September proves to be best month yet in 2013 for European new car market

• September’s overall monthly increase reduced the year-to-date sales deficit on 2012 to the lowest amount so far this year

• 21 markets reported a rise in sales in September resulting in the largest single monthly improvement in 2013

• Two of the top 10 manufacturers – BMW and Mercedes – recorded increases for year-to-date sales

According to the latest new car sales analysis from JATO Dynamics, the world’s leading provider of automotive intelligence, the European new car market made impressive progress in September with an overall increase in registrations of new cars of 5.6% for the month compared with September 2012 – the largest single monthly increase seen so far in 2013.

JATO’s headline market analysis:

• The European new car market was just 3.9% behind 2012 performance in September, the smallest deficit seen so far in 2013

• Three of the ‘Big Five’ markets recorded an increase in sales in September compared with 2012 figures

• Great Britain posted the largest volume increases in both monthly and year-to-date registrations in Europe

In September, Great Britain posted increases in registrations of new vehicles of 43,524 (up 12.1%) for the month and 174,315 (up 10.8%) year-to-date, the largest volume increase in Europe.

Also making significant progress out of the ‘Big Five’ was Spain, where monthly sales increased by 30.7% from September last year. Compared with the same period in 2012, Spain now has just a 1.1% deficit in year-to-date sales.

Overall, the European new car market is now just 3.9% behind figures from this stage in 2012. France, Germany and the Netherlands all have some of the largest decreases in sales volumes in Europe, however all have either reduced the rate of reduction or, in the case of France, increased monthly sales performance during September.

Sales by Market

NOTE: * denotes estimated volumes for September 2013

Manufacturers had a good month with Peugeot and Citroen the only two of Europe’s top 10 who did not increase sales in September, year-on-year. Also within the monthly top 10, only Mercedes and BMW have seen an increase in sales year-to-date, compared with the same period in 2012.

Renault, who finished fourth in both the monthly and year-to-date top 10, recorded the largest increase in volume, up by 10,444 (16.8%) for the month. The successful launch of the new Captur crossover and strong sales of the Clio have contributed to this result.

Market leaders Volkswagen continued to dominate European sales figures, increasing monthly performance by 1.6% on September 2012. So far this year, the manufacturer has sold 1,164,131 vehicles, down 6.8% on the same period in 2012, but still selling 64.2% more volume than the next closest brand.

Top 10 Brands

The Volkswagen Golf also continues to lead the monthly top 10 models table, with increases of 17.4% for the month and 2.1% year-to-date compared with 2012, securing the model’s strong lead.

Behind the Golf are three B-segment models, including the Renault Clio, finishing third year-to-date and fourth in monthly top 10. The Clio recorded the largest percentage increase* in the top 10 for both these periods.

It was also a strong September for the BMW 3 Series. Finishing the month in seventh for the month and ninth for year-to-date, it was the only model outside the volume B- and C-segments to appear in the top 10.

Gareth Hession, Vice President of Research at JATO Dynamics, commented: “September’s results should be something for the European car market to celebrate. The fact that the deficit in year-to-date figures is the smallest we’ve seen this year is encouraging. Similarly, September saw the largest single monthly increase of 2013 so far. Although it is still too early to tell whether this signals the start of long-term improvement for the industry, our latest analysis shows there are certainly grounds for optimism.”

NOTES: *Year-to-date percentage changes for the Peugeot 208 are not representative due to the new model’s introduction in 2012 and have therefore been removed from the table and excluded from the narrative.