European Slaughterhouse: EU Car Sales Down For The 18th Straight Month, U.S. Makers Badly Mauled

If anyone is hoping for a bottom in the European car market, then it’s nowhere to be seen. In the contrary, the decline appears to be accelerating. European passenger car registrations were down 10.2 percent in March, data published by the European manufacturers association ACEA show. That would be a decline for the 18th consecutive month.

Germany, which used to be an island of stability, was down a whopping 17.1 percent in March. Italy was down 4.9 percent, Spain lost 3.9 percent in sales, France decreased 16.2 percent. Only the UK, up 5.9 percent, saw increased sales.

For the first three months of the year, the European passenger car market declined by 9.8 percent, compared to the same period a year earlier.

New Passenger Registrations EU & EFTA By ManufacturerMarchJanuary – March %ShareUnitsUnits% Chg %ShareUnitsUnits% Chg’13’12’13’1213/12’13’12’13’1213/12ALL BRANDS**1,346,8891,500,880-10.33,096,2663,428,926-9.7VW Group23.723.5319,662352,533-9.324.323.7751,340813,394-7.6VOLKSWAGEN11.612.3156,487184,080-15.012.212.6377,549431,262-12.5AUDI5.75.676,40183,630-8.65.55.2169,871179,885-5.6SEAT2.32.131,15630,856+1.02.32.069,95969,541+0.6SKODA3.73.650,46553,641-5.94.03.8122,435132,008-7.3Others (1)0.40.05,153326+1480.70.40.011,526698+1551.3PSA Group10.311.0138,173164,998-16.311.211.9345,258407,606-15.3PEUGEOT5.75.976,69788,906-13.76.16.3189,082217,457-13.0CITROEN4.65.161,47676,092-19.25.05.5156,176190,149-17.9RENAULT Grp7.67.5101,962112,903-9.78.38.2258,311281,800-8.3RENAULT5.86.278,08593,033-16.16.26.6193,413225,170-14.1DACIA1.81.323,87719,870+20.22.11.764,89856,630+14.6GM Group8.48.6112,918129,402-12.77.88.1241,944277,129-12.7OPEL/VAUXHALL7.47.499,595110,833-10.16.76.6208,994226,991-7.9CHEVROLET1.01.213,30618,530-28.21.11.532,86449,989-34.3GM (US)0.00.01739-56.40.00.086149-42.3FORD8.28.7110,243131,128-15.97.38.2224,883281,594-20.1FIAT Group6.05.480,70381,658-1.26.46.3197,806217,712-9.1FIAT4.73.963,14958,607+7.75.04.5153,807154,287-0.3LANCIA/CHRY0.60.67,6529,302-17.70.60.819,33627,255-29.1ALFA ROMEO0.50.77,18010,185-29.50.60.817,54527,220-35.5JEEP0.20.22,1762,907-25.10.20.26,0927,501-18.8Others (2)0.00.0546657-16.90.00.01,0261,449-29.2BMW Group6.66.288,93493,320-4.76.35.7194,920196,738-0.9BMW5.24.970,59273,890-4.55.14.6158,462157,587+0.6MINI1.41.318,34219,430-5.61.21.136,45839,151-6.9DAIMLER5.44.973,18773,899-1.05.44.9168,331168,003+0.2MERCEDES4.94.466,35265,814+0.84.94.3150,739148,940+1.2SMART0.50.56,8358,085-15.50.60.617,59219,063-7.7TOYOTA Grp4.54.860,02271,976-16.64.44.8135,097163,474-17.4TOYOTA4.34.657,38268,295-16.04.24.5129,662154,838-16.3LEXUS0.20.22,6403,681-28.30.20.35,4358,636-37.1NISSAN4.34.357,37063,935-10.33.93.9121,330132,198-8.2HYUNDAI3.43.345,19350,230-10.03.53.4109,693115,057-4.7KIA2.72.336,59235,262+3.82.72.382,75179,974+3.5VOLVO CAR1.71.722,77026,148-12.91.81.954,36863,849-14.8HONDA1.81.323,62519,892+18.81.41.143,69336,759+18.9JLR1.81.423,99821,321+12.61.41.143,40138,285+13.4LAND ROVER1.41.118,80317,096+10.01.10.934,80331,384+10.9JAGUAR0.40.35,1954,225+23.00.30.28,5986,901+24.6MAZDA1.31.418,08221,187-14.71.31.139,80439,125+1.7SUZUKI1.31.317,32020,060-13.71.21.338,63644,185-12.6MITSUBISHI0.60.78,5729,843-12.90.60.718,91124,056-21.4OTHER**0.61.47,56321,185-64.30.81.425,78847,988-46.3

The list of manufacturers resembles a MASH unit after a major battle: Blood and severed limbs everywhere. Volkswagen ended its walk on water and is down 9.3 percent in March. GM is down12.7 percent, Ford 15.9 percent. PSA lost 16.3 percent in sales and is down 15.3 percent for the first quarter.

Renault is down only 9.7 percent, saved by its low cost Dacia brand which is up a remarkable 20.2 percent. We have been telling you to keep an eye on the low cost segment, to which Europeans increasingly flock in those trying times.

Looking at the first quarter of the GM Group, prospects of producing itself out of the crisis look like a pipe dream. Interestingly, GM’s big hope, Chevrolet, is down 34.3 percent in the first quarter while Opel lost only 7.9 percent in the first three months. Imports from the U.S. are as good as non-existent. Only 86 GM units have been imported from the U.S. and sold in the EU, strangely without anyone complaining about a closed European market.