Ford, Chrysler European Sales Rise in May

Cars and Drivers

Published: June 16, 2015 8:55 am

Last Updated: April 27, 2020 9:35 pm

The European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) reported that new vehicle registrations in the European Union rose 1.3% year-over-year in May and were up 6.8% for the year to date. For the month Germany led with 256,385 new registrations, followed by the United Kingdom with 198,706 and Italy with 146,582.

For the first five months of 2015, new car registrations in Germany were up 3.6% to 1.3 million, and sales in the United Kingdom were up 5.7% to 1.06 million. May marks the 21st consecutive month that registrations have increased. However, the rise is the smallest percentage since the streak began.

Including all of Western Europe, the top-selling maker is Volkswagen with total sales year to date of 1.37 million units, up 4.9% year over year. In May, VW’s sales totaled 269,141, down 3.3% from sales of 278,405 in May 2014. Sales of the company’s Porsche cars rose 33.2%. VW’s market share for the year to date is 24.4%.

PSA Group, maker of Peugeot and Citroen, posted market share of 10.5% in May and 10.9% for the first five months of the year. In third place was Renault, with a May share of 9% and a year-to-date share of 9.3%.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (NYSE: FCAU) ranked fourth in May, with a market share of 7.1%. Registrations of Fiat brand vehicles rose 8.7% in the month and 11.4% year to date. The big gain came in Jeep registrations, up 190.1% year to date, far higher than any other brand by any maker.

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The top U.S. maker by market share in May was fifth-ranked Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F), which claimed 7% of the European market, down from 7.2% a year ago. For the year to date, unit sales are up 4.1% to 408,186, but the company’s market share slipped from 7.5% in 2014 to 7.3%.

General Motors Co.’s (NYSE: GM) Opel Group nabbed sixth place with May market share of 6.8%, but that was down 5.6% compared with May 2014. For the year to date, Opel Group’s unit registrations are down 3.5% and share has dropped from 7.3% to 6.6%.

BMW posted a year-over-year gain of 7.5% in new registrations in May, and registrations are up 11.3% year to date. The company’s Mini brand posted year-to-date unit sales growth of 35.1%. May market share rose from 6.1% a year ago to 6.6%, and year to date, share is up from 6.2% to 6.5%.

Daimler saw Mercedes-Benz registrations rise 11.1% in May and 13.4% in the first five months of 2015. The company’s market share for May came in at 6.3%, up from 5.8% a year ago, and share for the first five months of the year rose from 5.6% to 5.9%.

The top-ranked Japanese automakers were Nissan and Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) with May market share of 3.8% each. That total represents a gain for Nissan and a drop for Toyota.

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