Austria July 2021: Dacia Sandero surprise leader in market floundering -19.7%

The Dacia Sandero is the best-selling vehicle in Austria in July.

New car sales in Austria recede by a tough -19.7% year-on-year in July to 19.902 units, a particularly poor performance keeping in mind July 2020 was already down -21.1% on the year prior. The year-to-date tally now stands at 154.298, up 12.2% over the same period a year ago. Brand leader Volkswagen (-19.4%) almost exactly matches the market to lodge a 15.6% share, in line with the 16.1% it commands year-to-date. Skoda (-38.3%) falls apart but stays in 2nd place with 8.3% share while BMW (-3.9%) resists well and steps up one spot on June to #3 overall. The next three brands all trail the market: Seat (-32%), Ford (-29%) and Mercedes (-23.2%) all would rather forget this month. Audi (-1.4%) is very strong at #7 but the best performer in the Top 10 and only year-on-year gainer is Dacia (+45.1%) soaring 8 spots on last month to crack the Top 10 for what is believed to be the first time ever at #9. Below and in sales order, Kia (+7%), Mini (+5.2%), Land Rover (+22.6%), MG (+221.4%), Subaru (+17.1%) and JAC (+200%) post the only additional year-on-year upticks in market.

Model-wise, the Dacia Sandero (+239.9%) surges from outside of the June Top 20 right into its first ever pole position in Austria with 2.9% share. Its previous best was #5 last December and the last time it ranked inside the Austrian Top 20 was last March (#14). The Sandero is rewarded with a spot in the YTD Top 20 at #15. The Skoda Octavia (-59.9%) rallies back up 6 spots on June to return to the #2 ranking it holds year-to-date even though it loses more than half its July 2020 volume. The VW Bus (+6%) advances to third place above the Fiat 500 lineup (-5.1%). The VW Tiguan (+33.2%), Hyundai Tucson (+12.7%) and Mini Cooper (+5.2%) defy the negative context with solid year-on-year lifts. Outside the Top 10, the Dacia Duster (+29.8%), Toyota Yaris (+24.9%) and Seat Leon (+0.8%) also progress year-on-year while the Opel Mokka scores the first Top 20 finish for this generation at #18.

Previous month: Austria June 2021: Fiat 500 lineup takes control of market down -2.2%

One year ago: Austria July 2020: Skoda, Renault, Mercedes only survivors in reeling market (-21.1%)

Full July 2021 Top 50 All-brands and Top 20 models below.