Europe In May 2011: Signs Of Life
Europeans are either tired of their old cars, or the effects of the cash for clunkers largesse are finally getting digested, or both. Whatever the reason, new passenger car registrations increased by 7.1 percent in the EU in May, as data released by the European Auto Manufacturers Association ACEA shows.
Year to date, registrations are now only 0.8 percent below the same period in 2010. If this trend continues, then 2011 can close with a slight increase. Which is needed, because 2010 was not a good year in Europe.
In May, a total of 1,208,583 new cars were registered in the EU. Registrations were up in Germany (+22.0 percent), France (+6.1 percent) and Italy (+3.6 percent), while the market contracted by 23.3 percent in Spain and 1.7 percent in the UK. Overall, most countries saw their demand for cars increase.
January – May%ShareUnitsUnits% Chg’11’10’11’1011/10ALL BRANDS**5,885,6315,933,738-0.8VW Group22.721.01,336,0271,246,813+7.2VOLKSWAGEN12.111.2713,333663,399+7.5AUDI4.84.4284,371262,236+8.4SEAT2.32.2132,435131,200+0.9SKODA3.53.2205,053189,148+8.4Others (1)0.00.0835830+0.6PSA Group13.213.9776,357826,461-6.1PEUGEOT7.27.6420,964450,588-6.6CITROEN6.06.3355,393375,873-5.4RENAULT Group9.710.5571,272623,971-8.4RENAULT7.98.7466,199515,504-9.6DACIA1.81.8105,073108,467-3.1GM Group8.78.2510,968488,008+4.7OPEL/VAUXHALL7.47.0437,709413,026+6.0CHEVROLET1.21.373,06174,413-1.8GM (US)0.00.0198569-65.2FORD8.18.7476,851517,148-7.8FIAT Group7.38.4430,443498,264-13.6FIAT5.56.8321,288402,957-20.3LANCIA0.70.942,96551,399-16.4ALFA ROMEO1.10.763,48341,137+54.3Others (2)0.00.02,7072,771-2.3BMW Group5.64.9329,138292,456+12.5BMW4.54.0263,874238,738+10.5MINI1.10.965,26453,718+21.5DAIMLER4.64.5271,722264,364+2.8MERCEDES4.03.9236,609229,420+3.1SMART0.60.635,11334,944+0.5TOYOTA Group4.14.3243,525254,599-4.3TOYOTA4.04.2232,507246,578-5.7LEXUS0.20.111,0188,021+37.4NISSAN3.42.8199,879164,724+21.3HYUNDAI2.82.6165,460153,244+8.0KIA1.91.9109,263112,825-3.2VOLVO CAR CORP.1.81.5103,94790,955+14.3SUZUKI1.31.477,89283,288-6.5HONDA1.11.465,89281,835-19.5MAZDA1.11.361,97479,906-22.4MITSUBISHI0.80.649,14635,571+38.2JAGUAR LAND ROVER Group0.70.740,64241,921-3.0LAND ROVER0.50.531,39130,653+2.4JAGUAR0.20.29,25111,268-17.9CHRYSLER (3)0.20.311,78517,242-31.6OTHER**0.91.053,44760,143-11.1All quiet on the manufacturer front, except for two skirmishes: The Volkswagen Group gained 1.7 percent market share in the first five months, further cementing its domination of the crumbling fortress Europe. The Fiat Group lost 1.1 percent share. The Japanese are holding their own with only minor losses YTD. Nissan even gained 0.6 percent of share.
Full data are here as PDF and here as Excel file.
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.
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