Europe June 2014: Renault Captur first small SUV in Top 10 at #7

July 18, 2014
Matt Gasnier

The Renault Captur is up to an all-time high 7th place in Europe this month.

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The European new car market celebrates a 10th consecutive month on year-on-year growth in June at +4% to 1,230,363 registrations, bringing the half year total to 6,851,552 units, up 6% on 2013 and matching an expansion from June 2009 through March 2010. Some analysts warn that this growth comes from a low base and is due to heavy discounting, with retail incentives across Europe’s top 5 markets increasing 10% year-on-year to 2,748€ ($3,700) per vehicle according to Autonews. For Hyundai’s European operations head Allan Rushforth: “After a six-year slump in the European car market, an inconsistent and heavily incentivised recovery is better than no recovery at all.” Well said.

Is the Peugeot 2008 next inside the European Top 10?

Rare but true, the market leader Volkswagen loses ground this month at -3% to 11.5% share vs. 12.1% year-to-date while the star of the month is without a doubt Renault, up a spectacular 21% on June 2014 and two spots on May and its year-to-date ranking to 2nd place with 105,469 sales and 8.6% vs. 6.8% so far in 2014. And the biggest news of the month is the very first Top 10 ranking of the Renault Captur, shooting up from #23 in May directly into 7th place this month thanks to a record 20,893 registrations, even outselling fellow countryman the Peugeot 208, down 15% to #8 and 19,373 units! This is the first time a small SUV manages to rank within the 10 most successful models on the continent and the final sign, if we needed any more, than this segment is sure to grow drastically over the next few years. Perhaps the most impressive fact is that the Captur’s success hasn’t been to the detriment of the Clio on which it is based whereas the Peugeot 2008 has definitely put a dent in 208 sales.

European Mitsubishi sales are up 44% year-on-year in June.

Other manufacturers to make themselves noticed this month are Opel/Vauxhall up 12% in third place, Skoda up 13% to #11, Nissan up 10% to #13, Dacia up 32% to #15, Seat up 13% to #17, Volvo up 15% to #18, Mazda up 12% to #20, Suzuki up 10% to #21 and Mitsubishi up a massive 44% but remaining in 25th place. In the models ranking, the Top 5 best-sellers are identical to last month with the VW Golf keeping its implacable stranglehold on the charts at 43,960 units (+7%) vs. 34,606 (+12%) for the Clio at #2, ahead of the Ford Fiesta (+1%), Opel Corsa (+3%) and VW Polo (-14%). The Ford Focus overtakes the 208 to rank #7 year-to-date and both the Nissan Qashqai (#9) and Opel Astra (#10) gain one spot on May.

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