Media & Insight

Medienarchiv
September 29, 2017 by Felipe Munoz

European car registrations increased by 5.4% in August, but summer continues to be a quiet month for the industry

  • European car registrations grew by 5.4% for August 2017, with a total of 899,272 registrations
  • Despite the growth, August continues to be a quiet month for the industry – with registrations in certain countries as much as 50% lower than the typical monthly average
  • Renault-Nissan threatens to overtake PSA Group as Europe’s second biggest car group in terms of market share, as Renault-Nissan’s biggest brands post double-digit growth

The European car industry continued to grow in August 2017, with new registrations for the month totalling 899,272 units, which was an increase of 5.4% on the same period last year. This was thanks to good results for the month in France, Italy and Spain, which made up for a fall in registrations experienced in the UK.

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Notably, Poland recorded an outstanding result for the month, registering a significant 21.8% increase in volume, placing it only 1,000 units behind Belgium, Europe’s sixth largest market. Poland’s strong economic performance is the reason behind this boost to its car market and it is clear that this growth will continue.

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August is usually a quiet month for car registrations and average monthly sales for August for the last 5 years were 31% lower than the total monthly average. Italy is the market that feels the biggest effects of the summer, with its registrations for August being 50% lower than its typical monthly average. Other markets that are also significantly impacted by the summer holidays include France, where registrations for August are 40% lower than the typical monthly average, followed by Croatia (-37%), Portugal (-31%), Greece (-29%) and Spain (-26%). In contrast, Romania’s registrations for August are 34% higher than its typical monthly average.

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„August is usually a quiet month for car registrations and our data shows that the average monthly sales for August in the last 5 years were 31% lower than the total monthly average. The summer holidays clearly have a lot to do with this. Italy is the market which is most impacted by the summer, as its economy more or less stops in the second and third weeks of August. This affects all brands who sell cars in Italy, but particularly those who rely on the market the most, such as Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Jeep, who all sold lower volumes. Other markets that are similarly hit by the summer include France, Croatia, Portugal, Greece and Spain. Not every country experiences this August lull though, in fact, both Romania and Norway have seen their average registrations grow in August by 34% and 2% respectively,“ commented Felipe Munoz, Global Automotive Analyst at JATO Dynamics.  

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VW Group kept its lead, despite losing 0.6 percentage points of market share. Second place PSA Group is under threat from Renault-Nissan, whose big brands all posted double-digit growth. The Golf experienced positive growth for the month. Other high performing models for August were the Clio, Sandero, Qashqai, Yaris, Mokka, C3, 500 and Leon. Good month for new Compass, XC60, 5-Series, Micra, B-Max, Tipo, X-Trail and Countryman.

The Peugeot 3008 SUV was the model to post the highest market share increase in August

The Peugeot 3008 SUV was the model to post the highest market share increase in August

Download file: august-2017-europe-reg-release-final.pdf