Europe May 2012: Renault Megane back into Top 10
Renault Megane
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New car sales in Europe are slowly sliding into recession, at -8% year-on-year in May to 1,164,071 registrations, with the UK the only market in the ‘Big 5′ to register year-on-year improvement. The 2012 year-to-date total now stands at 5,666,737 units, down 7% on 2011. No surprises on top: the VW Golf leads the way again with 41,420 sales, down 13% on May 2011 and is followed by the Ford Fiesta at 28,611 units (-12%) and the Opel Corsa with 26,771 sales (-11%). The VW Polo is down one spot to #4 but stays #3 year-to-date.
In spite of the new generation now in cruising mode, the Ford Focus is down 16% year-on-year to #6 and 22,611 units and #5 year-to-date at -2%. Only one model sees its sales progress vs. May 2011: the Renault Megane, thanks to its facelift and extremely strong performances in Spain and the Netherlands where it ranked #1, is back in the Top 10 for the first time in 2012, up 3% to #7 with 21,817 sales. The Fiat Panda is #9 with 19,300 units, down just 0.5% year-on-year.
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One year ago: Europe May 2011: VW Golf strong, Fiat Punto back in Top 10
Full May 2012 Top 10 Ranking Table below.
Europe May 2012:
| Pos | Model | May | /11 | Apr | 2012 | /11 | Pos | 2011 |
| 1 | VW Golf | 41,420 | -13% | 1 | 200,640 | -6% | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Ford Fiesta | 28,611 | -12% | 2 | 145,616 | -11% | 2 | 3 |
| 3 | Opel Corsa | 26,771 | -11% | 5 | 120,310 | -13% | 4 | 4 |
| 4 | VW Polo | 24,087 | -26% | 3 | 135,428 | -14% | 3 | 2 |
| 5 | Opel Astra | 23,149 | -21% | 6 | 106,786 | -20% | 7 | 6 |
| 6 | Ford Focus | 22,611 | -16% | 7 | 117,247 | -2% | 5 | 7 |
| 7 | Renault Megane | 21,817 | 3% | n/a | 87,885 | -18% | 9 | 9 |
| 8 | Renault Clio | 21,244 | -16% | 4 | 108,012 | -21% | 6 | 5 |
| 9 | Fiat Panda | 19,300 | 0% | 8 | 84,890 | -7% | 10 | 13 |
| 10 | VW Passat | 17,836 | -25% | 10 | 89,635 | -10% | 8 | 10 |
Source: JATO
Note: The European figures include the 27 European Union countries minus Bulgaria, Romania and Malta, plus Switzerland, Norway and Iceland.
such a small car arent more people going to become obese later on in the years?