Europe In April 2011: New Car Sales Down 4.1 Percent

by Bertel Schmitt

Published: May 18th, 2011

europe in april 2011 new car sales down 4 1 percent

If you are looking for a growth market for cars, don’t look to Europe. In terms of car sales, the Old Country is going sideways with a negative bias. In April, sales of new cars in the EU was down 4.1 percent on the year. New registrations amounted to 1,089,118 units. For the first four months of 2011, registrations totaled 4,674,457 units, or 2.7 percent less than over the same period a year earlier. This according to data released by the European Auto Manufacturers Association ACEA.

With the exception of Germany (+2.6 percent), demand was down in all European volume markets in April. From January to April, growth prevailed in two thirds of the markets but the downturn recorded in the UK (8.5 percent), Italy (-19.0 percent) and Spain (-26.3 percent) resulted in a 2.7 percent decline in the EU demand. In comparison, Germany looks downright healthy with 10.7 percent growth in the first four months of the yea r.

January – April %Share UnitsRankUnitsRank% Chg ’11’10’11’11’10’1011/10ALL BRANDS 4,674,457 4,805,297 -2.7VW Group22.420.81,047,8251997,6631+5.0PSA Group13.113.9611,9142668,6762-8.5RENAULT Group9.910.5462,3273505,4543-8.5GM Group8.68.2402,6154394,5776+2.0FORD8.18.9377,3405427,7504-11.8FIAT Group7.38.5340,9526409,2625-16.7BMW Group5.44.8254,5227230,8437+10.3DAIMLER4.54.3209,9888205,6839+2.1TOYOTA Group4.44.4204,4709211,1698-3.2NISSAN3.52.8161,71010135,01310+19.8HYUNDAI2.82.6132,46411125,41811+5.6KIA1.81.985,8261290,94312-5.6VOLVO CAR CORP.1.81.683,6181375,73613+10.4SUZUKI1.41.463,9981469,29114-7.6HONDA1.21.456,3631567,72515-16.8MAZDA1.11.452,1051665,63716-20.6OTHER0.91.043,4901747,34417-8.1MITSUBISHI0.90.640,0321829,15919+37.3JAGUAR LAND ROVER0.70.733,6691934,09118-1.2CHRYSLER0.20.39,2292013,86320-33.4

Not much change in the manufacturer ranking. Based on first four months of data, Volkswagen remains the king of the hill. Volkswagen added 1.7 percent to its unassailable market share. GM climbed from rank 6 to rank 4 by adding 0.4 percent of share. Ford dropped from #4 to #5. Fiat lost a whopping 1.2 percent of share and dropped to place 6 from 5.

For further analysis, all data can be downloaded as PDF and Excel.

#April2011 #BertelSchmitt #Europe #NewVehicleSales #Sales

Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

More by Bertel Schmitt

Comments

Join the conversation

2 comments

Eldard on May 18, 2011

Everywhere Ford goes it is outsold by GM. That's gotta suck.

Like Reply
Rnc on May 18, 2011

Opel is having the discount the living cr@p out of it's products to move the metal in order to survive, ford stopped playing that game awhile ago, as BMW, Porsche, etc. have proved market share doesn't matter, but Net Income sure does, that was AM's first directive.

Like Reply

Recent Comments

MaintenanceCosts If only it had a hatch. The Model S is so much more practical, has similar performance in non-Plaid form, and is $20k more - and the $20k premium seems almost worth it just for the hatch.
Lorenzo I'm not surprised. They needed to drop the "four-door coupe", or as I call it, the Dove soap bar shape, and put a formal flat roof over the rear seats, to call it a sedan. The Legacy hasn't had decent back seat headroom since the 1990s, except for the wagons. Nobody wants to drive with granny in the front passenger seat!
Analoggrotto GM is probably reinventing it as their next electric.
Vatchy What is the difference between a car dealer and a drug dealer? Not much - you can end up dead using what they sell you. The real difference is that one is legal and one is not.
Theflyersfan Pros: Stick shift, turbo wagonExtra tires and wheelsBody is in decent shape (although picture shows a little rust)Interior is in decent shapeService records so can see if big $$$ is coming upCan handle brutal "roads" in Uganda, Rwanda, and Tanzania, although the spare wheels and tires will be needed. (See picture)Cons:Mileage is high Other Volvos on the site are going for less moneyAnyone's guess what an Ontario-driven in the winter vehicle looks like on the lift.Why wasn't the interior cleaned?Clear the stability control message please...Of course it needs to cross the border if it comes down here. She lowers the price a bit and this could be a diamond in the rough. It isn't brown and doesn't have a diesel, but this checks most TTAC wagon buyer boxes!