Ford Fiesta Takes Over From VW Golf as Europe’s Best-Selling Car
.
By contrast, Fiat has seen a drop in March sales for its Punto and Panda, largely due to significantly reduced sales in Germany (-88% and -80% respectively).
Volkswagen Golf sales have continued to grow, but the strongest markets are not those where Golf is most popular. It was the only one of Germany’s top five cars to increase sales in March (+12.5%), and grew by 24.3% in the UK, but was outsold here 2:1 by Fiesta, year-to-date.
Most improved in the month’s top ten was the new model Opel/ Vauxhall Astra, which saw a 42.9 overall March sales rise, aided greatly by a 75.9% uplift in the UK, where it was the third best-selling car.
Top 10 Models
|
Make & Model |
Mar_10 |
Mar_09 |
% Change Mar |
Mar YtD_10 |
Mar YtD_09 |
% Change YtD |
|
FORD FIESTA |
68,630 |
54,573 |
+25.8% |
140,496 |
115,406 |
+21.7% |
|
VOLKSWAGEN GOLF |
56,845 |
48,189 |
+18.0% |
135,048 |
122,290 |
+10.4% |
|
RENAULT CLIO |
43,879 |
31,606 |
+38.8% |
103,576 |
66,319 |
+56.2% |
|
OPEL CORSA |
41,724 |
40,582 |
+2.8% |
85,992 |
80,571 |
+6.7% |
|
PEUGEOT 207 |
40,895 |
39,416 |
+3.8% |
91,223 |
90,621 |
+0.7% |
|
FORD FOCUS |
39,661 |
34,723 |
+14.2% |
79,677 |
78,158 |
+1.9% |
|
OPEL ASTRA |
39,121 |
27,370 |
+42.9% |
79,396 |
59,593 |
+33.2% |
|
VOLKSWAGEN POLO |
36,922 |
38,403 |
-3.9% |
94,859 |
76,799 |
+23.5% |
|
FIAT PUNTO |
31,646 |
37,465 |
-15.5% |
86,019 |
73,165 |
+17.6% |
|
FIAT PANDA |
30,483 |
33,693 |
-9.5% |
74,730 |
72,250 |
+3.4% |
Brand Performance
Ford has also secured the top spot in the March brand chart, on its Fiesta success – 1,818 sales ahead of Volkswagen in March, whilst also closing the year-to-date gap to its German rival.
March was a less successful month for Fiat and Toyota, as both slipped in sales, losing 4.3% and 12.4%, respectively.
Toyota’s top three European selling models, the Yaris, Auris and Aygo, all dropped sales, compared to March 2009, most likely to be a consequence of the recent media coverage regarding the brand’s recall activity and regardless of its strong CO2 performances. Toyota had also previously seen strong sales in Germany, so is affected by that market’s poor performance.
Similarly, Fiat had been one of the big winners last year from the German scrappage scheme, and is now suffering much reduced sales (-21,057 units in March alone) following the conclusion of that scheme.
Top 10 Brands
|
Make |
Mar_10 |
Mar_09 |
% Change Mar |
Mar YtD_10 |
Mar YtD_09 |
% Change YtD |
|
FORD |
169,871 |
145,605 |
+16.7% |
348,780 |
317,429 |
+9.9% |
|
VOLKSWAGEN |
168,053 |
155,941 |
+7.8% |
401,082 |
372,205 |
+7.8% |
|
RENAULT |
130,748 |
103,370 |
+26.5% |
320,855 |
236,091 |
+35.9% |
|
OPEL/VAUXHALL |
123,466 |
117,391 |
+5.2% |
258,460 |
252,997 |
+2.2% |
|
PEUGEOT |
116,732 |
98,431 |
+18.6% |
277,663 |
232,193 |
+19.6% |
|
FIAT |
108,458 |
113,312 |
-4.3% |
262,840 |
249,527 |
+5.3% |
|
CITROEN |
95,737 |
80,492 |
+18.9% |
234,120 |
198,221 |
+18.1% |
|
AUDI |
71,406 |
62,863 |
+13.6% |
158,473 |
152,414 |
+4.0% |
|
TOYOTA |
69,365 |
79,203 |
-12.4% |
172,084 |
182,390 |
-5.7% |
|
BMW |
66,955 |
59,240 |
+13.0% |
141,084 |
130,918 |
+7.8% |
National Trends
All of the major European markets, except Germany, posted sales gains for both March and year-to-date 2010, compared to 2009.
These performances have led to a net improvement for both the month and year-to-date, of almost 10%, reflecting a tentative recovery from the darker times of 2009.
Once again Spain, Great Britain, Italy and France all recorded double-digit sales growth, with Spain sales an impressive 44.8% up year-to-date and Great Britain taking the accolade of largest European market in March 2010.
[source: JATO]
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By Pure Green Cars on 04/19/2010 – 9:35 pm PDT -- Green