Belgium March 2020: COVID-19 lockdown pulls market down -47.5%

Belgium is under strict lockdown since March 17.

In response to the coronavirus outbreak, on March 17 non-essential travel was prohibited and non-essential shops closed in Belgium and on March 20 the country closed its borders to all non-essential travel. The lockdown has now been extended to April 19. As a result the Belgian new car market freefalls in March at -47.5% year-on-year to 28.801 units, leading to a year-to-date tally down -18.2% to 127.416. Volkswagen (-43.2%) falls slightly slower than the market and retains the brands lead with 10.4% share vs. 9.8% so far this year. BMW (-38.6%) is up two spots on last month to #2 as is Mercedes (-39.5%) to #3, leapfrogging past Renault (-62.2%) and Peugeot (-56.4%) significantly more affected. All remaining Top 10 brands contain their loss to below the market rate, with Toyota (-25.6%), Skoda (-31.6%), Citroen (-36.3%) and Audi (-37%) faring best. Further down, Tesla (+18%) is the only Top 30 brand in positive, breaking into the Top 20 for the third time after last September (#20) and December (#19), breaking a new ranking record at #18.

Previous month: Belgium February 2020: Toyota (+53%), Citroen (+18.2%) impress, Polestar lands in market down -6.3%

One year ago: Belgium March 2019: Hyundai, Volvo, Tesla resist in market down -6.1%

Full March 2020 Top 53 All-brands ranking below.