Automotive News Europe - August 2019 - 15

AUTOMOTIVE NEWS EUROPE

AUTOMAKERS

for 95 percent of its European sales, and
strong demand for its new UX premium
compact crossover.
Among other brands, the updated Duster
small SUV pushed Dacia to a 10 percent
sales growth. "They are the biggest winner in the first half," Munoz said of Renault Group's budget brand. "The secondgeneration Duster is working even better
than the first one -- the perceived quality
is a little better, and it's still cheaper and
bigger than most of its rivals."
Citroen sales increased by 6.5 percent,
helped by demand for the C3 and C5 Aircross SUVs, while Seat grew 6 percent
with the introduction of the midsize Tarraco seven-seat SUV, which is emerging as a challenger to rivals such as the
Skoda Kodiaq and Peugeot 5008.

Munoz said one surprise winner in the
first half was BMW, which outperformed
both the market, losing just 0.3 percent
in sales, and its premium rivals Mercedes-Benz (down 1.8 percent) and Audi
(down 6 percent).
BMW's revamped SUV range, including
the new X2, and new versions of the X3
and X5, boosted the brand's volume,
Munoz said. The X1 also remained the
best-selling premium compact SUV.
One winner not tracked by ACEA is Tesla, which started European sales of its
midsized electric Model 3 this year. Deliveries spiked in March and June, Munoz
said, perhaps related to the company's
quarterly goals. "The Model 3 is taking
sales away from the other premium cars
in its segment," he said, including the

ALPINE, LANCIA SURGE AHEAD
12 brands increased sales; 8 others lost sales but outperformed the overall market
Alpine*
Lancia/Chrysler
Mitsubishi
Lexus
Dacia
Citroen
Seat
Jaguar
Volvo
Jeep
Kia
Smart
Toyota
BMW
Mazda
Skoda
Mercedes
Hyundai
Land Rover
Peugeot
Total market
Opel/Vauxhall
Mini
Audi
Renault
Volkswagen
Ford
DS
Fiat
Lada
Honda
Porsche
Nissan
Alfa Romeo

H1 2019
2,575
34,784
82,151
27,510
316,424
356,511
269,143
43,428
174,999
92,125
268,305
52,730
387,360
428,544
124,813
398,256
448,502
284,396
81,874
527,561
8,426,190
474,805
108,570
406,977
590,155
936,348
513,338
24,284
380,570
2,399
66,601
35,426
217,137
29,336

H1 2018
636
27,297
72,348
24,772
287,417
334,641
253,271
41,589
170,829
90,311
264,010
52,132
389,063
429,740
125,649
401,722
456,593
290,459
83,878
543,653
8,696,227
494,991
113,888
433,101
631,155
1,000,984
556,597
26,623
423,848
2,753
78,697
44,194
286,610
50,269

*2019 was first full year on market for Alpine

AUGUST 2019

% change share '19 share '18
+305
+0.0
+0.0
+27
0.4
0.3
+14
1.0
0.8
+11
0.3
0.3
+10
3.8
3.3
+6.5
4.2
3.8
+6.3
3.2
2.9
+4.4
0.5
0.5
+2.4
2.1
2.0
+2.0
1.1
1.0
+1.6
3.2
3.0
+1.1
0.6
0.6
-0.4
4.6
4.5
-0.3
5.1
4.9
-0.7
1.5
1.4
-0.9
4.7
4.6
-1.8
5.3
5.3
-2.1
3.4
3.3
-2.4
1.0
1.0
-3.0
6.3
6.3
-3.1
-4.1
5.6
5.7
-4.7
1.3
1.3
-6.0
4.8
5.0
-6.5
7.0
7.3
-6.5
11.1
11.5
-7.8
6.1
6.4
-8.8
0.3
0.3
-10
4.5
4.9
-13
0.0
0.0
-15
0.8
0.9
-20
0.4
0.5
-24
2.6
3.3
-42
0.3
0.6
Source: ACEA

BMW 3 series, Mercedes C Class and
Audi A4.

Biggest losers
Thirteen brands trailed the market, with
the biggest drops among volume brands
such as Nissan (down 27 percent), Fiat
(10 percent), Ford (7.8 percent) -- and
at Europe's two largest brands, Volkswagen and Renault (down 6.5 percent,
respectively).
Nissan's troubles relate to an aging SUV
lineup and weak demand for the Micra
small hatchback, Munoz said. "What used
to be their growth drivers, the X-Trail,
Juke and Qashqai, are facing many new
competitors," he said.
Renault's decline is not unexpected. The
automaker finished renewing its lineup
in 2017 and will begin rolling out new
models this year, starting with the Clio,
Munoz said. VW brand has been hurt by
falling sales for cars such as the Golf,
Polo and Passat in the face of demand
for SUVs and crossovers. "The weight of
the Polo and Golf on VW's lineup is huge,
and when these cars are not performing,
this is the result," Munoz said.
By group, only Toyota-Lexus was in positive sales territory, up just 0.3 percent,
but five other groups outperformed the
market, and showed small decreases, including Jaguar Land Rover (down 0.1 percent) and Hyundai-Kia (down 0.3 percent).
Trailing the market were VW Group (down
4.4 percent), Renault Nissan Mitsubishi (down 5.5 percent) and Fiat Chrysler
(down 9.5 percent).

Tariff threat
A factor weighing on the market is
slowing GDP growth because of trade
disputes and new tariffs, especially between the U.S. and its major partners.
"Trade and investment have slowed
sharply, especially in Europe and Asia,"
the OECD said.
Nonetheless, European unemployment
continues to fall, and is now at its lowest rate since 2008, at 6.4 percent.
Consumer confidence remains above its
historical average, although it has fallen
markedly from a peak in early 2018.
ACEA has revised its full-year European
sales forecast to minus 1 percent from
plus 1 percent. The rate of growth in EU
car sales has been slowing since 2015,
when the market rose by 9.3 percent.
In 2016 sales rose 6.8 percent, the rise
was 3.4 percent in 2017 and volume increased by 0.1 percent last year. ANE

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Automotive News Europe - August 2019

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