GM Continues to Take a Beating in Europe Car Sales

Cars and Drivers

Published: November 18, 2014 6:45 am

Car sales in Europe have continued to grow as the European Union slowly emerges from its deep recession. General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) was the only major car company that did not turn in positive numbers, continuing a string of sales problems that have triggered years of losses. According to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA):

In October, in the EU passenger car registrations increased (+6.5%) from a year earlier to 1,072,837 units sold, marking the fourteenth consecutive month of growth.

The recovery remains uneven, particularly as some economies still struggle for economic improvement:

Substantial growth prevailed in most major markets, Spain (+26.1%), the UK (+14.2%), Italy (+9.2%) and Germany (+3.7%), leading to an upturn (+6.5%) across the region as a whole. Only France recorded a slight decline (-3.8%) over the same month a year ago.

In October, sales by Volkswagen, the largest car company in the region by far, rose 6.9% to 276,816. Its market share moved from 25.7% in the same month last year to 25.8%. By contrast, GM has the largest market share in the auto industry in the United States at about 18%.

October sales for the number two manufacturer, PSA Group, which owns Peugeot, rose 11% to 118,432. Its market share dropped from 11.6% to 11.1%. In the third spot, Renault Group sales were up 10.5% to 107,449. Its market share rose from 9.6% in October last year to 10.0%.

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In another bit of bad news for GM, its primary rival, Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F), posted modest results with sales up 4.3% to 76,312, though its market share was down from 7.3% in October of last year to 7.1%.

GM’s sales dropped 5.1% to 69,421. Its market shared took at skid from 7.3% to 6.5%. In a sign of how difficult its situation has become, luxury car maker BMW sold nearly as many cars as the U.S. company did. It posted unit sales of 69,421, up 9.4%.

GM remains hopeful about Europe, although the numbers do not justify that hope. According to The Wall Street Journal:

GM’s European unit, Adam Opel AG, appears to be on the cusp of breaking even before its 2016 target date — welcome news for GM Chief Executive Mary Barra, amid the fallout from a massive recall that is expected to take a $1.3 billion bite out of GM’s first-quarter profit.

Hard to believe.