Europe October 2016: Opel Astra and VW Tiguan shine in market down

Old and new Vauxhall Astra 

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The European new car market marks a pause in October with sales down 0.5% to 1.140.978 registrations across 29 markets (Russia and Turkey excluded), indicating the strong growth of the past five years may have come to a peak. To keep things in perspective, this is still the second highest October score since 2009. Three of the top five markets registering a year-on-year gain: Italy (+10%), Spain (+3%), UK (+1.4%) while France (-4%) and Germany (-6%) decline. The best performing markets are Croatia (+18%), Cyprus (+12%), Slovakia (+11%), Czech Republic (+11%), Poland (+11%) and Lithuania (+11%), while the most affected are the Netherlands (-23%), Ireland (-12%), Norway (-9.5%) and Switzerland (-9%). As is the case in almost the entire world, SUVs continue to be the engine of growth in Europe with a splendid 12% gain to 302.851 registrations with compact (C-SUV) up 22.5% and midsize SUVs (D-SUV) up 20.1%.

The VW Tiguan ranks at a stunning 7th place and is the best-selling SUV in Europe.

Market leader Volkswagen bears the steepest fall in the Top 10 at -8% to 130.553 sales, meaning its YTD score is now in negative as well at -0.7%, the only brand in the Top 10 to lose ground so far in 2016. Renault (-2%) and Ford (-4%) complete a 100% declining podium ahead of Opel (+2%). In the luxury race, Audi (+2%) recuperates the #1 luxury spot it lost to Mercedes (+7%) last month while BMW gains 3%. Fiat (+2%) and Skoda (+5%) are also in positive while outside the Top 10, Maserati (+47%), Infiniti (+67%) and Jaguar (+76%) post the largest gains. The VW Golf, although still the #1 nameplate across the continent by a large margin, accelerates its fall at -21% in anticipation of the 2017 model. The Ford Fiesta is up 7.5% in 2nd place ahead of the VW Polo (-10%) and Renault Clio (-3%) but the heroes of the month are the Opel Astra up 56% to 5th place and the VW Tiguan up 52.5% to sign a third consecutive month inside the European Top 10 at #7, an impressive feat as before last August the Tiguan had never broken into the Top 10.

Previous post: Europe September 2016: Discover the Top 340 models and Top 52 brands

Previous month: Europe September 2016: Mercedes overtakes Audi YTD to #1 premium

One year ago: Europe October 2015: VW limits fall to 0.2%, Peugeot 308 at #8

Full October 2016 Top 10 brands and Top 20 models below.