Cars and Drivers

Ford and GM Sales Surge in Europe

Douglas A. McIntyre

Published: December 15, 2015 6:55 am

Last Updated: January 13, 2020 4:06 pm

Ford Motor Co.’s (NYSE: F) and General Motors Co.’s (NYSE: GM) sales in Europe during November will outpace impressive overall increases in the market. Volkswagen, on the other hand, was mauled.

The ACEA reported:

In November 2015, the EU passenger car market recorded a very strong increase (+13.7%), marking the 27th consecutive month of growth and totalling 1,085,259 units. All major passenger car markets rose strongly during the month, significantly contributing to the positive outcome of the EU perimeter. Spain (+25.4%), Italy (+23.5%) and France (+11.3%) posted double‐digit percentage gains, followed by Germany (8.9%) which also performed better than in November 2014. The UK market recovered in November (+3.8%) as well after showing decline in October.

The monthly sales rate is slightly below that of the United States.

Ford sales rose 20.5% to 76,192. Ford is the fourth largest car manufacturer in Europe, behind Volkswagen, PSA Group (which makes Peugeot) and Renault Group.

GM, in fifth place overall, posted sales higher by 18.3% to 73,269. GM’s struggles in Europe have caused losses for over a decade.

VW sales rose only 4.1% to 283,797.

The two large European luxury car companies, BMW and Mercedes, continued to post strong increases as they have, both in the European Union and the United States. BMW sales in Europe rose 10.1% to 72,871. The level is particularly strong because BMW is a niche manufacturer. Daimler Benz, parent of Mercedes, posted a sales increase of 22.8% to 67,444.

Japanese manufacturers did not keep pace with the market. Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) sales rose only 6.1% to 45,464. Nissan sales were up 5.4% to 37,699. Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (NYSE: HMC) has hardly any presence at all in Europe. Its sales rose 24.5% to 10,792.

For the time being, Ford and GM sales in Europe have taken off.