | 59,272 | 80,142 | -26.0% | 59,272 | 80,142 | -26.0% |
TOYOTA | 52,029 | 72,942 | -28.7% | 52,029 | 72,942 | -28.7% |
AUDI | 46,321 | 49,022 | -5.5% | 46,321 | 49,022 | -5.5% |
MERCEDES | 41,773 | 59,278 | -29.5% | 41,773 | 59,278 | -29.5% |
Top 10 Models
Make & Model | Jan_09 | Jan_08 | % Change Jan | Jan YtD_09 | Jan YtD_08 | % Change ytD |
VOLKSWAGEN GOLF | 32,229 | 41,755 | -22.8% | 32,229 | 41,755 | -22.8% |
FORD FIESTA | 31,702 | 28,452 | +11.4% | 31,702 | 28,452 | +11.4% |
PEUGEOT 207 | 26,436 | 37,813 | -30.1% | 26,436 | 37,813 | -30.1% |
FORD FOCUS | 22,236 | 33,890 | -34.4% | 22,236 | 33,890 | -34.4% |
OPEL/VAUXHALL CORSA | 19,504 | 32,782 | -40.5% | 19,504 | 32,782 | -40.5% |
VOLKSWAGEN POLO | 18,292 | 22,629 | -19.2% | 18,292 | 22,629 | -19.2% |
FIAT PANDA | 17,308 | 22,033 | -21.4% | 17,308 | 22,033 | -21.4% |
AUDI A4/S4/RS4 | 17,258 | 14,284 | +20.8% | 17,258 | 14,284 | +20.8% |
FIAT PUNTO | 17,203 | 30,271 | -43.2% | 17,203 | 30,271 | -43.2% |
RENAULT CLIO | 17,069 | 29,797 | -42.7% | 17,069 | 29,797 | -42.7% |