Cars and Drivers

Ford, Chrysler, GM Boosted European Sales in February

Paul Ausick

Published: March 17, 2016 11:50 am

Last Updated: January 13, 2020 11:49 am

The European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) reported Wednesday that new vehicle registrations in the European Union rose 14.3% in February, compared with new registrations in February of 2015. New registrations for the month totaled 1.06 million units. For the month, Germany led with 250,146 new registrations, followed by Italy with 172,241 and France with 166,728.

New car registrations have now posted year-over-year monthly increases for 30 consecutive months. Among the 27 members of the EU, consumers purchased 13.71 million new vehicles in 2015, up 9.3% year over year.

The top-selling maker in the EU is Volkswagen, which sold 252,629 vehicles in February, up 8% year over year for the month. VW’s market share for the month totaled 23.9%, down from 24.2% in January 2015 and down from 25.3% in February 2015.

PSA Group, makers of Peugeot, Citroen among other brands, was the second-leading company in terms of market share in 2015 with 11.6% of the EU market. Renault Group, with 9.9% of the market, was third.

Of the Detroit Three, Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) sold 71,529 units in February, up 19% year over year for the month. The company’s January 2016 market share came to 6.8%, up from 6.5% in February 2015. Ford sold just under a million units in 2015, up 8.6% compared with 2014.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (NYSE: FCAU) increased its market share in the EU from 7,0% to 7.6% year over year, led by a 25.8% increase in sales of the company’s Jeep brand. FCA sold 79,948 units in February, up 22.9% compared with February 2015.

Opel Group, the General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) subsidiary in Europe, also posted a February market share increase, rising from 6.4% a year ago to 6.7% this year. Sales of the Opel/Vauxhall brands rose 18.1% year over year.

BMW Group’s market share in February was unchanged year over year at 6.1%, and the company sold 64,537 units last month. Daimler posted a market share gain, rising from 5.4% in February 2015 to 5.7% last month.

Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) posted market share of 4.2% in February, down from 4.3% a year ago. Sales volume rose 11.5% to 44,769 units. The largest percentage increase came in the company’s Lexus divisions, up 34.2% year over year.