According to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, the VW group, which includes the VW, Audi, Skoda, Seat, and Porsche brands, posted sales across all these brands which rose 8.4% to 315,905. VW brand sales rose 6.6% to 152,130 That was less than the rate for the entire EU which was 9.8% to 1,356,868, but was hardly a disaster.
VW’s most direct competitors did not best its growth by much. The number two car company in the EU, PSA Group, which owns Peugeot, posted an increase of 4.9% to 133,911. Third place manufacturer Renault posted a September increase of 4.9% to 108,520.
The only U.S. car company which did well in the EU in September was Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F), but even its growth of +8.0 to 108,684 was comparatively slow
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The only manufacturers which had very strong growth were BMW and Daimler, the maker of Mercedes. The richest 1% of Europeans have the financial firepower to buy expensive cars at an impressive rate. BMW sale in September in the EU were up 17,8% to 100,950. Mercedes sales rose 12.9% to 75,098. Together, the two companies sold more cars than the VW brand did.
The growth of the car industry across the world may be VW’s best ally. Cars sales in the U.S. are in their third year of rapid increase, and may hit an all time high in 2016. Sales in the worlds largest car market, China, have begun to accelerate after several months of stagnation.
But, the most impressive growth is in VW’s home market. According to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association:
In September 2015, the EU passenger car market showed another strong month (+9.8%), marking the 25th consecutive month of growth. Demand for new passenger cars was up in all major markets,driven by ongoing scrappage schemes and by the economic recovery of Southern Europe.Registrations in Spain (+22.5%), Italy (+17.2%), France (+9.1%),the UK (+8.6%) and Germany (+4.8%) increased when compared to September 2014. Across the region, new passenger car registrations totalled 1,356,868 units
During this time of trouble, the trend is VW’s friend.
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