Dynamic EU car sales compensate for January slump in US and China
In January, new car sales across 30 European countries totaled 1,170,220 units, up 10.2% compared with the same month last year, which saw 6.5% growth over January 2015. This January was the best for automotive sales since 2008, ACEA reported.
Double-digit growth was recorded in Spain (+10.7%), France (+10.6%), Germany (+10.5%) and Italy (+10.1%); the UK was the only big market to grow in the single digits (+2.9%) - still, a record for January (174 564 units). Together, the Big Five represent 68% of new car registrations in Europe.
Only three countries witnessed negative growth: Ireland (-1,8%), Switzerland (-3,7%) and Slovakia (-1,2%).
Of the major brands, only Mazda saw its sales retreat (-9,1% to 18,247 units). Market leader Volkswagen rose 10% to 140,273 units, a 11,6% market share. Ford, in second place, saw its sales increase 9,5% to 83,903 units, with Opel (+5,3% to 75,277 units) in third place.
Renault (+10% to 74,041 units) and Peugeot (+10,3% to 72,653 units) saw sales progress in line with the market average, with Citroën underperforming (+6% to 45,463 units) and DS losing 32,9% to 3,776 units.
Mercedes (+15,6% to 65,801 units) takes the lead in the premium segment, Audi (+3.1% to 63,717 units) drops to second place, with BMW on third (+10.6% to 60,753 units).
Europe's dynamic January sales contributed to a net global growth of 4.1% in January, to
a total of 7.31 million new car and LCV registrations. Last January saw an increase of 4,6% over the previous one.
The positive result is all the more remarkable because of the disappointing results in both China (+2,7%) and the U.S. (-0,5%), which together represent more than half of global automotive sales.
The Japanese market, which fell 1.9% in January 2016, rose 4.9% last month. India, the world's fourth-largest automotive market, was the only BRICS economy to realise double-digit growth (+13.9%). Brazil (-4,1%) and Russia (-5%) have yet to come out of their sales tailspin. Argentina, 15th automotive market globally, saw 67% growth in January, following a strong 2016, when it averaged 9% growth.
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