Cars and Drivers

Ford October European Sales Maintain Volume, Share Lead Over Fiat Chrysler

courtesy of Ford Motor Co.

The European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) reported Thursday that new vehicle registrations in the European Union (EU) rose 5.9% in October compared with new registrations in October of 2016. New registrations for the month totaled 1.17 million units. New registrations fell by 2% in September, so the return to growth is good news.

Bulgaria reported the largest year-over-year gain, up 41% to a total of 3,000. The biggest decline came in Ireland, down 13.8% with just 1,946 new registrations. On a volume basis, registrations in Germany totaled 272,855 units (up 3.9% year over year) and registrations in the United Kingdom totaled 158,192 units (down 12.2%).

For the first 10 months of 2017, new passenger car registrations are up 3.9% to a total of 12.83 million. Registrations rose the most in Lithuania (23.7%), Croatia (21.7%) and Bulgaria (20.5%). Sales in the United Kingdom are down 4.6% for the same period.

The top-selling maker in the EU is Volkswagen, which sold 286,744 vehicles in October, up 4.8% year over year for the month. VW’s market share for the month totaled 24.5%, down from 24.8% in October 2016. Registrations are up 2.6% for the first 10 months of the year.

PSA Group, makers of Peugeot and Citroen among other brands, posted an increase of 74.1% to 189,876 units. The company’s market share rose from 9.9% to 16.2%. The increase includes sales in the Opel/Vauxhall group the company acquired from General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) earlier this year.

Renault Group posted an increase of 17.7% to 123,956 units, while its year-over-year share rose from 9.5% in October 2016 to 10.6%.

Of the Detroit Three, Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) sold 78,248 units in October, up 5.5% year over year for the month. The company’s October market share came to 6.7%, flat with last year.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (NYSE: FCAU) saw its market share in the EU dip from 6.7% in October 2016 to 6.4% this year. Sales were led by a 19.8% increase in sales of the company’s Jeep brand and an 18.7% increase in Alfa Romeo sales. FCA sold 74,647 units in October, up 1.1% compared with October 2016.

GM has effectively left the EU market and had sales of just 35 units in October.

BMW Group’s market share in October fell from 7% a year ago to 6.1%. The company sold 71,459 units last month. Daimler posted a market share gain, ticking up from 6.5% in October 2016 to 6.6% last month with sales totaling 76,983 units.

Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) posted market share of 4.6% in October, up from 4.1% a year ago. Sales volume rose 20.5% to 55,115 units. The percentage increase came in the company’s Toyota division, up 22% year over year while Lexus division sales rose 0.5%.

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