Europe In August 2012: Downturn Accelerates

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

The European car market accelerates its race to the bottom. Back from a long vacation, the European car manufacturers association ACEA reports that the EU car market was down 8.9 percent in August, after having dropped 7.8 percent in July. Eight months into the year, European car sales are down 7.1 percent as Europeans registered 8,268,642 new cars so far.

New Car Sales EU, August 2012AugustAugust% ChgJan – AugJan – Aug% Chg’12’1112/11’12’1112/11AUSTRIA24,57025,884-5.1239,796242,784-1.2BELGIUM31,25637,788-17.3353,073399,119-11.5BULGARIA1,5191,644-7.612,90512,636+2.1CYPRUS743946-21.58,19010,023-18.3CZECH REPUBLIC13,19314,105-6.5118,584114,507+3.6DENMARK13,56412,507+8.5114,565113,381+1.0ESTONIA1,4231,312+8.511,8729,988+18.9FINLAND7,53510,024-24.880,91889,998-10.1FRANCE96,067108,462-11.41,293,9731,493,745-13.4GERMANY226,455237,561-4.72,108,7162,121,047-0.6GREECE3,8867,297-46.742,07272,513-42.0HUNGARY3,5393,428+3.235,79930,315+18.1IRELAND3,0983,238-4.374,15884,396-12.1ITALY56,44770,764-20.2981,0301,224,096-19.9LATVIA894856+4.47,2516,851+5.8LITHUANIA9571,064-10.18,2108,759-6.3LUXEMBURG2,8993,018-3.935,75036,143-1.1NETHERLANDS33,21139,062-15.0396,101409,500-3.3POLAND18,08819,597-7.7188,178181,408+3.7PORTUGAL5,4438,131-33.168,103114,259-40.4ROMANIA5,0448,747-42.344,39249,006-9.4SLOVAKIA5,9475,190+14.646,51544,956+3.5SLOVENIA3,0724,170-26.335,50441,855-15.2SPAIN48,82047,223+3.4520,216568,349-8.5SWEDEN21,06524,368-13.6181,774201,031-9.6UNITED KINGDOM59,43359,346+0.11,260,9971,220,618+3.3EUROPEAN UNION688,168755,732-8.98,268,6428,901,283-7.1

In August, the gap between north and south widened. The UK eked out a small 0.1 percent gain, Germany saw its sales contract by 4.7 percent, while France (-11.4 percent) and Italy (-20.2 percent) faced double-digit downturns. The Spanish market expanded by 3.4, which will turn out as a flash in the pan. Spain increased its VAT in September, which resulted in a small August rush on car dealerships. The revenge will come this month. In the first two weeks of September, car sales in Spain were down 28 percent.

New Car Sales EU, August 2012AugustJan-Aug %Share %ShareUnitsUnits% Chg% Chg’12’11’12’1112/11+0.0ALL BRANDS**688,168755,732-8.9-7.1VW Group28.225.3194,063191,530+1.3-0.1VOLKSWAGEN14.513.699,661102,841-3.1-2.4AUDI6.45.544,27141,526+6.6+5.2SEAT2.62.417,89218,271-2.1-16.2SKODA4.33.829,89028,790+3.8+0.8Others (1)0.30.02,349102+2202.9+2433.8PSA Group11.411.978,51290,233-13.0-13.5PEUGEOT6.56.444,52648,617-8.4-14.6CITROEN4.95.533,98641,616-18.3-12.2RENAULT Group8.89.260,43869,363-12.9-16.3RENAULT6.27.142,34653,765-21.2-19.8DACIA2.62.118,09215,598+16.0-1.3GM Group7.68.452,13563,453-17.8-11.9OPEL/VAUXHALL6.26.942,38752,239-18.9-15.4CHEVROLET1.41.59,73811,183-12.9+7.5GM (US)0.00.01031-67.7-35.2FORD6.07.741,53658,403-28.9-12.3FIAT Group5.35.936,42244,541-18.2-17.1FIAT4.04.327,23132,303-15.7-17.2LANCIA/CHRYSLER0.50.63,6344,884-25.6-4.2ALFA ROMEO0.60.73,8415,649-32.0-31.2JEEP0.20.21,4971,469+1.9+24.6Others (2)0.00.0219236-7.2-41.2BMW Group5.96.240,63447,000-13.5-3.1BMW4.95.133,91238,743-12.5-3.0MINI1.01.16,7228,257-18.6-3.8DAIMLER5.55.137,71138,214-1.3-2.7MERCEDES5.04.634,17634,416-0.7-1.4SMART0.50.53,5353,798-6.9-11.6TOYOTA Group4.34.229,55031,454-6.1-1.0TOYOTA4.13.928,30129,747-4.9-1.6LEXUS0.20.21,2491,707-26.8+12.5NISSAN3.23.021,74822,920-5.1-4.3HYUNDAI3.73.525,31726,085-2.9+10.1KIA3.02.420,30818,077+12.3+23.1VOLVO CAR CORP.1.31.49,09110,756-15.5-11.6SUZUKI1.41.39,4219,858-4.4-10.8HONDA1.10.97,9056,596+19.8-5.8MAZDA1.01.06,7497,537-10.5-10.9JAGUAR LAND ROVER Group0.60.33,8492,601+48.0+35.5LAND ROVER0.50.23,2561,883+73.0+44.6JAGUAR0.10.1593718-17.4+6.4MITSUBISHI0.60.94,3776,441-32.0-33.4OTHER**1.21.48,40210,670-21.3-18.0

On a manufacturer level, the Volkswagen Group holds its own with European sales up 1.3 percent in August and down only 0.1 percent for the first eight months. For the first time, the Volkswagen count also contains Porsche, in the “others” column together with Bentley, Bugatti and Lamborghini.

Sales of Ford were down drastically by 28.9 percent in August. GM is down 17.8 percent. The Fiat Group is down 18.2 percent. The two French makers slowed their descent in August.

Bertel Schmitt
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.

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  • Oldyak Oldyak on Sep 18, 2012

    The Europeans need some good old sub prime lending like here in the U.S. to get the cars off the lots!

  • Bd2 Bd2 on Sep 18, 2012

    What? No big blaring headline about how Ford Europe sales have seen the biggest drop in sales YTD out of the main players?

  • JTiberius1701 Middle of April here in NE Ohio. And that can still be shaky. Also on my Fiesta ST, I use Michelin Pilot Sport A/S tires for the winter and Bridgestone Potenza for my summer tires. No issues at all.
  • TCowner We've had a 64.5 Mustang in the family for the past 40 years. It is all original, Rangoon Red coupe with 289 (one of the first instead of the 260), Rally Pac, 4-speed, factory air, every option. Always gets smiles and thumbs ups.
  • ToolGuy This might be a good option for my spouse when it becomes available -- thought about reserving one but the $500 deposit is a little too serious. Oh sorry, that was the Volvo EX30, not the Mustang. Is Volvo part of Ford? Is the Mustang an EV? I'm so confused.
  • Mikey My late wife loved Mustangs ..We alway rented one while travelling . GM blood vetoed me purchasing one . 3 years after retirement bought an 08 rag top, followed by a 15 EB Hard top, In 18 i bought a low low mileage 05 GT rag with a stick.. The car had not been properly stored. That led to rodent issues !! Electrical nightmare. Lots of bucks !! The stick wasn't kind to my aging knees.. The 05 went to a long term dedicated Mustang guy. He loves it .. Today my garage tenant is a sweet 19 Camaro RS rag 6yl Auto. I just might take it out of hibernation this weekend. The Mustang will always hold a place in my heart.. Kudos to Ford for keeping it alive . I refuse to refer to the fake one by that storied name .
  • Ajla On the Mach-E, I still don't like it but my understanding is that it helps allow Ford to continue offering a V8 in the Mustang and F-150. Considering Dodge and Ram jumped off a cliff into 6-cylinder land there's probably some credibility to that story.
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