Europe's Future According To J.D. Power

by Bertel Schmitt

Published: May 5th, 2010

One by one, European countries will scrap their scrappage incentives this year (if they haven’t already.) With predictable results: Without the governmental amphetamine, the market will be down. How much?

All in all, Europeans will buy around 10 percent fewer cars in 2010 than in 2009, predicted J.D. Power at their spring conference in Cologne. Automobilwoche [sub] was there and took notes.

In the pictures-speak-louder-than words dept., J.D. Power’s prediction for 2010 can be seen above. That’s a fairly easy call.

Now on to the trickier prognosis: How will 2011 fare in comparison with 2010? We don’t know what brand of tea-leaves J.D. Power is using, but here is what they think will happen next year:

The European market won’t be back to its former 2008 glory before 2015, reckons J.D. Power.

In case you are curious: REN-NIS is not a new Chinese player, it stands for Renault and Nissan. Anyway: J.D. Power predicts a great future for their long-time clients Ford and Toyota.

#BertelSchmitt #Europe #Future #J.D.Power #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 of 5 comments

B1msus93 on May 05, 2010

+11% after -16% is still -7% from 2009 not that great for Toyota

Like Reply
Ronin on May 05, 2010

One thing I've learned is to pay no attention to any analyst predictions unless I can see a track record. Let's see JDP's predictions vs. actuals for that market for each of the last 10 years. Then people will be able to determine for themselves whether they have any credibility.

Like Reply

Recent Comments

TheEndlessEnigma These cars were bought and hooned. This is a bomb waiting to go off in an owner's driveway.
Kwik_Shift_Pro4X Thankfully I don't have to deal with GDI issues in my Frontier. These cleaners should do well for me if I win.
Theflyersfan Serious answer time...Honda used to stand for excellence in auto engineering. Their first main claim to fame was the CVCC (we don't need a catalytic converter!) engine and it sent from there. Their suspensions, their VTEC engines, slick manual transmissions, even a stowing minivan seat, all theirs. But I think they've been coasting a bit lately. Yes, the Civic Type-R has a powerful small engine, but the Honda of old would have found a way to get more revs out of it and make it feel like an i-VTEC engine of old instead of any old turbo engine that can be found in a multitude of performance small cars. Their 1.5L turbo-4...well...have they ever figured out the oil dilution problems? Very un-Honda-like. Paint issues that still linger. Cheaper feeling interior trim. All things that fly in the face of what Honda once was. The only thing that they seem to have kept have been the sales staff that treat you with utter contempt for daring to walk into their inner sanctum and wanting a deal on something that isn't a bare-bones CR-V. So Honda, beat the rest of your Japanese and Korean rivals, and plug-in hybridize everything. If you want a relatively (in an engineering way) easy way to get ahead of the curve, raise the CAFE score, and have a major point to advertise, and be able to sell to those who can't plug in easily, sell them on something that will get, for example, 35% better mileage, plug in when you get a chance, and drives like a Honda. Bring back some of the engineering skills that Honda once stood for. And then start introducing a portfolio of EVs once people are more comfortable with the idea of plugging in. People seeing that they can easily use an EV for their daily errands with the gas engine never starting will eventually sell them on a future EV because that range anxiety will be lessened. The all EV leap is still a bridge too far, especially as recent sales numbers have shown. Baby steps. That's how you win people over.
Theflyersfan If this saves (or delays) an expensive carbon brushing off of the valves down the road, I'll take a case. I understand that can be a very expensive bit of scheduled maintenance.
Zipper69 A Mini should have 2 doors and 4 cylinders and tires the size of dinner plates.All else is puffery.