European new car sales rose 0.7% in 2006, or by 103,227 units, to 15,545,613, according to UK-based analyst Jato Dynamics.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
The number crunchers there concluded Germany remained largest European market, with sales up 3.8% to 3,468,028, while the Volkswagen Golf was top selling car model in that country.
Italy was second place with sales up 3.6% to 2,347,758 units. The United Kingdom fell from second to third largest European market as sales dropped 3.9% to 2,344,864 and the best selling model – again – was Ford’s Focus.
At the other end of the scale, Lithuania was the smallest market, with 14,234 sales, and Latvia grew fastest with a 51.8% to 25,582 units.
Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Ireland, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Sweden and the Netherlands all also posted increased sales.
Volkswagen was top-selling brand, Jato calculated, attributing that to several well-received new models – the Passat, Jetta, Fox, Eos and Golf Plus – while the top ten was completed by General Motors Europe’s Opel/Vauxhall, Renault, Ford, Peugeot, Citroen, Fiat, Toyota, Mercedes and BMW.
Among the top 10, Fiat recorded the largest increase in sales with an 18.7% rise due mainly to strong sales of the Grande Punto, as well as the Croma, Sedici, an expanded Panda range and the face-lifted Doblo.
Europe’s best selling model last year was the GME Opel/Vauxhall Astra, which successfully knocked the VW Golf off the top spot. The Renault Clio was second and the Ford Focus – the Golf is now fourth.
New models that Jato reckoned were well received in Europe during 2006 included the Peugeot 207, Toyota Aygo, Peugeot 107, Citroën C1, Nissan Note, Alfa-Romeo 159, Volkswagen Jetta, Ford S-Max, Audi Q7, Suzuki SX4, Volkswagen Eos, Fiat Sedici, Skoda Roomster, Citroën C4 Picasso, Mercedes-Benz R-Class, Chevrolet Captiva and the Dodge Caliber.
