The European new car market continued to suffer in February as economic uncertainty kept customers out of showrooms, UK analysts JATO Dynamics said in their monthly report on Friday.

Sales fell 9.5% last month and all ‘big five’ markets saw reduced sales with France and Italy seeing the largest declines.

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Only one of the top 10 brands recorded a significant year on year increase in February though two of the top 10 models booked an increase.

Within the top 10 brands by volume, Renault experienced the largest fall in sales but managed to remain in the top three behind Volkswagen and Ford. 

Mercedes-Benz was the only top 10 brand to record an improvement, benefiting mainly from an increase in B- and C-class sales to achieve volume up 8.6% in February and 8.5% YTD.

Outside the top 10, the picture was similar to January with Lexus, Kia and Land Rover significantly increasing sales due to the launch of new vehicles. Chrysler’s Jeep also performed strongly (up 55.1% in February and 57.7% YTD) due to the new Grand Cherokee and revised Compass models now marketed across Europe mostly by Fiat sales units.

Volkswagen’s Golf and Polo remained the top and second placed best-selling cars across Europe in February despite a reduction in volume for both during the month.

Ford’s Focus – redesigned a year ago – continued to perform well, achieving a 20.1% increase in sales in February, and 12.8% YTD – particularly surprising as much of this sales growth came from a declining France. Fiat’s new Panda recorded a 2.6% fall in sales but reclaimed a place in the top 10 models by volume. 

Gareth Hession, head of research at JATO said: “What is clear is that maintaining investment in new models across all segments is critical despite the tough economic climate, evidenced by the success of vehicles like the Kia Rio, Range Rover Evoque and Audi A6, which are all performing well across the region.”

Earlier reports: EU car sales down by 9.7% in February and Western Europe car sales down 11.4% in February

Sales by Market

Country

Feb_12

Feb_11

% change Feb

Feb YtD_12

Feb YtD_11

% change YtD

Austria

24,005

26,412

-9.1%

50,831

51,996

-2.2%

Belgium

43,716

53,135

-17.7%

88,448

106,371

-16.8%

Croatia

3,552

3,340

+6.3%

7,049

6,657

+5.9%

Cyprus*

1,130

1,185

-4.6%

2,283

2,458

-7.1%

Czech Republic

13,544

12,847

+5.4%

26,465

24,525

+7.9%

Denmark

11,179

11,577

-3.4%

24,047

23,954

+0.4%

Estonia

1,303

936

+39.2%

2,974

2,259

+31.7%

Finland

10,611

9,298

+14.1%

24,843

23,084

+7.6%

France

163,010

204,400

-20.2%

310,067

389,921

-20.5%

Germany

224,318

224,426

-0.0%

434,513

435,482

-0.2%

Great Britain

61,868

63,424

-2.5%

190,721

192,235

-0.8%

Greece

3,816

6,991

-45.4%

12,221

16,727

-26.9%

Hungary

4,300

3,567

+20.5%

9,280

7,013

+32.3%

Iceland

323

130

+148.5%

643

327

+96.6%

Ireland

11,489

12,570

-8.6%

32,802

33,569

-2.3%

Italy

131,427

162,056

-18.9%

269,483

328,131

-17.9%

Latvia

727

765

-5.0%

1,609

1,497

+7.5%

Lithuania

863

925

-6.7%

1,871

1,771

+5.6%

Luxembourg

4,543

4,410

+3.0%

8,192

7,763

+5.5%

Norway

10,972

10,585

+3.7%

21,832

20,985

+4.0%

Poland*

23,826

21,508

+10.8%

48,024

40,465

+18.7%

Portugal

6,930

13,437

-48.4%

13,879

26,662

-47.9%

Romania*

5,182

4,233

+22.4%

8,657

8,632

+0.3%

Serbia

1,495

2,035

-26.5%

2,904

3,454

-15.9%

Slovakia

5,374

4,810

+11.7%

10,176

9,234

+10.2%

Slovenia

4,128

5,317

-22.4%

9,139

10,744

-14.9%

Spain

64,678

66,250

-2.4%

119,644

120,055

-0.3%

Sweden

20,735

20,993

-1.2%

39,421

40,237

-2.0%

Switzerland

22,816

22,449

+1.6%

46,037

43,000

+7.1%

The Netherlands

44,127

49,016

-10.0%

114,543

123,798

-7.5%

Grand Total

925,987

1,023,027

-9.5%

1,932,598

2,103,006

-8.1%

* denotes estimated or provisional data used for February 2012

Data from JATO Dynamics