Now that you know everything about the Top 200 best-selling models in the world, it’s time to snap back to April and have a close look to Europe.

Surprise surprise number 1: Sales are up for the first time in 19 months…

Surprise surprise number 2: For the first time since the launch of the nameplate in 1996, the Audi A3 is among the 10 most popular models on the continent.

More detail after the jump…

Whereas recession has now spread across most of Europe, April new car sales in the region are unexpectedly up year-on-year for the first time since… August 2011 (!) at +2% to 1,086,501 registrations. Year-to-date, the market is still down 7% on 2012 at 4,190,447 units. According to Bloomberg, the Euro zone economy is forecast to stagnate in the 3 months through June and return to growth in the third quarter, so this might signal the start of a revival of the car market, especially as governments are starting to implement measures to boost sales.

Except… not so.

Autonews and TTAC say there is no reason to rejoice as April sales were flattered by two extra days in many European markets after Easter holidays fell in March, with last year’s weak April also helping the year-on-year comparison. So this may not be the end of the tunnel after all.

Renault Clio sales are up 29% in April in Europe

Now taking full advantage of its new generation, the VW Golf is up a magnificent 18% year-on-year this month to dominate the ranking once again with 43,175 sales but is still down 2% year-to-date at 155,542 units. Outstanding month for the Renault Clio, also boosted by the new generation #1 in France, up a massive 29% to rank #2 for the second time in the last 3 months and on the podium for the 4th time in the last 6 months with 26,352 sales.

The Clio is now also up to #2 year-to-date at 101,691 units vs. 101,282 for the Ford Fiesta, down to #5 in April. The VW Polo and Peugeot 208 are both back up 4 spots on March to #3 and #4 respectively.

Audi also placed the A4 in the European Top 10, last time in August 2012.

But the big event this month is the arrival of the Audi A3 in the monthly European Top 10 for the very first time since the nameplate’s original launch 17 years ago in 1996!

The premium hatch is up to #9 with 16,787 sales (ahead of the Opel Astra!), up a whopping 45% year-on-year. Its year-to-date total now reaches 49,908 units, up 9% on 2012. And this is as the sedan version has not launched yet… As a reminder, let’s note the A3 finished 2012 at #24 in the European ranking.

It is the second Audi model to manage to break into the European monthly Top 10 after the A4 did so for the first time in July 2008, then peaking at an out-of-this-world #2 in August 2008 and clocking up a total of 6 Top 10 finishes, the last one being August 2012.

Can the Mercedes A-Class break into the European monthly Top 10 this year?

Audi therefore becomes the first premium brand to have ever placed two models in the European Top 10. BMW has one so far: the 3 Series which made its first appearance within the Top 10 back in July 1999 (However my monthly records are incomplete for that period so it may have been earlier) and peaked at #6 in December 2006.

Mercedes has not yet managed to bring one of its models into the Top 10, at least in the last 30 years as the ‘Strich 8′ may have done so in 1974-1975 and the W123 in 1977-82 but sales figures are unavailable (please let me know if you have them!). The all-new A-Class, hailed as the brand’s most successful launch ever, may break new ground and do so in the coming months…

Dacia sales are up 20% in Western Europe so far in 2013.

The arrival of the A3 in the European Top 10 is another illustration of the ‘premium or low-cost‘ trend we have seen apply to European car sales over the last few years. By this expression I mean that the Global Financial Crisis triggered a new trend in car sales in Europe, splitting the market between two very distinct segments.

First the generalist, mid-level manufacturers (the French, Opel, Ford, Fiat…). They were hit full frontal and have been struggling ever since. Arguably the one member of this group to have thrived over the period is Volkswagen, mainly thanks to higher pricing and a slightly more premium perception.

Second and by far the most dynamic segments: the ‘low-cost or premium’. When you’re about to spend 25 to 30,000 euros, more and more consumers will splurge on an Audi A3 or a BMW 1 Series rather than a Renault Megane or Peugeot 308, even with all options. OR they will save up to 20,000 euros and buy a Dacia Sandero…

In fact in 2013 year-to-date, Dacia (+20%) and Mercedes (+4%) are two of only a few carmakers to gain ground so far. BMW is stable and Audi down just 2% but up 9% to #6 in April…

Point made.

You’re welcome.

You can also check what the best-sellers in Europe looked like last month here:

Europe March 2013: Nissan Qashqai and BMW 3 Series strike again

And last year: Europe April 2012: BMW 3 Series in Top 10 for the first time since 2008

Matt Gasnier, based in Sydney, Australia, runs a blog named Best Selling Cars, dedicated to counting cars all over the world.

As predicted by TTAC, European car sales were up slightly in April. Car sales in the EU rose by 1.7 percent in the month, Europe’s car manufacturer association ACEA says. We warned you not to read too much into it.

According to the ACEA, “the region counted on average two more working days compared to the same month last year, which would account for the increase.” Actually, what happened was that the Easter week fell into March this year, last year, it was in April. March and April, taken together, shows sales down 5 percent.  In the first four months of the year, the EU new car market was down 7.1 percent. A week ago, we expected the market to be “down around 7 percent for the first four months of the year.”

On a manufacturer basis, the Volkswagen Group (+9.9 percent in April) continues to outpace the market. So does Daimler (+ 10.7 percent.) Not all carmakers were able to profit from the favorable alignment of the calendars. PSA is down 10.1 percent, Fiat is down 10 percent, BMW lost 3.7 percent. GM Group is down 4.5 percent with a very strong drop for Chevrolet and a slight gain for Opel. Ford is down 0.6 percent.

Yet another bit of bleak data from Europe relating to new car sales. A popular school of thought holds that young people’s aversion to cars is largely rooted in economic factors. When everyone under 30 is broke, living at home and wallowing in student debt, the last thing on their mind is a car. But the hope is that once things turn around, it will be time for Generation Y to get motoring again. At least in North America. Over in Europe (or certain parts of it, at least) things are much more bleak.

Youth unemployment in countries like Greece and Spain are at staggering levels. 54.2 percent of Greek youth are unemployed according to the above chart from The Atlantic. Spain is a little behind – or slightly exceeding Spain, depending on your sources. The situation is less severe in other Eurozone countries, but still bad, as evidence by the figures for France, Ireland and the Eurozone as a whole. Germany remains a standout, as its youth unemployment rate of 8.2 percent is half of the United States’ rate and a third of the Eurozone’s.

As the Atlantic article states, the unemployment crisis has been dragging on for years now, and there appears to be little end in sight. A “lost generation” of workers will of course mean a lost generation of car buyers for Europe’s auto makers. If anyone is buying anything, it’s low cost cars, as evidenced by the astonishing success of brands like Dacia, which have cannibalized sales of Renault in France.

While we wait on the latest round of registration data from Europe (April 2013), a look at January-March 2013 data paints a bleak picture for Alfa Romeo.

Having moved 17,545 cars across 29 countries in that period, Alfa is being beaten by such storied nameplates as Mitsubishi, Smart and even struggling, Lancia/Chrysler. SEAT, VW’s ailing brand which gets its share of criticism for having no direction or identity, is crushing Alfa, having sold just under 70,000 units so far.

For such a strong brand, Alfa’s lineup is dismal, consisting of just two dated compact hatchbacks. New product cannot come soon enough. The 4C is a halo car, but Alfa is one brand that really doesn’t need anything to further boost its image. What it does need are mainstream products that are competitive with the Golfs, Mondeos and other mainstream nameplates across the world. Hopefully we’ll see something soon.

The UK new car market  was up a strong 14.8 percent in April.

UK’s SMMT  says that April registrations stood at 163,357 units, and that registrations in the first four months of 2013 grew 8.9 percent to 768,555 units. However, even the SMMT warns not to read too much into this.

Throughout the year, the UK car market had been the only bright spot in an otherwise gloomy Europe.  January through March, the UK already was up 7.4 percent, while all other major markets in Europe were down.  The SSMT thinks growth looks higher than usual this month because  “with high demand for some models in March and an early Easter break, a number of registrations may have been pushed in to April.”  We have mentioned a similar effect in Germany.

April Sales for all countries in Europe will be released later in the month. Based on the results of Europe’s largest volume markets, which represent more than 80 percent of the EU’s total, we expect  EU car sales to be flat to slightly positive  for April, and down  around 7 percent for the first four months of the year.

Mercedes-Benz “leaked” (i.e released) photos of the GLA concept ahead of its debut in Shanghai. The GLA is their latest move down the ladder as far as size and price-points go, but it’s also a harbinger of what’s to come from all automakers; another small, car-based crossover. You are going to be seeing plenty of these in the next few years, especially from premium brands that can squeeze lots of profit out of vehicles like these. Hatchbacks, wagons and body-on-frame SUVs are likely to suffer from this segment’s rise in popularity.

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 18^th 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.

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.

The Renault Twin-Z concept, shown here, was unveiled at a Milanese furniture show (seriously) but is said to preview the next-generation Twingo. The five-door concept clearly takes its styling inspiration from the Volkswagen Up!, but there will be a crucial packaging difference – the Twingo will be rear-engined, since it shares a common chassis with the next-generation Smart car.

According to lore, it is impossible to close a factory in Europe. Not true. It’s just outrageously expensive.  One company that found out is Ford. The carmaker allocated nearly $200,000 per hourly worker of its soon to be closed Genk plant in Belgium.

Ford expects to pay about $750 million in severance to hourly workers when it will close its factory in Genk, Belgium, by the end of 2014, says Reuters after reading regulatory filings.

The plant employs about 4,000 hourly workers and 300 salaried employees. Negotiations  with salaried workers at the plant are still under way.

In most European jurisdictions, workers have a job for life after an initial probationary period. This does not mean you can’t fire them.  If you do, they are entitled to a hefty severance, decided by a court, or in negotiations  with the unions. Average severance payments of $200,000 and higher are normal, depending on the age of the workforce.

The European car market goes to where it has been going for a while: To the toilet.  February sales in the EU were down 10.5 percent year-on-year. Sales in February were  9.5 percent lower than an already disappointing  January.

Except for the UK (up 7.9 percent), all other European volume markets were down, ranging from -9.8 percent in Spain to -10.5 percent in Germany, -12.1 percent in France and -17.4 percent in Italy.

GM and Ford, both down more than 20 percent, were hit very hard and are the worst performing of the major makers.  Volkswagen is no longer walking on water, and sunk by 7.4 percent.

Data can be downloaded here as PDF, here as Excel.

It’s not just the UAW that is upset about free trade agreements. The Koreans are likewise. The offices of the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association were raided by investigators of the country’s Fair Trade Commission, the Financial Times reports. The agency alleges that BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen and Toyota Motor were involved in price collusion.

It just so happens that the four are the most successful importers to Korea, accounting for 80 percent of car imports. After free trade agreements with the EU and the U.S. were enacted, exports took surprising turns. Car imports to Korea were up 23 percent in January and February, amounting to 12.9 percent of total sales, compared with only 4.9 per cent in 2009. Korea’s total exports to the EU increased by only 1 percent in the first year after the trade pact came into force, while trade from Europe to Korea rose 37 percent.

American carmakers are not under suspicion of collusion, no wonder; they did not have a big impact on Korea. Biggest American importer to the nation is Ford, up 72 percent.

Ford is against free trade agreements, especially with Japan, and calls the negotiations a “masquerade,” Reuters says. Stephen Biegun, Ford vice president of international governmental affairs, still blames the nasty Japanese for a closed market they say is wide open. There is zero import tax on cars to Japan, and even if the alleged non-tariff barriers are gone, it won’t make Biegun happy. He said change must reach into “the very bowels of the Japanese economy.” And because the Japanese will object to foreigners reaching into their bowels, Biegun will continue to complain.

Refreshing honesty comes from a surprising camp. Four dozen democratic lawmakers wrote a letter to President Barak Obama, warning against a free trade agreement with Japan. The alleged closed market found only passing mention. The lawmakers don’t worry about exports to Japan. They are worried about imports from Japan. Says the letter:

“In an industry with razor-thin profit margins, the elimination of the 2.5 percent car tariff (as well as the 25 percent truck tariff) would be a major benefit to Japan without any gain for a vital American industry, leading to more Japanese imports, less American production and fewer American jobs.”

What Detroit is REALLY worried about is a fall of the Chicken Tax. Detroit has a near monopoly on trucks, which drive its profits.

There is one part about free trade agreements automakers the world over love: A harmonization of standards. Biegun said that the cost of designing and producing according to separate EU and U.S. safety standards was between $3 billion and $6 billion, different environmental rules added a cost of $1.5-2 billion.

In what Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn described as a “historic” event, the automaker has come to an agreement with the three unions representing its French workers that will keep five Renault factories in France running until at least 2016 while using attrition and retirements to reduce their workforce by 7,500 employees.

To keep all of the company’s French assembly plants open, the unions,  Force Ouvriere, CFE-CGC and CFDT, appear to have agreed to what amounts to a wage cut, at least to begin with. There is a salary freeze for the first year of the agreement, but workers will have to put in 6.5% more hours in their workweek and increase production by a third. It’s interesting that Ghosn got the French unions to agree to a longer workweek not long after the recent dust up between Titan tire CEO Maurice Taylor and French finance minister Arnaud Montebourg over how lazy or productive French workers are or aren’t.

Ghosn said that the contract is a “balanced agreement” and will allow Renault to “renew its competitiveness in France”. The agreement follows a pattern set earlier between Renault and Spanish unions, pressuring its French workers. Ghosn is using a different strategy to cope with the problem overcapacity in a stagnant European car market than other automakers. Ford, PSA and Opel have all announced planned factory closings. The Wall Street Journal reports that there are as many as 20 auto assembly facilities in western Europe that are running at less than 50% capacity. Ghosn’s plan is apparently to boost productivity and lower the company’s break-even point with its French operations. The company says that the increase in working hours will lower costs by an average of €300 ($390) a car. I guess Renault is dealing with the overcapacity situation by actually using more of that capacity. Before the global financial crisis, Renault assembled 1.2 million cars in France in 2007.  That figure dropped to 532,000 for 2012. The company says that planned production of 710,000 cars in France by 2016 will improve utilization to 85% of capacity.

Some of that increased production will involve building 80,000 Nissans a year for Renault’s strategic partner. Though Ghosn predicted that a “promising” line of new cars will change Renault’s fortunes on the continent, since he only recently said that the European market won’t experience any growth for years, I think that making cars for Nissan and Renaults for export is going to be what that increased production is for. Renault’s international sales have indeed been up and despite the doldrums in Europe, Renault did make $2.3 billion in profits for 2012. At home, though, things aren’t good. Overall car sales in France in 2012 were down 14% and in the European market in general, Renault has not been competitive. Last year Renault lost more than a percentage point of market share in Europe as its sales fell 19% in that region.

Ghosn may not have a choice about lowering per-car assembly costs. His competitors have been waging a price war as they lower prices in their own way of keeping assembly lines running and capacity utilization high.

Ronnie Schreiber edits Cars In Depth, a realistic perspective on cars & car culture and the original 3D car site. If you found this post worthwhile, you can dig deeper at Cars In Depth. If the 3D thing freaks you out, don’t worry, all the photo and video players in use at the site have mono options. Thanks for reading – RJS

Want a fuel-sipping, tree-hugging sedan with stunning good looks? Ford thinks they have the answer in the 2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid. Can jamming a gasoline/electric drivetrain behind Ford’s sexy grille continue the love affair the press has had with Ford’s world-car? More importantly, can this Ford hybrid live up to its EPA numbers? Let’s find out.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Exterior

The new Fusion is as striking as the old one was bland. Up front we have an Aston-Martin inspired grille, angry headlamps and a tastefully reserved quantity of chrome. Out back we have a less daring rear end that some of my friends thought looked “unfinished”  as if Ford just cut the sausage to the desired length. The stubby tail makes parallel parking a bit easier since it’s easy to know where your Fusion ends but I suspect rear-end repairs will be more costly than sedans with a more traditional bumper protrusion. The aggressive looks from the Optima and Fusion are refreshing in a segment full of humdrum slab sides and unrestrained chrome bling. I find the new Accord elegant in a 1990s Lexus sort of way, but the large green house screams family sedan. Toyota seems to have mated an edgy nose with refrigerator flat door panels to create a Camry that’s far from ugly but also far from sexy. Meanwhile VW’s Passat TDI strikes a very conservative pose with a large horizontal grille and segment-standard slab sides.

Interior

The new Fusion’s cabin has a level of refinement normally associated with European brands, and that makes sense since our Fusion is their Mondeo. The fit and finish in our tester was excellent with perfect seams and substantial feeling controls. While the new tiller doesn’t get soft split-grain leather like the new Accord, Ford’s new button arrangements are easier to use, easier to reach and feel better built than the wheel in the C-MAX and Escape. Like other Fusion models, most Hybrids sitting on the lot will look as if they were carved out of a single piece of black plastic. Selecting the tan cloth or the [seemingly] rare tan leather interior helps the interior feel warmer but there’s no way to avoid the large expanse of black that is the dashboard, carpet and large portion of the doors. If you love tan, keep in mind the Titanium comes only in black.

Front seat comfort is excellent although a step behind the Honda Accord which has the most comfortable seats in the segment. The Camry’s thrones are more “American-sized” but they aren’t as bolstered as those in the Fusion. Since seat preferences are as unique as people, spend some time behind the wheel before you buy. Unlike some of the competition, Ford’s tilt/telescoping steering wheel provides a large range of motion making it easy to accommodate drivers of different heights. Hybrid Fusions get standard10-way powered seats with an optional three-position memory system (standard on Titanium). As you would expect, the passenger doesn’t get the same kind of seat-love with your choice of manual or 4-way power adjusting.

Rear seats are as low to the ground as any in this segment, and far less bolstered than those in the front. Thanks to the sexy side-profile getting in and out of the rear seat required ducking more than in the competition and it cuts down on head room. If you find yourself needing to carry passengers in the rear that are over 6’1”, get the Camry, Passat or wait for the Accord. As always, I recommend you take your whole family with you shopping, stuff them all in the car and see how comfortable everyone is. Want to know more about the seating and cargo room? Check out the video review.

In an effort to increase useable cargo capacity (and improve mileage) Ford shifted from nickel based batteries to trendy and energy dense lithium-ion cells. The battery now sits on the floor of the trunk behind the rear seats and thanks to its reduced size, the rear seats are able to fold, something not possible with last year’s model. The folding rear seats are a novelty in this phone-booth sized segment with the Optima and Sonata ditching theirs entirely and the Camry offering a letter-box sized ski pass-through behind the passenger seat preventing long items from being inserted. When it comes to final capacity the Fusion lands in the middle with 12-cubes of cargo room compared to the Camry’s 13.1 and the Korean’s 9.9. If you click on the gallery at the bottom of this review you’ll see that the Fusion’s trunk is shaped so that it is possible to put roller bags on top of the battery making the trunk a bit more useful than the slightly larger Camry’s cargo hold.

Infotainment & Gadgets

All SE models start with a basic radio featuring six speakers, USB/iDevice control, XM Satellite Radio, Bluetooth phone integration and SYNC voice commands. If you don’t want your Fusion to be possessed by Ford’s touchscreen daemons, this is your only choice but at least it is an easy one to live with. Even the base SE model comes with power windows and door locks, a perimeter alarm, power driver’s seat, auto headlamps, body-colored mirrors and the keyless entry keypad that’s been a Ford hallmark for ages.

Most shoppers will need to get used to Ford’s temperamental touchscreen.  If you want to check pretty much any option box on the Fusion, MFT either needs to be selected first or it is included in the bundle. Want dual-zone climate control, a backup cam, blind spot monitoring, auto headlights, rain-sensing wipers, a 120V outlet, cross traffic alert, etc? Better like MFT as well.

The $895 MFT option (standard on Titanium) consists of an 8-inch LCD in the dash, twin 4.2-inch LCDs in the gauge cluster, improved voice commands which now include climate control and touch-sensitive buttons for your HVAC system. Also bundled with the system is a backup camera and a 110V outlet in the center console. Thankfully, the latest version of Ford’s software seems to have resolved the frequent software crashes that plagues the system when it launched but the responsiveness issues persist. Perhaps worse for Ford than the slow graphics is that the competition has caught up and now offers similar levels of voice control and media device integration. MFT may still be one of the best looking systems on the market and it does bring a partial LCD dash to the party, but with viable options from the competition it has lost some of its shine.

While I’m not the biggest fan of Ford’s touch controls, they did prove more dependable than Cadillac’s new touch button setup and we noticed none of the fine scratched I have noticed on the Accord and Camry’s infotainment controls. If you want the best in factory entertainment, you should know the 12-speaker Sony branded audio system is only available in the more expensive Titanium.

The SE and Titanium trims can both be had with an impressive list of options from an automated-parking system to adaptive cruise control and an innovative lane departure prevention system. Unlike most of the LDP systems up to this point, the Ford system doesn’t apply the brakes to one side of the car to get you back on track – it simply turns the steering wheel. The system is both slightly creepy and very effective. With the ability to apply more force to keep you in the lane than competing systems, the steering input feels more like a hand on the wheel than a gentle suggestion. If safety is your shtick, it’s worth noting that the Fusion and Accord scored well in the new IIHS small-overlap test while the top-selling Camry tied with the Prius V for the worst of the group according to the IIHS.

Drivetrain

Under the hood you’ll find Ford’s completely redesigned hybrid system with a downsized 2.0L Atkinson cycle four-cylinder engine good for 141HP and 129lb-ft of twist. This is down slightly from the old 155HP 2.5L engine but Ford makes up for that with the hefty 118HP motor/generator inside their all-new HF34 hybrid transaxle. The combined system is good for 188HP and a TTAC estimated 200-220lb-ft of torque.

Rather than offering different hybrid systems for different vehicles like Toyota does, Ford uses the same system across their line up from the C-MAX to the Lincoln MKZ. While the heart of the system may be the new engine, the soul is the new 1.4kWh battery which is not only smaller and more energy dense than the old nickel pack, it can charge and discharge more rapidly as well. This improved battery “bandwidth” coupled to the stronger motors in their in-house hybrid transaxle allow the new Fusion Hybrid to motor down the highway on electrons alone up to 62MPH. It’s also the reason Ford claims the Fusion gets 47MPG City, 47MPG Highway and 47MPG on the combined cycle.

Oh that fuel economy

Fuel economy is a tricky business because your driving style, topography and curb weight are huge factors. I would caution readers to never compare our numbers with other publications because the driving conditions and styles are different. Still, nobody seems to be getting the vaulted 47MPGs in the latest Ford hybrid vehicles, TTAC included. Over a week and 568 miles our Fusion averaged 41MPG in mixed driving and my mountain commute, about 5/10ths lower than the C-MAX Hybrid I had two months earlier. Despite the fact that both the C-MAX and the Fusion Hybrid weight about the same (3,600lbs), the C-MAX was never able to get more than 45MPG no matter what I did.

The Fusion on the other hand managed 49MPG on a 36 mile level drive in moderate traffic and 46MPG on a level highway at 68MPH. While I wouldn’t say the Fusion meets expectations when it comes to fuel economy, it is better than the Kia’s 35.6MPG on the same course and a hair better than the Camry’s 40.5MPG. While I’m disappointed Ford’s new hybrid system hasn’t lived up to its advertising, the Fusion Hybrid is still the most efficient mid-sized sedan and it beats Ford’s 1.6L Ecoboost model by 12.5MPG in my tests.

I’ve included the Passat TDI here because I know a large segment of our readers would complain if it was missing. Still, I have trouble believing that many gasoline/electric hybrid shoppers would seriously cross shop the TDI. Should they? That depends. When we last had the Passat TDI we averaged 37MPG in mixed driving, 44 on the highway and around 29 in the city. If you commute in traffic, most of the hybrid options would deliver better mileage. Another thing to keep in mind is the cost of diesel in America, out here on the left-coast the cheapest diesel around according to GasBuddy.com was $4.09, a $0.25 premium over regular unleaded. This translated into $400 more in fuel costs per year over the MPGs we averaged in the Fusion Hybrid.

Drive

Despite having a decidedly American-sized 112.2-inch wheelbase, it’s obvious Ford’s European division took the lead when it came to the chassis. The result is a ride that is incredibly composed, tight in the corners and as communicative as anything with electric power steering. The surprises continue when you shift your right foot over to find linear brake feel, absolutely no Taurus-like brake fade and short stopping distances. Of course this is the hybrid model so there is still a transition point where the car adds friction braking in addition to the regenerative braking as you stop so things aren’t as smooth as with the “regular” Fusion. However, Ford’s new HF35 hybrid transaxle is quite simply the smoothest hybrid system this side of the Lexus LS 600hL easily besting the Camry and Lexus ES 300h in terms of hybrid system polish.

The Fusion provides, hands down, the best driving experience in this segment. Our tester ran to 60 in 7.31 seconds, only a hair behind the Camry, 1 second faster than the Optima and 2 seconds ahead of the Passat TDI, but it’s not straight line performance that I’m talking about. Thanks to wide 225-width rubber the Fusion is the first hybrid sedan I can describe as “fun” on mountain roads. I wouldn’t call it a corner carver, but it doesn’t immediately head for the bushes like an out of control land-yacht either. Sadly my theory for why the Fusion fails to live up to its 47MPG highway ratings is inexorably linked to its fun quotient. The larger your contact patch with the road, the more resistance you get and the lower your fuel economy will be. Still, looks sell (just ask Victoria’s  Secret) and the Fusion’s combination of dashing good looks, excellent (but well below claimed) fuel economy and the best hybrid driving dynamics the Fusion is quite simply the best fuel-sipping mid-sized sedan for 2013.

Hit it

• Best pre-collision system in the segment, if you can afford it.
• Sportiest hybrid sedan on the market.
• Aston Martin’s mini-me.

Quit it

• Rear seats are cramped for adult passengers.
• Fuel economy doesn’t live up to the lofty claims unless you’re driving 55 on a flat highway.
• MyFord Touch now has some serious competition.

Ford provided the vehicle, one tank of gas and insurance for this review

0-30: 3.15 Seconds

0-60: 7.31 Seconds

1/4 Mile: 15.86 Seconds @ 90.4 MPH

Average Fuel Economy:41MPG over 568 Miles

The Geneva Auto Salon is a small show in a small city of a small country. The show is big because it is an annual confab of automakers where shoulders are rubbed, mergers are planned, policies are set. The cars are mostly decoration. A top topic in Geneva was how to meet rigid EU emission limits. “There is a growing awareness that conventional hybrids and slow-selling battery cars simply won’t be enough,” Reuters reports from Geneva.

The interim goal of 130 grams  of CO2 per kilometer by 2015 does not appear to be a big deal. Most carmakers think they will meet it. “But drastic steps are needed to meet the 95 gram target set for 2020 and the potential for tougher standards after that,” Reuter says.

“We can’t get the necessary gains we need with traditional technology any more. We’re seeing a real break with the past,” Peugeot innovation chief Jean-Marc Finot told Reuters.

While GM’s Dan Akerson made bold battery announcements, there is growing conviction everywhere else that battery electric vehicles won’t be the answer. “Battery technology has not been able to resolve the century-old problem of too much weight and limited range capability,” Arthur Wheaton, automotive expert at Cornell University, told Reuters.

This view reaches the staunchest battery supporters. Said Francois Bancon, Nissan’s upstream development chief:

“Demand for electric cars isn’t where we thought it would be. We’re in a very uncertain phase, and everyone’s a bit lost.”

To meet the fleet goal, cars must do more than output little CO2. They also must be bought. Green cars that just sit in the show room don’t help the environment. High-priced batter-electric vehicles collide with this simple fact. “There’s more and more regulation, but customers want to pay less and less,” Nissan’s Bancon said. “So we have to cut prices and increase technology content – that’s the headache we’re faced with.”

One company does not seem to be worried about the 95 gram limit, and that is Volkswagen.  A day before the show started, VW announced that it is “committing to reducing the CO2 output of the European new car fleet to 95 grams per kilometer by 2020.” Volkswagen also wants to reduce “the CO2 output of its European new vehicle fleet to less than 120 grams per kilometer by 2015. Volkswagen intends to outperform by more than 12 grams the figure required by law for its vehicle fleet.”

Note: While Europe sets CO2 targets, while the U.S. has ostensibly different mileage targets, when all is said and done, both more or less  want the same. Use less fuel, generate less CO2. There even is a handy conversion formula.  Except that the formula is not EPA compliant …

An invasive species originating in North America is threatening the native fauna of Europe in a big way. Small crossovers, largely based on B and C segment hatchbacks, are one of the few growth segments in Europe’s ailing auto industry, so much so that they could even help reverse the fortunes of a couple ailing auto makers.

Peugeot and Renault, two car makers that have struggled in recent years, are expected to post big sales volumes of their upcoming small crossovers. One forecasting house predicts that the Renault Captur and Peugeot 2008 will even bump the current segment leader, the Nissan Juke, down to third place. Meanwhile, Ford is counting on the upcoming EcoSport for both volume and margin, thanks to its assembly in India.

By 2016, the segment is set to grow to 550,000 vehicles, up from just under 300,000 in 2012. The vehicles will be very profitable for auto makers, as they can charge a $3,900 premium on average for a car that uses the same basic B or C segment underpinnings. Furthermore, traditional market leaders like VW, Toyota, Honda and Hyundai are largely devoid of any product in these segments, giving PSA, Renault, Ford and even GM a wide berth to capture market share in this segment.

Bad omen for Europe: The German car market, considered one of the healthier in Europe, was down 10.5 percent in February, compared to the same month in the prior year. News from other European volume markets are worse.  

Germany’s Kraftfahrtbundesamt, which keeps track of registrations, reports a continuation of a strange and somewhat scary trend:  Compact and mid-sized cars, usually the bread and butter of the German market see losses of more than 20 percent. Growth is in mini-cars (up! 20.6 percent) and in the Upper Class (+ 13 percent).

Among the German brands , Opel (-21.2 percent) and Ford (-19,4  percent) were loss-leaders (the KBA counts Opel and Ford as German, they have been there longer than Volkswagen.)

New car sales in Italy were down 17.1 percent in February, Reuters reports. Sales in Spain were down 9.8 percent, those in France dropped 12 percent.

German data (in German) can be downloaded here.

With Nissan bringing Leaf production to Japan and the United States, the next stop on their localization train is Europe. The Sunderland, UK plant will begin in the spring, and along with European production will be a series of tweaks for that market.

Most significant for the Leaf is a bump in range, allowing the car to travel 124 miles instead of the previous 109 miles. A revised heat pump is partly responsible for the boost in range, while a new fast charger option can cut charging times in half (fast charging stations across the continent are said to have tripled, according to Just-Auto).

Luggage space and overall packaging is also improved, thanks to a redesigned powertrain that incorporates the motor, inverter and charger assembly under the hood as a single unit. Luggage space is said to be improved by as much as 40 liters. The battery itself will be produced locally as well.

While a mid-cycle refresh is standard practice for most car companies, Nissan has been tailoring some of its changes to the local markets in North America, Japan and Europe, based on owner feedback and telematics data. Notably, the chassis, steering system and brakes were all revised for European tastes, with the dampers and steering firmed up and the brakes made to feel more progressive – changes that would be welcome on the North American spec car.

European new car sales had their worst January in recorded history. The European manufacturers organization ACEA started recording in 1990, and it had never seen a January as bad. New car registrations were down 8.7 percent to 885,159 units in the EU.

TTAC readers were pre-warned.  As reported earlier in the month, volume markets such as Germany (-8.6%), Spain (-9.6%), France (-15.1%) and Italy (-17.6%) were down by the double digits.  Only the UK (+11.5%) posted growth.

Ford, down 25.5 percent, is hard hit. GM is down only 5.5 percent, with  Chevrolet down a whopping 40.2 percent, Opel is up 4.5 percent. PSA, down 16.3 percent, continues its swirl down the drain. Renault is down a benign 5.6 percent, Fiat lost 12.3 percent. Volkswagen, down 5.2 percent, keeps gaining market share. (Volkswagen’s odd “others” number is mostly Porsche, which became a Volkswagen brand in August 2012.)

Data can be downloaded as PDF and as Excel sheet.

The United States and the European Union will begin talks on a free-trade agreement, which may take as long as two years to complete. The deal is expected to be worth some $613 billion annually, and could have some interesting implications for the auto sector.

The first and most obvious possibility is the end of import duties for passenger cars and light trucks; 2.5 percent for cars and 25 percent for trucks. Such a deal would amount to an end for the “chicken tax” for European made light trucks.

This may have an impact on the manufacturing profile for the world’s automakers as well. Mexico is currently in vogue due to low labor costs and the ability to export Mexican made cars to the United States and Europe. But with a US-EU free trade deal, there may be an extra incentive to bring some production to Europe, particularly if there’s unused capacity burning a hole in their pocket.

Also worth keeping an eye on is vehicle safety standard harmonization. The FMVSS standards vary from the UN/ECE standards used by pretty much everyone else, and this deal may bring about some kind of agreement on harmonization between the two. The FMVSS is frequently cited as a non-tariff barrier to trade by many observers. Not many would be sad to see it go.

The next generation Fiat 500 will no longer be hecho en Mexico for the North American market. Faced with a modern plant and unused capacity, Fiat will consolidate all of its 500 production to its site in Tychy, Poland, in 2015. So what does this mean for Mexico?

The move may have as much to do with Fiat’s underutilized capacity as it does with Chrysler’s current capacity crunch. Pentastar plants are running at full steam, and the facility in Toluca, Mexico will likely be converted into a plant to build Chrysler products for the North American market. Toluca currently builds the 500 and the Dodge Journey crossover. Interestingly, Marchionne has claimed in the past that unused European capacity could be used to meet North American demand for Chrysler products. If the idea of a Mexican made car scares you, just wait until you get your hands on a Caravan made in the same factory as an Alfa Romeo…

BMW’s 3-Series is always the benchmark, always the target, and always on a pedestal. So when GM announced Cadillac would once again “complete head-on” with BMW’s money-maker, the world yawned. Then an interesting thing happened, publications started fawning over the ATS, proclaiming the 3-Series has met its match. Could such a thing be true? Even our own Michael Karesh was smitten by the ATS at a launch event. To find out how the ATS matches up with its German rival, Cadillac tossed us the keys to a loaded ATS 3.6 AWD. Can Cadillac beat BMW at their own game? Let’s find out.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Exterior

While the ATS fails to make a dramatic new statement of Cadillac’s “Art and Science” design, it is the most balanced rendition of the form to date. Compared to the 3-Series, the ATS strikes a more aggressive pose in the parking lot thanks to the hard lines and aggressive stance. Up front, Cadillac has kept the bold angular grille we’re used to, but ditched most of chrome bling found on other Cadillacs. Out back you’ll find a short trunk overhang with a perky tail light/spoiler and “mini-fins.” You may laugh, but I think the resurrection of Cadillac fins and funky tail lamps are some of the best touches on the ATS.

Does that make the ATS better than the 3 on the outside? Not for me, but your mileage will vary. The ATS is undeniably more expressive, flashier and aggressive compared to the plain-Jane A4, dowdy C350 or the elegant (but very reserved) 3. Oddly enough it’s BMW’s understated elegance and limo-like proportions that do it for me. What does that mean for you? If you’re a traditional BMW 3-Series shopper, then the  ATS is more likely to be your thing. If you’re after a soft entry level luxury sedan but the ES350 is “too FWD”, the 3′s long hood, soft suspension and graceful lines will seal the deal. In my mind the 3 and the ATS tie in this category.

Interior

The ATS wears, hands-down, the best production cabin GM has made. The styling may not be your cup of tea, but the interior possessed none of the strange quality concerns I noticed in the new XTS. Does that mean the Caddy has the best cabin in the segment? No, that award still ends up a tie between Audi and Volvo. However, the ATS’s cabin is nearly the equal of the 3-Series. Why nearly? It’s all about consistency.

Everything inside the BMW’s cabin is of a similar quality, from buttons on the dash to the headliner, everything is exactly what you expect from a $30,000-$55,000 car. The ATS on the other hand is full of “highs and lows.” Caddy’s highs include perfect dashboard stitching, comfortable seats and an excellent tiller. Sadly the gauge cluster didn’t get the memo. Instead of the SRX’s funky new three circle gauge cluster, buyers get the frumpy base gauges from the “this is your Grandfather’s Cadillac” XTS. Still, it would all have been OK if Caddy had offered the XTS’s  gorgeous full-LCD cluster as an option, but sadly it wasn’t to be. In our Facebook page’s weekly “hit it or quit it” contest, the ATS’s dials received a unanimous “quit it.” The fervor even spawned a Vellum Venom Vignette. What was all the drama about? Check out the day/night comparison below.

The ATS is available in an impressive array of interior colors, something lacking in many European sedans. While our tester arrived wearing a Germanic black-on-black-on-black ensemble, a quick trip to my local dealer revealed (thankfully) that the tasteful red and black interior and light grey interior with brown dashboard and door treatments were easy on the eyes and plentiful on the lots. Another rarity I noticed is a passenger seat with the same range of motion as the driver’s seat making long journeys more comfortable for your spouse.

When it comes to seating and cargo hauling, Cadillac benchmarked the last generation 3. As a result, front and rear accommodations are comfortable but snug with leg room coming in several inches behind the 3 and A4. The trunk also comes up short at 10.2 cubes vs the 12.4 cubes from the A4 and C350 or the ginormous 17 cubic foot trunk in the BMW. While the ATS represents huge strides in quality from GM, the tighter quarters and lack of consistency shown in cabin trappings gives the BMW the edge in this category.

Infotainment & Gadgets

Today’s compact luxury sedans come with more computing power than a 1990s dorm room. While the Euro players favor infotainment systems driven by a knob and button array, Cadillac has followed Lincoln’s lead with a 100% touch-screen driven interface called “Cadillac User Experience” or CUE. Caddy makes the system standard on all but the base 2.5 and 2.0 turbo models of the ATS although base shoppers can add it as a $1,350 option. The heart of the system is a gorgeous 8-inch LCD. Up till now, most touchscreen systems have used the older “resistive” touchscreen tech which uses a soft, matte plastic surface to detect digits. Displays like this (MyLincoln Touch uses this type of screen) can easily scratch and images can look “fuzzy” since you are viewing the image through the touchscreen layer. Cadillac stuck out their neck and used a more expensive “capacitive” touchscreen with a hard surface that is easy to clean, scratch-resistant, and delivers graphics that are crisper than any system I have seen to date. What was Caddy’s muse? Think iPad.

Cadillac tossed in “natural” voice commands for the entire system (including USB and iPod control), three high power USB ports (capable of charging an iPad), and smartphone app integration. If you want to know more about CUE, check out the video at the top of the review.

In comparison to BMW’s iDrive, the ATS’s touch buttons and iPadesque operation wow for a while, but proved less elegant and less reliable than iDrive after the first few hours. Keep in mind that CUE is in its first release while iDrive is the product of a decade of software development. The difference shows. While I haven’t seen iDrive crash since 2002, CUE crashed several times during the week. In addition, “multi-touch” gestures for “zooming” the map sound cool, but the response time was slow and the process proved more aggravating than useful. Cadillac’s mapping software is a notch below BMW’s in terms of visual appeal and the system just isn’t as intuitive as the latest build of iDrive.

Cadillac counters their “youthful” software with a bevy of standard and available features that you won’t find on many of the non-BMW competition including a full color heads up display, magnetic ride control, cross traffic alert, dynamic cruise control, collision prevention, and front and rear automatic braking in low-speed parking situations. When all the bells and whistles are tallied, the number comes out even, but BMW’s more elegant software gives the Bavarians the edge.

Drivetrain

Competing with the 3 properly, means offering your wares globally and providing a range of small displacement and turbocharged engines. As a result, the drivetrain chart for the ATS starts with a brand-new high-compression 2.5L direct-injection four-cylinder engine designed to battle BMW’s budget 320i. While GM tells us the same engine will find its way under the hood of the Malibu and Impala, Cadillac’s version gets a power bump to 202HP and 192lb-ft with a high 7,000 RPM redline. While this is the engine of choice for rental cars and lease specials, it competes quite well with BMW’s discount 320i with 180HP and 200lb-ft of torque.

Competing with BMW’s 328i (and costing $1,805 more than the 2.5) is GM’s thoroughly redesigned 2.0L turbo. The direct-injection mill packs a serious punch with 272HP and 260lb-ft of twist compared to BMW’s 240HP and 255lb-ft. While Cadillac’s torque curve isn’t as low as the German’s, Cadillac has kept their curb weight low ringing in around 40lbs lighter than the 328i. The difference is small but shows Cadillac was paying attention.

If six cylinders is your thing, Cadillac will jam their 3.6L direct-injection engine under the ATS’s hood for an extra $2,200. The 321HP six-pot cranks out more HP than BMW’s 3.0L turbo I6 (300HP) but delivers less torque (274lb-ft vs 300lb-ft) and of course the lack of a turbo means the 3.6L engine has a torque peak instead of a plateau. Once again Cadillac counters by being lighter, this time by 94lbs.

Regardless of your engine choice, all engines use the same 6-speed GM automatic transmission. If you want to make your BMW owning friends scratch their heads, this is essentially the same transmission used in a variety of BMW 3-Series, X1 and X3 models before BMW started buying the ZF 8-speed. If you opt for the 2.0L or 3.6L engines, Cadillac will drop their AWD system ($2,000) or a Tremec 6-speed manual into the ATS, but sadly the options are mutually exclusive.

As much as I like BMW’s torque-happy 3.0L I6 turbo, Cadillac’s naturally aspirated V6 sounds better. The BMW is still faster to 60 (thank the torque deficit), but the ATS ties with the BMW in my book thanks to the combination of a great sound, no turbo lag and excellent power delivery characteristics. The small turbo match up is more cut and dry. GM’s turbo four cranks out more shove and matches the German mill in terms of refinement. Meanwhile at the bottom of the pile, BMW’s base 320i engine provides more useable power than Caddy’s base engine, but the 2.5L four has a better sound, no lag and is eager to rev.

Refinement and aural sensations are one thing, balanced performance is another and this is where the ATS shines (just not in a straight line). The ATS’s moves on the track are defined by several things: a suspension that is firmer than the sport line 3-Series, excellent weight balance, 225 width rubber on all four corners and “only” six forward gears. Starting with the transmission, while it has a negative impact on MPG numbers, having fewer gears translates into less “hunting” while craving your favorite mountain road. That brings us to the suspension and tires. You’ll find plenty of 335i “sport line” models on the showroom floor with staggered rubber (225 in front, 255 out back) which gives you a bit more traction in the rear for stoplight races. The unequal rubber also causes the 335 understeer a bit more when taking a corner sans-throttle, a situation most drivers find more predictable than oversteer. The ATS on the other hand is extremely neutral in almost every situation. Cadillac’s AWD system turns the moderately “tail happy” ATS into an Audi-esque corner carver sans Audi’s nose-heavy tendencies. Last, and least, the ATS’s steering feel matches or exceeds the feel in the 335i. Why least? Because anything with EPAS is going to be rubbery and numb. If you hadn’t guessed by now, the ATS is the performance winner.

According to my tally sheet, the ATS is one point behind the 3 as we enter the final stretch: pricing. The ATS starts at $33,095 and the new 320i undercuts it at $32,550. If that sounds bad for Cadillac, BMW cuts corners by making leather a $1,450 option among other “decontenting” tricks. For most shoppers the ATS 2.0 is going to be the starting point at $35,795, at which point the ATS is lower than the comparable 3-Series ($36,850) both on paper and at the check out counter. Load up your ATS to the gills with a V6 and AWD and you’re talking $54,000, about $4,000 less than a similar 335xi. Toss in inevitable GM discounts and cheaper financing, and the ATS is the value leader.

Checking back with the tally sheet reveals a dead heat. Is this where the import biased press says “being German gives the 3-Series an extra point“? Not quite. I’m going to resort to an entirely different cop-out: it depends on what you’re after. Huh? Personally, the ATS falls just sort of “beating” the 3-Series, but that’s based on my preferences. If however you’re a BMW fan boy who thinks the new (F30) 3-Series has gone soft (Trust me, it has. That’s why I like it.), the ATS is your “new” E90 BMW. Think of it as E91 by Cadillac. Seriously. The ATS drives like an E90 with a naturally aspirated engine and a slightly dulled steering response. What then is the ultimate driving machine? With BMW succeeding as the “new Mercedes” and Cadillac trying to be the new BMW, your guess is as good as mine. There is one thing I know for sure however: it’s a day to remember when we can talk about a BMW 335 and a Cadillac in the same sentence without any irony.

General Motors provided the vehicle, insurance and one tank of gas for this review.

Specifications as tested

0-30: 1.92 Seconds

0-60: 5.2 Seconds

1/4 Mile: 13.66 Seconds @ 103 MPH

Average Fuel Economy: 23 MPG over 598 miles

Now that almost all official data for the Full Year 2012 is available (Middle East is still to come in my books), and just as we are starting to get a feel for what 2013 could look like, I thought I would do a little summary for you of what happened in 2012 in the biggest markets in the world. We have gone through the Chinese market already, now let’s have a look at Europe….

Europe not your thing? That’s ok, you can check out the best-selling models and brands in 172 countries and territories on my blog. Enjoy!

Back to Europe. And it has been a difficult year for European sales, with only the UK among the Big 5 (Germany, UK, France, Italy, Spain) managing to gain ground vs. 2011. But the favourite car and carmaker on the continent are the same as last year…

See the Full Year 2012 European Top 10 carmakers here

Overall, new car sales in Europe are down 8 percent on 2011 to 12,573,842 registrations. Volkswagen remains the most popular brand in the continent, dropping slower than the market at -4% to 1,613,913 sales and as a result improving its market share to 12.8%. Ford stays #2 but falls by 13%. Opel/Vauxhall only owes its return onto the European podium at #3 to a disastrous year by Renault at -22%, muzzled by a dramatic fall of grace in UK due to its drastic range reduction there. The premium Germans are the only ones doing a really good job: Audi is up 3% to #6, BMW up one spot on 2011 with stable sales at #8 and Mercedes also up one spot and 1% to #9.

See the Full Year 2012 European Top 10 carmakers here

The VW Golf manages to keep the pole position for the 5th year in a row but loses more ground than the market at -11% to 431,742 sales. This is potentially the Golf’s second weakest ever year in Europe after the 416,507 units it sold in 2006 when it ranked #4, and definitely its lowest volume at #1. The Golf ranked #1 each month in 2012 and peaked at 52,933 sales in March. It has now been #1 in Europe for 33 consecutive months (no interruption since March 2010), for 55 of the last 57 months and for 27 of the last 31 years…

See the Full Year 2012 European Top 10 models here

Renault Clio IV

All models bar one in the Top 10 fall faster than the market: the Ford Fiesta reclaims the 2nd spot it last held in 2010 with 306,405 sales, down 12%, while the VW Polo is down one rank to #3 at 287,828 units, down 20%. Boosted by the arrival of the 4th generation, the Renault Clio manages to climb back onto the podium in November and December but finishes the year at #5 like in 2011, down 17% and below the Opel Corsa down 18%. The Ford Focus (-15%) and Opel Astra (-20%) exchange positions compared to 2011.

See the Full Year 2012 European Top 10 models here

Nissan Qashqai

But the biggest event in the 2012 European Top 10 is the entrance of the Nissan Qashqai, up 4 spots and down just 0.3% year-on-year to rank #8 with 207,885 sales. To my knowledge this isthe first time ever a Japanese model manages to break into the European year-end Top 10! Before 2012, the Qashqai had only broken into the monthly Top 10 twice, in July 2010 andSeptember 2011. It managed that feat 7 times this year, peaking at a record #7 in March and July.

See the Full Year 2012 European Top 10 models here

Toyota Yaris

No less than 3 models made their very first appearance in the monthly European Top 10 this year: the Skoda Octavia did so in January, the Toyota Yaris in March and repeated the performance in September…

Peugeot 208

…and the Peugeot 208 shot up directly to #5 in July, climbed onto the podium in August and hit a best-ever #2 in December. The Audi A4 for its part reappeared in the Top 10 in August and for the first time since January 2009 while the BMW 3 Series climbed into the Top 10 3 times this year: in April, June and December when it reached #8, its highest ranking since September 2007…

Now you know all there is to know about the best-selling cars and carmakers in Europe!

You’re welcome!

All the data is sourced on jato.com and includes the 27 European Union countries minus Bulgaria, Romania and Malta, plus Switzerland, Norway and Iceland.

Matt Gasnier, based in Sydney, Australia, runs a blog named Best Selling Cars, dedicated to counting cars all over the world.

Nissan-Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn said today that he does not expect any sales growth in Europe over the next three to four years. He is not giving up on growth, and said that most will come from higher demand in the United States and China, Reuters reports.

What Ghosn kept to himself is that there probably won’t be much growth in Europe after those three to four years either. Most likely, there will be a monstrous contraction of the market. When with his inner circle, Ghosn often talks about a “structural decline:” This is not a just one of these cyclical phenomenons. It is simple math:  Around 1970, as the pill became popular, births dropped by approximately half from their prior peak in the mid-sixties. This peak now sits smack in the middle of the prime new car buying age, which in most of Europe is between 40 and 60 years. The trailing edge of the peak already makes itself felt with lower sales. At around 2020, this peak will retire, leaving behind a drastically smaller pool of buyers.

European carmakers which at this point are not firmly established in growth markets, will be dead.  If you are just beginning to establish yourself now in growth markets, it will be too late.

We did these studies in the mid-1990s, when the dip which is now heading towards its 70th birthday created a crisis in the European car market. We predicted the crisis would be over soon, there will be a huge boom at around the turn of the Millennium, after 2010 it will get iffy with premium cars (older buyers) still going strong, and after 2020, 2025, we all want to live elsewhere, or be dead.

New car registrations dropped a painful 16.3 percent in Europe in an acceleration of a long, and initially slow a downward trend. The European carmaker association ACEA calls the decline ”the steepest recorded in a month of December since 2008.” For the year the EU market was down 8.2 percent to 12,053,904 units, which is the “lowest level recorded since 1995,” says the ACEA.

Most of the Europe’s volume markets recorded a double-digit downturn ranging from -14.6 percent in France to -16.4 percent in Germany, -22.5 percent in Italy and -23.0 percent in Spain. The UK was the only volume market to post growth (+3.7 percent).

Industry contacts in Europe explain the acceleration not with a decreasing reluctance to buy cars. “A lot of people stopped buying cars long ago,” said a contact at a large European OEM, “but the dealers continued to buy. This is coming to an end.” He was alluding to the phenomenon of “one day registrations” where dealers buy the car to make their quota and to collect the incentive money, only to put the car up for sale “used” the next day at prices of sometimes 30 percent below list. When sold, these new cars then show up in the used car registration numbers.

In the meantime, supply and production have been adjusted, the bulge has worked itself through the anaconda and has been digested. We can expect sales data that more reflect real buying behavior.

For the year, the Volkswagen Group weathered the downturn with only a 1.6 percent loss, and a 1.7 percent gain in Market share. GM, Ford and Fiat had to digest double digit losses, so did PSA and Renault.