Europe June 2015: Renault Captur equals all-time record #7 spot

Renault Captur

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Excellent news for new car sales in Europe in June: the market is up 15% year-on-year to 1.41 million units, the largest monthly increase since December 2009 and celebrating 22 consecutive months of gains. According to Automotive News, figures were boosted in part by the Pentecost religious holiday, when retail outlets are closed in several European countries, shifting into May this year from June in 2014. Increases of  13% in Germany and the UK, 14% in Italy, 15% in France and 24% in Spain helped continent-wide sales up this month. However June growth was mainly fuelled by the fleet market, with private demand only gaining 2%. IHS Automotive says “Private demand looks close to saturation point. Buyer fatigue seems to be setting in.”

VW Passat

Far from its Chinese freefall, Volkswagen gains a spectacular 19% to 166.424 sales, Ford and Skoda are up 15% while Audi and Mercedes gain 17%. In the models ranking, below the VW Golf (+13%), the Ford Fiesta (+22%) and VW Polo (+38%) frankly outpace the market, kicking the Renault Clio (-11%) down to #4 while the Opel Corsa and Ford Focus round up the Top 6 like last month. The Renault Captur shoots up to 7th place overall in Europe – its third Top 10 finish after June 2014 (#7) and December 2014 (#9). The Peugeot 208 shows rare year-on-year gains at +19%, the same improvement as the Nissan Qashqai at #9 while the VW Passat, up a stunning 47%, keeps the Skoda Octavia out of the Top 10.

Previous post: Europe May 2015: VW Passat confirms Top 10 spot

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

Full June 2015 Top 10 models and brands below.