European Passenger Car Sales Rise 3.0% Y/Y in February, According to ACEA

The European passenger car market's growth rate is starting to slip, according to data for February released by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA). The trade association has released sales data for the European Union (EU) showing a rise of just 3.0% year-on-year (y/y) to 974,346 units, taking the year-to-date (YTD) total to 2.03 million units, up 7.9% y/y. Including European markets not covered by the EU, sales just exceeded the 1-million-unit market, posting a gain of 3.2% y/y, while sales in the YTD increased by 8.1% y/y to 2.09 million units.

In terms of individual market data, the various scrappage schemes introduced by individual governments have greatly influenced the performances of the different markets within Europe. This is illustrated by the performance of Europe's biggest market, Germany, which posted a substantial 29.8% y/y decline during February; it was the only major Western European country to register a decline, resulting from the exhaustion of the country's scrappage scheme fund. France, the United Kingdom, and Spain all witnessed double-digit percentage gains during the month as their own schemes continued in some form or another. On the other hand, Italy, which withdrew its scheme at the end of 2009, also continued to exhibit double-digit growth in February, although this was mainly due to the extremely low base of comparison and lingering effects from the scrappage scheme, with orders still being fulfilled. There were still some big variations in the Eastern European markets. The Czech Republic posted a 12.8% y/y rise, whereas the biggest market in the region, Poland, suffered a 19.2% y/y decline. However, worst hit in this region were the Romanian and Hungarian markets, which recorded declines of 63.0% y/y and 57.9% y/y, respectively.

European Passenger Car Sales by Country: February 2010
	Feb 2010	Feb 2009	Y/Y %	YTD 2010	YTD 2009	Y/Y %
Austria	21,786	18,827	+15.7	42,668	37,819	+12.8
Belgium	47,584	45,904	+3.7	96,960	93,594	+3.6
Bulgaria	1,104	1,990	-44.5	2,106	3,898	-46.0
Czech Republic	11,080	9,823	+12.8	21,893	18,665	+17.3
Denmark	8,599	7,436	+15.6	19,271	15,237	+26.5
Estonia	415	794	-47.7	944	1,748	-46.0
Finland	7,589	7,186	+5.6	19,972	18,752	+6.5
France	180,535	152,720	+18.2	352,013	302,736	+16.3
Germany	194,846	277,740	-29.8	376,035	467,125	-19.5
Greece	13,727	15,592	-12.0	40,312	35,839	+12.5
Hungary	3,042	7,217	-57.9	5,810	13,294	-56.3
Ireland	12,306	8,883	+38.5	28,865	24,682	+16.9
Italy	200,560	166,320	+20.6	407,580	324,782	+25.5
Latvia	265	443	-40.2	531	937	-43.3
Lithuania	435	526	-17.3	874	1,270	-31.2
Luxemburg	4,081	4,165	-2.0	7,617	7,322	+4.0
Netherlands	37,786	33,936	+11.3	100,548	90,102	+11.6
Poland	24,384	30,194	-19.2	49,740	56,865	-12.5
Portugal	15,346	10,030	+53.0	29,905	19,025	+57.2
Romania	2,658	7,187	-63.0	4,792	21,002	-77.2
Slovakia	3,476	3,301	+5.3	6,393	6,208	+3.0
Slovenia	4,803	4,716	+1.8	9,853	9,288	+6.1
Spain	91,281	62,107	+47.0	161,411	121,492	+32.9
Sweden	17,972	14,603	+23.1	33,495	25,902	+29.3
United Kingdom	68,686	54,359	+26.4	214,165	166,446	+28.7
European Union (EU27)	974,346	945,999	+3.0	2,033,753	1,884,030	+7.9
Iceland	74	91	-19.0	162	217	-25.5
Norway	9,094	6,287	+44.6	18,791	11,640	+61.4
Switzerland	17,241	17,616	-2.1	35,979	35,447	+1.5
EFTA	26,409	23,994	+10.1	54,932	47,304	+16.1
EU27+EFTA	1,000,754	969,993	+3.2	2,088,684	1,931,334	+8.1

The strong declines now being seen in the German market pushed the Volkswagen (VW) Group into deficit during February as its sales slipped by 1.7% y/y. All of the automaker's brands recorded declines during the month, except for SEAT, which reported a gain by virtue of its largest market being Spain. Sales of other major European automakers were largely supported by the continuing effects of the scrappage schemes. Among them, French automakers the Renault Group and PSA Peugeot-Citroën saw increases of 30% y/y and 18.4% y/y, helped by the neighbouring Spanish market, where both companies have a strong presence, while the Fiat Group continued to capitalise on earlier incentives in Italy, lifting its overall sales in the region by 5.1% y/y. However, U.S.-based automakers Ford and General Motors (GM) had contrasting months, with the former seeing a gain of 5.0% y/y and the latter slipping by 7.4% y/y.

European Passenger Car Sales by OEM: February 2010
	Feb 2010	Feb 2009	Y/Y %	YTD 2010	YTD 2009	Y/Y %
All Brands**	1,000,754	969,993	+3.2	2,088,684	1,931,334	+8.1
VW Group	207,969	211,558	-1.7	431,648	412,050	+4.8
Volkswagen	110,878	112,391	-1.3	233,446	218,948	+6.6
Audi	40,926	43,618	-6.2	87,027	90,036	-3.3
Seat	23,241	21,215	+9.5	44,908	43,017	+4.4
Skoda	32,833	34,229	-4.1	66,013	59,797	+10.4
Others	91	105	-13.3	254	252	+0.8
PSA Group	149,128	125,914	+18.4	299,796	254,642	+17.7
Peugeot	79,740	67,453	+18.2	161,156	135,576	+18.9
Citroen	69,388	58,461	+18.7	138,640	119,066	+16.4
Renault Group	109,663	84,356	+30.0	225,226	156,651	+43.8
Renault	91,913	72,241	+27.2	190,235	134,370	+41.6
Dacia	17,750	12,115	+46.5	34,991	22,281	+57.0
Ford Group	99,801	95,024	+5.0	210,973	199,679	+5.7
Ford	83,702	81,624	+2.5	178,139	170,930	+4.2
Volvo	16,099	13,400	+20.1	32,834	28,749	+14.2
Fiat Group	91,944	87,500	+5.1	192,335	171,159	+12.4
Fiat	73,201	70,988	+3.1	154,218	138,174	+11.6
Lancia	10,337	8,723	+18.5	20,480	16,631	+23.1
Alfa Romeo	8,115	7,451	+8.9	16,913	15,451	+9.5
Others	291	338	-13.9	724	903	-19.8
GM Group	79,745	86,116	-7.4	161,868	166,456	-2.8
Opel/Vauxhall	66,478	70,462	-5.7	135,192	136,575	-1.0
Chevrolet	12,049	13,223	-8.9	24,325	24,693	-1.5
Saab	1,067	2,221	-52.0	1,905	4,810	-60.4
GM (US)	151	210	-28.1	446	378	+18.0
Toyota Group	44,462	55,463	-19.8	100,584	107,380	-6.3
Toyota	43,531	54,512	-20.1	97,767	104,974	-6.9
Lexus	931	951	-2.1	2,817	2,406	+17.1
BMW Group	45,632	42,761	+6.7	93,819	88,080	+6.5
BMW	38,259	35,942	+6.4	77,562	74,763	+3.7
Mini	7,373	6,819	+8.1	16,257	13,317	+22.1
Daimler	41,413	42,478	-2.5	82,548	90,864	-9.2
Mercedes	35,913	35,476	+1.2	71,872	76,619	-6.2
Smart	5,500	7,002	-21.5	10,676	14,245	-25.1
Nissan	27,877	21,113	+32.0	62,083	46,854	+32.5
Hyundai	26,114	25,128	+3.9	54,118	43,643	+24.0
Kia	18,042	15,367	+17.4		Automotive Industry Analysis, Forecasts, and Data   Subscribe to Perspectives, our weekly newsletter.    E-mail a Colleague
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