Europe December 2017: Captur on podium, Duster in Top 10

First European podium for the Renault Captur.

* See the Top 55 brands and Top 350 models by clicking on the title *

The European new car market ends 2017 on a sour note: down 5% to 1.129.332 units. Volkswagen is down 4.3%, Renault down 10% but BMW leaps up four spots on November to land at a stellar third place with sales up 5.4%. It is followed by Peugeot (+9.3%) ahead of seven consecutive declining brands: Ford (-7.4%), Mercedes (-7.1%), Opel (-19.4%), Audi (-4.2%), Skoda (-3.7%), Toyota (-5.1%) and Fiat (-22%). Lada (+177.9%), Tesla (+75.7%), Lamborghini (+69.2%), Cadillac (+47.4%), Jeep (+11.7%) and Mini (+10.1%) are among the rare carmakers posting double-digit year-on-year gains for December, with Dacia (+9.3%), Kia (+7.7%) and Seat (+7.7%) also strong in the Top 20.

The Peugeot 208 remains in 4th place overall in Europe.

Over in the models ranking, Renault’s traditional demo and fleet sales end-of-period rush results in artificially boosted volumes and a couple of records. The VW Golf maintains the leads but its gain drops to a meagre 1.2%, still almost 10.000 units above the Renault Clio (-11.4%). The Renault Captur is up four spots on November and 8.2% year-on-year to post first ever European podium at #3, beating its previous high of #5 established last June. The Peugeot 208 (+8%) holds onto the 4th spot thanks to strong German leases, the VW Tiguan (-2.1%) is inside the Top 5 for the 4th time in the past 5 months, outselling the Nissan Qashqai for the third consecutive time. The Ford Fiesta (-24.8%), VW Polo (-24.3%) and Skoda Octavia (-14.8%) freefall but the event is in 9th place.

Very first European Top 10 for the Dacia Duster.

Combining an outgoing first generation – probably discounted despite the brand’s strict policy on this matter, the arrival of the new model in concessions and the Renault Group’s generous end-of-period loading up of artificial sales, the Dacia Duster breaks into the European Top 10 for the first time in history with deliveries up 20.3% to over 15.600. This concludes a stellar year for Dacia, as the Sandero broke into the Top 10 for the first time in May at #10, lifted that record to #7 in July and broke into the Top 5 in August at #5… In the space of eight months, Dacia has gone from no nameplate ever ranking inside the European Top 10 to one in the Top 5 and one in the Top 10. The Duster’s 9th place means there are four SUVs in the European Top 9: the most of any month in history.

The Volvo XC40 makes its first appearance in the European sales charts. 

Further down, notice the Peugeot 3008 up 46% to #18, the Ford Kuga up 57.3% to #22, the BMW X1 up 19.4% to #26, BMW 5 Series up 56.6% to #35, Mercedes GLC up 37.6% to #39, Toyota C-HR up 46.7% to #49 and Nissan Micra up 39% to #50. The Opel Crossland X leads all newcomers at #65 ahead of the Citroen C3 Aircross at #82 and the Kia Stonic at #110. Below, the Hyundai Kona is up 30 spots on November to #118, the VW T-Roc up 44 to #120, the Seat Arona up 15 to #124 and the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross up 46 to #229. This month we welcome the Volvo XC40 in the European charts at #272.

FY2017 post: Europe Full Year 2017: VW Golf celebrates 10 consecutive years at #1

Previous month (final): Europe November 2017: Discover the Top 350 models and Top 55 brands

Previous month (prel): Europe November 2017: 3008 and 208 lift Peugeot up 20.7%

One year ago (final): Europe December 2016: Discover the Top 345 models and Top 55 brands

One year ago (prel): Europe November 2016: Renault places Clio, Captur & Megane in Top 7

Full December 2017 Top 55 brands and Top 350 models below.