February Sales Way Down in Europe, Ford And GM Devastated
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.
New Passenger Car Registrations EU, February 2013FebruaryJanuary – February %Share %ShareUnitsUnits% Chg %ShareUnitsUnits% Chg’13’12’13’1213/12’13’12’13’1213/12ALL BRANDS**795,482889,050-10.51,681,0731,858,270-9.5VW GRP24.623.8195,608211,205-7.424.523.8411,566441,404-6.8VOLKSWAGEN12.912.8102,617113,858-9.912.612.8211,478237,609-11.0AUDI5.24.841,19542,885-3.95.34.989,30491,975-2.9SEAT2.32.118,41518,345+0.42.32.038,00437,261+2.0SKODA3.94.031,00735,990-13.84.04.066,91174,226-9.9Others (1)0.30.02,374127+1769.30.30.05,869333+1662.5PSA GRP12.613.0100,450115,668-13.212.012.8202,060237,141-14.8PEUGEOT6.96.754,54259,726-8.76.56.8109,388125,488-12.8CITROEN5.86.345,90855,942-17.95.56.092,672111,653-17.0RENAULT GRP9.79.577,41484,599-8.59.18.9153,540165,350-7.1RENAULT7.27.657,37767,309-14.86.77.0113,275129,424-12.5DACIA2.51.920,03717,290+15.92.41.940,26535,926+12.1GM GRP7.28.157,41072,309-20.67.57.8125,700144,395-12.9OPEL/VAUXHALL6.16.448,25857,306-15.86.46.1106,868113,408-5.8CHEVROLET1.11.79,13514,973-39.01.11.718,79030,903-39.2GM (US)0.00.01730-43.30.00.04284-50.0FIAT GRP6.97.354,82865,087-15.86.87.2114,597133,177-14.0FIAT5.45.242,89846,044-6.85.35.189,03994,058-5.3LANCIA/CHRYSLER0.71.05,4348,842-38.50.71.011,57417,771-34.9ALFA ROMEO0.60.94,5767,862-41.80.60.99,99016,478-39.4JEEP0.20.21,7662,094-15.70.20.23,5754,222-15.3Others (2)0.00.0154245-37.10.00.0419648-35.3FORD6.57.451,82665,591-21.06.77.9112,169146,226-23.3BMW GRP5.85.346,36147,539-2.56.05.3101,33798,811+2.6BMW4.84.337,83538,131-0.85.04.383,97279,868+5.1MINI1.11.18,5269,408-9.41.01.017,36518,943-8.3DAIMLER5.34.942,36443,159-1.85.44.991,58890,628+1.1MERCEDES4.74.337,15037,969-2.24.84.381,06179,916+1.4SMART0.70.65,2145,190+0.50.60.610,52710,712-1.7TOYOTA GRP4.14.032,55035,364-8.04.24.570,45684,138-16.3TOYOTA4.03.831,57333,848-6.74.04.367,84279,456-14.6LEXUS0.10.29771,516-35.60.20.32,6144,682-44.2HYUNDAI3.93.430,64630,040+2.03.73.462,37562,418-0.1NISSAN3.53.428,14230,517-7.83.63.561,13465,574-6.8KIA2.72.521,61322,134-2.42.72.444,78743,743+2.4VOLVO1.71.813,20615,890-16.91.71.928,46134,459-17.4SUZUKI1.11.28,94310,450-14.41.21.219,35623,145-16.4MAZDA1.11.09,0728,550+6.11.10.918,79516,844+11.6JLR GRP0.90.87,1406,786+5.21.10.918,61716,428+13.3LAND ROVER0.70.75,9375,808+2.20.90.715,38313,779+11.6JAGUAR0.20.11,203978+23.00.20.13,2342,649+22.1HONDA1.10.88,9817,442+20.71.10.918,38315,977+15.1MITSUBISHI0.50.64,2475,657-24.90.50.78,70712,871-32.4OTHER**0.61.24,68111,063-57.71.01.417,44425,542-31.7Source: ACEAData can be downloaded here as PDF, here as Excel.
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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Anent Jag: when you sell only a little, a little more goes a long way on a chart. I wish them well, but see them as a likely casualty of too little for too much for too few. On the other hand, if Greece and Cyprus are in any relation to the rest of the EU, perhaps good times for all are not ahead. I would like a new GTD, though. Go Germany (and Mexico).
I can see this going on for a couple more years in the Eurozone. It's a pity, but necessary, a broom is needed to go through and clean up the manufacturers. Also if the goverments look at the data they will hopefully see that their interference in trade/industry can increase problems. I can see PSA becoming part of the Nissan/Renault Alliance. Also as an outside chance I can Mitsubishi becoming part of it as well. Within a couple of years you will start to see the motor vehicle industry rationalise. The industry has tried to cut fat from their companies but it isn't enough. Like I stated you will see fewer and fewer manufacturers, the current model just isn't working. The Euro manufacturers will lead in this area. Their governments don't have the money anymore to support inefficient operations or create false markets.