Europe April 2012: BMW 3 Series in Top 10 for first time since 2008

BMW 3 Series

* See the Top 10 best-selling models by clicking on the title! *

The European new car market continues to struggle at -6% year-on-year in April to 1,069,243 registrations, bringing the year-to-date total to 4,507,515 units, down 7% on 2011. The Top 2 best-seller stay unchanged: the VW Golf leads with 37,151 sales but is down 13% on April 2011 while the Ford Fiesta is down 9% at #2 with 25,927 units. Like in the 2012 year-to-date ranking, the VW Polo rounds up the podium, but with 24,193 sales it is down a worrying 23% year-on-year.

Fiat Panda

In spite of a 8% fall the Renault Clio is up 8 spots on March to #4, followed by the Opel Corsa (-16%), Astra (-18%) and Ford Focus (-6%). Only two Top 10 models progress year-on-year, both thanks to new generations boosting their sales: the Fiat Panda is up 3% to 17,268 sales and #8, only its 2nd time since May 2010 with last February and its highest European ranking since February 2010 when it reached #7. The best performer this month is the BMW 3 Series taking advantage of an impressive 2nd place in Germany to reach #9 in Europe with 17,171 sales and 1.6% share, its first time in the Top 10 since December 2008.

Previous month: Europe March 2012: Nissan Qashqai and Toyota Yaris break records

One year ago: Europe April 2011: VW Passat shines

Full April 2012 Top 10 Ranking Table below.