Belgium October 2012: Volkswagen #1, Audi, BMW & Mercedes up

Audi holds 7% of the Belgium market in October

* See the Top 50 best-selling brands by clicking on the title! *

The Belgian new car market is down 1% year-on-year in October to 41,846 registrations, bringing the year-to-date total to 428,579 units, down 11% on 2011. FEBIAC even predicts a 15% drop over the Full Year 2012 given new car sales at the end of last year were boosted by the imminent stop of government subsidies. In the absence of models data, this month I am sharing with you a complete manufacturers ranking. Volkswagen leads the way with a comfortable margin and evolves like the market at 4,807 sales and 11.5% share, down 2% year-on-year. It is followed by Peugeot, potentially helped by the arrival of the 208 and up 2% to 3,770 units and 9%. Renault rounds up the podium but is down 20% to 3,662 sales and 8.8%.

BMW sales are up 17% year-on-year in Belgium in October.

Below Citroen down 7% at #4, the next most popular brands perfectly reflect the current European trend: German premium brands are now more successful than their mass market counterparts for the first time in history. Audi is up a whopping 20% and 2 spots compared to October 2011 to land at #5 with 2,943 sales and 7% share, BMW is up 17% to #6 with 2,515 units and 6% and Mercedes up 36% to #9 with 1,741 sales and 4.2%. Reversely, Opel is down 8% to #7 and Ford down 22% to #8, coinciding with the announcement of the closure of its Belgian factory in 2014.

Fisker Karma

Further down, notice Nissan up 35% to #10, Fiat up 34% to #14, Mini up 14% to #19, Chevrolet up 17% to #21, Land Rover up a huge 72% to #23 (thanks Evoque!), and the arrival of Fisker at #38 with 4 sales and Tesla at #47 with one unit sold.

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Full October 2012 Top 50 Ranking Table below.