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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None 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%