Europe First Half 2016: Volkswagen down to lowest share in 6 years

 The VW Golf is still #1 in Europe but is down 2% in a market up 9%.

* See the Top 10 best-selling brands and Top 20 models by clicking on the title *

The European new car market, composed of 29 countries excluding Russia and Turkey, hits its highest level since pre-recession 2008 this year with registrations up 9.1% over the First Half of 2016 to 8.089.730 units. Germany (1.73m), UK (1.42m), France (1.1m), Italy (1.05m) and Spain (.63m) remain the largest markets on the continent, Serbia (+27%), Latvia (+27%), Cyprus (+26%), Lithuania (+25%), Hungary (+24%), Ireland (+23%) and Croatia (+21%) are the most dynamic, whereas Switzerland (-3%) and the Netherlands (-4.5%) are the only ones to lose volume.

Thanks in part to the Kadjar, Renault is up 15% to #2 in Europe so far in 2016. 

The big story in these first six months of 2016 is how Volkswagen sales are affected by its emissions scandal: up just 1%, the German manufacturer drops almost one percentage point of market share to 11.2%, its lowest H1 market share since 2010. The drop doesn’t really reflect a consumer reaction to the scandal – they appear for the most part unfazed – but more so a slight disengagement of the brand marketing-wise, hampered by legal challenges popping out of almost every country in the world. On the other hand, helped by a renewed lineup and the success of its Captur and Kadjar SUVs, Renault gains 15% to overtake Ford for the European 2nd spot with just under 595.000 sales and 7.4% share. Opel and Peugeot round out the Top 5, remaining roughly at the same level market share-wise.

The Panda (+21%) helps Fiat up 17% in Europe this year. 

In the luxury aisle, Audi remains in the lead with deliveries up 14% to 442.651 but its domination is being challenged by its perennial competitors Mercedes, up 15% to 426.846, and BMW up 11% to 425.268. If Audi led in January, February, April and May, it was #2 in March below BMW and #3 in June below both Mercedes and BMW. Fiat is the most improved manufacturer in the Top 10 at +17% to 411.000 sales thanks to the success at home of the Panda and Europe-wide of the 500 and 500X. Skoda (+9%) remains at #10.

The Opel Astra is back inside the European Top 10. 

The VW Golf predictably keeps the lead of the models ranking even though it drops 2% year-on-year to just under 270.000 sales. That’s still almost 100.000 more than the next best thing: the Renault Clio, up 4% to 173.500. Both the Clio and the VW Polo (+5%) overtake the Ford Fiesta, skidding 9% to 159.500 and now just above the Opel Corsa (-2%). The Peugeot 208 (+14%) takes advantage of its facelift while the Opel Astra (+26%) benefits from a new generation to re-enter the Top 10 at #7. The Renault Captur and Peugeot 308, both up 10%, get one step closer to a Top 10 ranking at #11 and #12 respectively. The Fiat Panda is up 21% to #14, the Peugeot 2008 up 13% to #18, the Skoda Fabia up 20% to #19 and the Dacia Sandero up 15% to #20.

Previous post: Europe June 2016: VW down 1%, Renault up 21% in market up 6.5%

One year ago: Europe First Half 2015: Recovery now firmly in place – albeit artificial?

Full H1 2016 Top 10 brands and Top 20 models vs. Full H1 2015 figures below.