8:59 am, August 20, 2014
THE European new car sales market is showing no sign of slowing down with July’s sales up 5.4 per cent on the same period last year.
According to automotive intelligence provider Jato Dynamics, the majority of Europe’s biggest markets saw positive growth for the month and the five largest markets have all grown year-to-date.
Four out of the ‘Big 5’ European markets recorded significant year-on-year growth. Spain saw the best performance, where government incentives led to double-digit growth of 11.3 per cent for the month. Great Britain (+6.6 per cent) and Italy (+5.3 per cent) also performed well during July, while Germany returned to growth of 6.8 per cent following a slight fall in June. France saw a sales drop of 4.3 per cent but growth remains up 1.9 per cent on year-to-date sales.
Monthly sales for July increased considerably from last year in Ireland (+61.6 per cent) and Portugal (+30.6 per cent), although both markets started from a low base. Ireland benefitted from a split registration system, which gave consumers a better choice in buying their new car mid-year rather than during the busy first quarter.
Volkswagen remains the top European brand by sales, with growth of 8.1 per cent compared to July of last year. The top 10 brands have all grown their sales year-to-date and all but one saw a sales increase in July.
Skoda, helped by strong sales of the Octavia (+34.9 per cent), claimed ninth place with an impressive 27.8 per cent increase in July; this brings Skoda’s year-to-date sales growth to 19.4 per cebt.
July also saw increases for BMW (+9.1 per cent) and Opel/Vauxhall (+8.0 per cent). Opel/Vauxhall was helped by strong sales of the Mokka while BMW benefitted from the release of new body types for its new 4 Series.
