Europe March 2012: Nissan Qashqai & Toyota Yaris break records!
Nissan Qashqai
* See the Top 10 best-selling models by clicking on the title! *
Car sales in Europe are down 7% both in March at 1,497,855 registrations and year-to-date at 3,433,957 units. Below the VW Golf very solid at 52,933 sales, up 1% year-on-year, the Ford Fiesta is back into 2nd place at 47,888 units ahead of the Opel Corsa with 38,809 sales, both pushed by the traditionally strong month of March in the UK due to the new number plates. But the top of the ranking is not what has made this month a historical month in Europe…
If you’ve been checking out Best Selling Cars Blog regularly over the last couple of weeks you saw it coming: delivering best-ever performances in Germany, France, the UK, Ireland (#1), Poland, Slovakia, Switzerland, Czech Republic and #2 in Spain, the Nissan Qashqai logically reaches its highest ever position in Europe at a fantastic 7th place with 30,237 sales, by far its strongest volume ever. 5 years after its original launch, this is the culmination (so far) of a crazy bet from Nissan that hasn’t stopped surprising by its exceptional success: the Nissan Qashqai is now the highest ranking Japanese model ever in Europe!
Toyota Yaris
But wait there’s more: helped by a record-breaking showing in the UK where it reached a best-ever 8th position, the Toyota Yaris breaks into the European monthly Top 10 for the very first time at #10 with 22,856 sales and 1.5% market share, up 18% year-on-year and bringing its year-to-date total to 48,789 units, up 13% and close to the Top 10 while it ranked #27 in 2011. It is the first time ever that 2 Japanese models rank within the European monthly Top 10 simultaneously! Interestingly they are both produced in Europe: the Qashqai in the UK and the Yaris in France…
I told you it was a historical month…
Previous month: Europe February 2012: Ford Focus on podium, Fiat Panda in Top 10
One year ago: Europe March 2011: VW Golf strong, Fiat Punto back in Top 10
Full March 2012 Top 10 Ranking Table below.
Europe March 2012:
| Pos | Model | Mar | % | /11 | Feb | 2012 | % | /11 | Pos | 2011 |
| 1 | VW Golf | 52,933 | 3.5% | 1% | 1 | 122,569 | 3.6% | -1% | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Ford Fiesta | 47,888 | 3.2% | -5% | 4 | 91,229 | 2.7% | -10% | 2 | 3 |
| 3 | Opel Corsa | 38,809 | 2.6% | -2% | 6 | 73,388 | 2.1% | -13% | 5 | 4 |
| 4 | VW Polo | 36,948 | 2.5% | -6% | 2 | 87,369 | 2.5% | -7% | 3 | 2 |
| 5 | Ford Focus | 32,829 | 2.2% | -5% | 3 | 74,878 | 2.2% | 4% | 4 | 7 |
| 6 | Opel Astra | 31,091 | 2.1% | -17% | 9 | 64,062 | 1.9% | -20% | 8 | 6 |
| 7 | Nissan Qashqai | 30,237 | 2.0% | 21% | n/a | 62,791 | 1.8% | 9% | 9 | 12 |
| 8 | Renault Clio | 28,686 | 1.9% | -19% | 5 | 66,165 | 1.9% | -26% | 6 | 5 |
| 9 | Peugeot 207 | 23,582 | 1.6% | -24% | 8 | 57,775 | 1.7% | -21% | 10 | 8 |
| 10 | Toyota Yaris | 22,856 | 1.5% | 18% | n/a | 48,789 | 1.4% | 13% | n/a | 27 |
Source: JATO
Note: The European figures include the 27 European Union countries minus Bulgaria, Romania and Malta, plus Switzerland, Norway and Iceland.
Nice results!
Strong sales for Yaris, but acea-data show, that Toyota sales are decreasing. Nissan is growing, also VW, Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Hyundai, Kia, Land Rover, Jaguar. Nissan seems to be the brand with the best tendency among japanese brands. Very bad month for french brands, Ford, Fiat, GM, Volvo, Suzuki, Honda, Mitsubishi.
Ford Fiesta is stronger than VW Polo also YTD, VW Passat is out of the top-ten.
Well done Nissan and also good news for Toyota, sorry for Fiat, they have a good product in the new Panda but were badly let down, Danijel is right production should have stayed in Poland, they never seem to go on strike there. As Matt says March sales in the UK are artificially high due to the new registration plate (September is the next big one). April’s figures will be interesting. Thanks again Matt.
Nissan rules everywhere!!! I’m so happy for that!
Marché anglais et allemand élevé – Marché italien, espagnol en berne mais aussi un peu en France… Cela change forcément tout.
En tout cas, tant mieux pour l’usine Toyota de Valencienne !!
And Fiat was so stupid to move production of Panda in Italy. Fiat factory in Poland is really good! And Panda could be high but…
Only 5.025 unities split the fiesta from the golf… bravo ford!!!
The Fiat-Chrysler registrations in Europe were affected in 2012 by the downward strike of transporters that caused production losses of about 20,000 units.
Sales statistics: http://www.carsitaly.net/fiat-car-sales_europe.htm