Belgium April 2020: BMW and Toyota top market down -90.1%

BMW is the best-selling brand in Belgium in April.

8/06 update: Now with the 2020 YTD Top 90 models.

Like its neighbour France, Belgium was under a strict, nationwide COVID-19  lockdown for all of April and new car sales accordingly drop -90.1% year-on-year to just 5.296 units. The year-to-date tally is now down -36.6% to 132.712 registrations. Traditionally the 6th largest European market behind the “Big Five” (Germany, UK, France, Italy and Spain), in a very atypical context in April Belgian sales outpace Italy (4.325), the UK (4.321) and Spain (4.163)…

BMW (-85.8%) edges up one spot on March to take the lead of the brands ranking for the month with 10.6% share. This is BMW’s 6th ever monthly pole position in Belgium after January 2016, January 2017. September 2018, October 2018 and January 2020 and a new share record, eclipsing the 10.4% it hit just last January.

Toyota (-68.4%) leaps up 7 spots on last month to #2 and 8.9% share, both carmakers toppling traditional leader Volkswagen (-91.4%). Opel (-87.5%) is up 7 ranks to #4, with Skoda (-87.8%) and Hyundai (-89.8%) also resisting better than the market in the remainder of the Top 10. Further down, Ferrari (-50%), Tesla (-51.9%), Land Rover (-67.1%), Jaguar (-79.2%), Mini (-81%), Bentley (-81.8%) and Porsche (-84.2%) perform “best”.

Model-wise, compared to January which is the last time we were able to give you access to detailed Belgian data, the VW Golf (-40.6%) reclaims the pole position off the Mercedes A-Class (-21.8%), while the Renault Clio (-54.7%) is up to #3 above the Opel Corsa (-28.8%) and Hyundai Tucson (-42.4%). The BMW 3 Series (+50%) continues to stun in 6th place overall, posting what is believed to be the only year-on-year gain in the Top 10. The Toyota Yaris surges to #7, the VW Tiguan to #9 and the Skoda Octavia to #10. Further down, notice the BMW X1 (#11) and 1 Series (#12) lined up just outside the Top 10, the Volvo XC40 up to #16, the Citroen C3 Aircross up from #54 in January to #19 YTD, the Mini up from #80 to #41, the Toyota Aygo up from #75 to #44 and the Tesla Model 3 appearing at #54.

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

One year ago: Belgium April 2019: Renault and Clio take the lead, BMW (+12.3%) on podium in market down -2%

Full April 2020 Top 60 All-brands and YTD 2020 Top 90 models below.