Data released by JATO Dynamics points to continued weakness in the European car market in April as the region continues to experience economic instability and slowdown.
The JATO figures show that the European new car market declined by 6.1% in April and 7.1% in the first four months versus last year.
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The national market data confirms that released earlier in the month by LMC Automotive. Of the big five markets, Germany and the UK achieved increased sales; France recorded a small sales decrease, while Italy and Spain recorded significant declines.
JATO also publishes brand and model detail that shows four of the top ten brands achieved an increase in April sales compared to last year while just two of the top ten models managed a year-on-year gain in the month.
Within the top ten brands by volume, Renault and Opel/Vauxhall experienced the largest fall in sales during April of 16.9% and 16.1% respectively. Volkswagen maintains top position, ahead of Ford.
Mercedes achieved the greatest increase in sales (+5.4%) within the top ten brands, partly due to new or improved models such as the B-Class and C-Class, JATO said. Meanwhile Citroën recorded a 4.5% increase in April sales, with strong sales performances for the new DS4, DS5 and C4 Aircross models, and increased sales of the C3 model in France and Italy.
Outside the top ten, Land Rover sales increased by 54.7% largely due to the success of the Range Rover Evoque, and sister brand Jaguar recorded a 47.0% increase in sales following the introduction of the facelifted XF now available with a smaller 2.2-litre diesel engine.
Volkswagen’s Golf and Ford’s Fiesta retain first and second place amongst the top ten models sold in Europe, despite a reduction in April sales of both models. The introduction of BMW’s new 3-Series saloon resulted in the model recording a 16.8% increase in April sales to take 9th place in the European top ten model sales league table.
Outside the top ten, new models such as Volkswagen Up, Toyota Yaris, Audi A6 and Mercedes B-Class are achieving the greatest increases in sales.
Commenting on the findings, Gareth Hession, Vice President, Research at JATO Dynamics said: “The April sales results again demonstrate the importance of new models in driving increased sales, in an environment as uncertain and highly competitive as the European new car market.”
Top 10 Models
| Make & Model | Apr_12 | Apr_11 | % Change Apr | Apr YtD_12 | Apr YtD_11 | % Change YtD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VOLKSWAGEN GOLF | 37151 | 42492 | -12.6% | 159773 | 166083 | -3.8% |
| FORD FIESTA | 25927 | 28444 | -8.8% | 117108 | 130305 | -10.1% |
| VOLKSWAGEN POLO | 24193 | 31476 | -23.1% | 111615 | 125529 | -11.1% |
| RENAULT CLIO | 20604 | 22336 | -7.8% | 86946 | 111359 | -21.9% |
| OPEL/VAUXHALL CORSA | 20338 | 24357 | -16.5% | 93838 | 108713 | -13.7% |
| OPEL/VAUXHALL ASTRA | 20019 | 24445 | -18.1% | 84129 | 104356 | -19.4% |
| FORD FOCUS | 19677 | 21008 | -6.3% | 94547 | 92679 | +2.0% |
| FIAT PANDA | 17268 | 16724 | +3.3% | 65516 | 72280 | -9.4% |
| BMW SERIES 3 | 17171 | 14707 | +16.8% | 53928 | 53001 | +1.7% |
| VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT | 16863 | 22315 | -24.4% | 72379 | 75842 | -4.6% |
Top 10 Brands
| Make | Apr_12 | Apr_11 | % Change Apr | Apr YtD_12 | Apr YtD_11 | % Change YtD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VOLKSWAGEN | 139124 | 150658 | -7.7% | 572485 | 578551 | -1% |
| FORD | 79632 | 88130 | -9.6% | 365122 | 394032 | -7.3% |
| RENAULT | 70654 | 85025 | -16.9% | 296738 | 384733 | -22.9% |
| PEUGEOT | 70557 | 74024 | -4.7% | 288654 | 340471 | -15.2% |
| OPEL/VAUXHALL | 68798 | 82015 | -16.1% | 296437 | 353486 | -16.1% |
| CITROEN | 61782 | 59125 | +4.5% | 252249 | 284808 | -11.4% |
| AUDI | 61171 | 58997 | +3.7% | 241364 | 231627 | +4.2% |
| BMW | 55574 | 53826 | +3.2% | 212912 | 211701 | +0.6% |
| FIAT | 55008 | 61845 | -11.1% | 209146 | 259684 | -19.5% |
| MERCEDES | 50896 | 48303 | +5.4% | 203221 | 188736 | +7.7% |
Sales by Market
| Country | Apr_12 | Apr_11 | % Change Apr | Apr YtD_12 | Apr YtD_11 | % Change YtD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austria* | 33783 | 33317 | +1.4% | 122547 | 121182 | +1.1% |
| Belgium | 48326 | 53300 | -9.3% | 196689 | 223204 | -11.9% |
| Croatia | 2622 | 4169 | -37.1% | 13468 | 14670 | -8.2% |
| Cyprus | 977 | 1051 | -7% | 3865 | 4747 | -18.6% |
| Czech Republic | 16589 | 14620 | +13.5% | 60118 | 56646 | +6.1% |
| Denmark* | 14208 | 13423 | +5.8% | 54852 | 54165 | +1.3% |
| Estonia | 1765 | 1538 | +14.8% | 6423 | 5283 | +21.6% |
| Finland | 4061 | 11378 | -64.3% | 51823 | 47027 | +10.2% |
| France | 166552 | 169757 | -1.9% | 674393 | 817211 | -17.5% |
| Germany | 274066 | 266251 | +2.9% | 1047702 | 1029654 | +1.8% |
| Great Britain | 142322 | 137746 | +3.3% | 705878 | 696082 | +1.4% |
| Greece | 4407 | 10109 | -56.4% | 21526 | 35353 | -39.1% |
| Hungary | 4318 | 3729 | +15.8% | 18403 | 15228 | +20.8% |
| Iceland | 726 | 293 | +147.8% | 1802 | 828 | +117.6% |
| Ireland | 6770 | 8683 | -22% | 52668 | 56642 | -7% |
| Italy | 130245 | 158741 | -18% | 538967 | 676139 | -20.3% |
| Latvia | 884 | 845 | +4.6% | 3372 | 3215 | +4.9% |
| Lithuania | 1061 | 1164 | -8.8% | 3933 | 4031 | -2.4% |
| Luxembourg | 5373 | 5221 | +2.9% | 18884 | 18644 | +1.3% |
| Norway | 11028 | 11530 | -4.4% | 46085 | 45529 | +1.2% |
| Poland | 23841 | 22222 | +7.3% | 101396 | 89727 | +13.0% |
| Portugal* | 10068 | 14426 | -30.2% | 33600 | 60023 | -44% |
| Romania | 4307 | 4999 | -13.8% | 18272 | 14676 | +24.5% |
| Serbia | 2224 | 4178 | -46.8% | 7460 | 10800 | -30.9% |
| Slovakia | 5794 | 5676 | +2.1% | 22399 | 21399 | +4.7% |
| Slovenia | 4362 | 5007 | -12.9% | 18687 | 21660 | -13.7% |
| Spain | 56183 | 71732 | -21.7% | 256690 | 280213 | -8.4% |
| Sweden | 23336 | 28940 | -19.4% | 91312 | 98704 | -7.5% |
| Switzerland | 27871 | 27611 | +0.9% | 106438 | 100895 | +5.5% |
| The Netherlands | 41174 | 47624 | -13.5% | 207863 | 228018 | -8.8% |
| Grand Total | 1069243 | 1139280 | -6.1% | 4507515 | 4851595 | -7.1% |
| * denotes estimated or provisional data used for April 2012 |
