Belgium February 2019: Volkswagen clear leader, Volvo, Skoda and Opel impress, Citroen C3 on podium

Volkswagen leads the Belgian market in February, but also posts the largest year-on-year gain in the Top 10.

This article has been updated with the Top 10 models.

The January 2019 post has now been updated with the Top 10 models.

After skidding -10.2% in January, the Belgian new car market stabilises in February at -0.7% to 49.919 units, meaning the year-to-date volume is now down 5.7% to 100.993 sales. Volkswagen (+16.1%) ingress the muted context to fly off to just under 10% share, distancing Renault (+2.3%) back up 4 spots on January to #2 while Peugeot (-4.7%) is weak but still remains on the podium. Opel (+11.2%), Ford (+8.3%), Dacia (+6.4%) and Mercedes (+6.4%) post the largest gains in the remainder of the Top 10, while just outside, Volvo (+24.1%) and Skoda (+16.6%) impress. There are no other double-digit gainers in the Top 20, and among smaller brands Tesla (+374%) is emboldened by the arrival of the Model 3 and Bentley (+250%), Aston Martin (+100%), DS (+75.4%), Mitsubishi (+37.7%), Smart (+12.7%) and Jeep (+10.6%) make themselves noticed while Alpine climbs to #35 with 28 sales, by far its largest monthly volume since reentering the market last May.

Model-wise, the VW Golf (+26%) posts an outstanding month and distances the Renault Clio (-12.7%) while the Citroen C3 leaps from outside the January Top 10 directly into the podium ahead of there Opel Corsa (+14.2%), Peugeot 3008 (+53.1%) and VW Polo (+3.5%). The Mercedes A-Class jumps up to #7, the Skoda Octavia (+30.5%) and BMW X1 (+15.9%) also shine but the Hyundai Tucson (-37.2%) struggles.

Previous month: Belgium January 2019: Seat (+15.7%), Ford (+9%) resist in market down 10.2%

One year ago: Belgium January-February 2018: VW, Renault and Peugeot head-to-head

Full February 2019 Top 55 All-brands and Top 10 models below.