Car sales in the European Union were strong in the first half, up 9.4% to 7,842,965 according to the ACEA (Europe Automobile Manufacturers Association). Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) did poorly by comparison, and General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) also faltered. The numbers signal the challenges the U.S. car companies have outside America.

Over the January to June period, Ford sales rose only 5.4% to 554,861. Sales of GM’s Opel operation rose 8.1% to 533,242. Both had sales that were dwarfed by European car companies. Volkswagen, the largest of these, leads the market, despite the scandal over its diesel engines.

VW’s market share in the first half was 23.7%, up to 1,855,323, an increase of 4.5%. (Note that the market share of GM, the largest car company in the United States, is about 17% in its home market.) VW’s sales were helped considerably by sales at its Audi and Porsche divisions.

Sales of the number two car company in Europe, PSA Group, maker of Peugeot, rose 6.4% to 815,610. Its market share for the first half was 10.4%. Sales of the third place company, Renault, rose 12.4% to 804,887.

The figures not only show that Ford and GM struggle in sales, but that they are very small parts of the market. Luxury brand BMW sold almost at many cars as GM in the first half at 512,336, up 14.3%.

One reason GM and Ford shares have had a hard time advancing is that the EU is one of three essential markets worldwide, along with the United States and China. While GM has a large market share in China, Ford has had to fight to stay in the middle of the pack there.

For the time being, Europe is a considerable drag on both of them.

About the ACEA:

The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) represents the 15 Europe-based car, van, truck and bus makers.

ACEA works with a variety of institutional, non-governmental, research and civil society partners – as well as with a number of industry associations with related interests.

ACEA has permanent cooperation with the European Council for Automotive R&D (EUCAR), which is the industry body for collaborative research and development.

ACEA has close relations with the 29 national automobile manufacturers’ associations in Europe, and maintains a dialogue on international issues with automobile associations around the world.

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