The Volkswagen Golf has reclaimed the top spot from the Peugeot 207 as Europe’s best-selling car although the Ford Fiesta is fast emerging as a challenger after posting an impressive sales improvement of 27% in April and almost 20% year-to-date.

Go deeper with GlobalData

Data Insights

The gold standard of business intelligence.

Find out more


Data from UK researcher JATO Dynamics showed that VW sold 49,488 Golfs in April, up 10.9% year on year, while year to date sales were up 0.8% to 169,089. The Fiesta overtook the 207 to claim second place last month with 43,253 sales.


JATO said the Fiesta sold especially well in the ‘big five’ European new car markets (Germany, UK, France, Italy and Spain), all of which have now announced scrappage schemes, ‘incentivising’ consumers towards new, smaller cars.


Only two other cars in the top 10 have managed to increase sales year to date over the same period in 2008: the Fiat Panda (up 26%) and the VW Polo (7%).


The sales success of small cars was in marked contrast to the overall European new car market, which dropped 12.5% (175,548 units) in April 2009 compared with April 2008, to a total of 1,233,710 units. The year to date fall was 15.5% (or 853,772 units) year on year, with total sales of 4,647,468.

How well do you really know your competitors?

Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.

Company Profile – free sample

Thank you!

Your download email will arrive shortly

Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample

We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form

By GlobalData
Visit our Privacy Policy for more information about our services, how we may use, process and share your personal data, including information of your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications. Our services are intended for corporate subscribers and you warrant that the email address submitted is your corporate email address.

JATO Consult head David Di Girolamo said: “National government scrappage schemes are really starting to have an impact, both in the sales volumes in different markets and in the type of cars being sold. The bigger picture shows the size of the drop in new car sales across Europe.”


All but one of the top 10 best-selling models in Europe are now B or C segment cars, accounting for 1,158,651 sales year-to-date between them, or 24.9% of the total European market.


VW was once again Europe’s top-selling car brand in April but with sales down 1.2%% versus 2008. Ford remained a close second while Fiat moved up to take third place, posting a 6% rise in total sales for April, the only brand to do so last month.  It remained fourth year to date, behind Opel/Vauxhall.


Behind the downward European sales trend, the picture of national new car sales showed the varying effect of scrappage schemes around Europe – the UK’s, with a few tax-related glitches still to be ironed out, started today (18 May).


Germany’s new car market continued to benefit in April, just as the German government announced plans to extend its scrappage scheme until the end of 2009, with sales up 19.4% last month and 18.4% year-to-date. 


All other major European new car markets were still suffering the effects of the global recession and while many now have national incentive schemes in place to encourage purchase of new cars, the effect of these was yet to be felt in the UK and Spain.


Top 10 Models





























































































Make & Model

Apr_09

Apr_08

% Change Apr

Apr YtD_09

Apr YtD_08

% Change YtD


VOLKSWAGEN GOLF

49,488

44,612

+10.9%

170,456

169,089

+0.8%


FORD FIESTA

43,253

27,170

+59.2%

158,693

125,285

+26.7%


OPEL/VAUXHALL CORSA

35,754

34,465

+3.7%

116,273

140,578

-17.3%


FIAT PUNTO

34,340

30,643

+12.1%

107,624

120,751

-10.9%


PEUGEOT 207

32,310

43,045

-24.9%

122,958

165,915

-25.9%


VOLKSWAGEN POLO

30,156

25,708

+17.3%

106,925

99,960

+7.0%


FIAT PANDA

29,536

18,831

+56.8%

101,733

80,955

+25.7%


FORD FOCUS

25,158

34,605

-27.3%

103,428

140,861

-26.6%


OPEL/VAUXHALL ASTRA

22,731

32,466

-30.0%

82,328

132,075

-37.7%


RENAULT CLIO

21,900

34,771

-37.0%

88,233

132,480

-33.4%


 


Top 10 Brands





























































































Make

Apr_09

Apr_08

% Change Apr

Apr YtD_09

Apr YtD_08

% Change YtD


VOLKSWAGEN

150,558

152,435

-1.2%

522,979

552,135

-5.3%


FORD

110,130

110,231

-0.1%

427,797

461,225

-7.2%


FIAT

98,666

93,454

+6%

348,264

371,137

-6.2%


OPEL/VAUXHALL

98,342

111,292

-11.6%

351,255

444,069

-20.9%


RENAULT

85,399

111,072

-23.1%

321,727

416,900

-22.8%


PEUGEOT

80,669

99,444

-18.9%

313,044

391,239

-20.0%


CITROEN

74,839

82,483

-9.3%

273,212

322,799

-15.4%


TOYOTA

56,438

72,717

-22.4%

238,878

297,982

-19.8%


AUDI

56,434

63,041

-10.5%

209,159

223,662

-6.5%


MERCEDES

47,413

70,707

-32.9%

183,314

257,036

-28.7%


 


Sales by Market
























































































































Country

Apr_09

Apr_08

% Change Apr

Apr YtD_09

Apr YtD_08

% Change YtD


Austria

35,898

31,813

+12.8%

100,194

105,591

-5.1%


Belgium

47,641

61,703

-22.8%

191,493

231,567

-17.3%


Cyprus*

1,474

1,809

-18.5%

5,871

7,707

-23.8%


Czech Republic*

15,809

18,832

-16.1%

52,629

61,573

-14.5%


Denmark

7,885

16,117

-51.1%

32,444

55,467

-41.5%


Estonia

1,164

2,801

-58.4%

3,868

10,236

-62.2%


Finland

7,433

15,494

-52.0%

36,844

61,724

-40.3%


France

184,475

198,558

-7.1%

689,931

724,679

-4.8%


Germany

379,626

317,960

+19.4%

1,247,716

1,053,874

+18.4%


Great Britain

133,475

175,668

-24.0%

613,833

859,017

-28.5%


Greece*

16,377

28,033

-41.6%

65,506

107,104

-38.8%


Hungary

6,707

14,576

-54.0%

29,087

54,197

-46.3%


Iceland

71

622

-88.6%

364

3,944

-90.8%


Ireland

4,448


13,261



-66.5%



37,037



105,974



-65.1%




Italy



189,029



204,710



-7.7%



730,876



874,950



-16.5%




Latvia



546



2,250



-75.7%



2,061



8,240



-75.0%




Lithuania



797



2,535



-68.6%



2,725



9,372



-70.9%




Luxembourg



5,875



6,419



-8.5%



15,886



19,909



-20.2%




Norway



7,504



11,704



-35.9%



26,745



41,678



-35.8%




Poland*



27,705



28,057



-1.3%



115,672



114,981



+0.6%




Portugal*



13,566



18,447



-26.5%



45,347



73,660



-38.4%




Slovakia*



8,701



8,612



+1.0%



23,612



28,354



-16.7%




Slovenia



4,840



7,730



-37.4%



19,488



26,529



-26.5%




Spain



63,565



123,482



-48.5%



261,583



471,091



-44.5%




Sweden



18,249



27,478



-33.6%



62,186



89,301



-30.4%




Switzerland*



20,567



28,582



-28.0%



79,341



95,124



-16.6%




The Netherlands



30,283



42,005



-27.9%



155,129



205,397



-24.5%




Grand Total



1,233,710



1,409,258



-12.5%



4,647,468



5,501,240



-15.5%




* denotes estimated volumes for April 2009