VW Leads Europe Car Sales, Up 9%

By Paul Ausick Updated Apr 28, 9:23AM EDT · Published Apr 16, 8:00AM EDT

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The European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) reported that new vehicle registrations in the European Union rose 8.6% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2015 and were up 10.6% in the month of March.

The leading automaker was Volkswagen, which sold 856,720 units in the quarter, a jump of 9.3% year-over-year. Porsche sales rose more than 47% year-over-year while Audi sales rose just 4.3%. Peugeot Group and Renault Group were the second and third ranked sellers for the first quarter.

For the quarter, Germany led with 757,630 new registrations (a proxy for sales), followed by the United Kingdom with 734,588 and France with 477,319.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) ranked fourth in first-quarter sales with a total of 263,477, up 7.3% year-over-year. General Motors Co.’s (NYSE: GM) Opel division ranked fifth with sales of 239,553, down 3% year-over-year, and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N,V, (NYSE: FCAU) ranked sixth with 224,216 sales, up 12.1%. BMW, Daimler, Nissan and Toyota rounded out the top 10 manufacturers.

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At the same time that the ACEA released its report on EU sales, industry researchers at focus2move released first-quarter data for Turkey, which has been so far snubbed for admission to the EU. In the first quarter, Turkish buyers registered 171,333 new cars, up 48.6% year-over-year. In March, sales rose an almost unbelievable 75%. The new car market in Turkey was the fastest growing among the 100 largest countries in the world.

Compared with other nations in the EU, on the basis of first-quarter sales Turkey would rank sixth, behind Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Spain. It would rank ahead of Belgium, the Netherlands and Sweden.

The leading brand in Turkey was Volkswagen, with a 16.3% market share in the first quarter. Ford ranked second with 12.5% of the market, followed by Fiat with 11.4% and Renault with 11.3%.

The most popular model in Turkey was the Toyota Corolla, which the Japanese carmaker builds in the country. The Corolla sold 6,638 units in the first quarter. The top-selling Ford is the Transit van, with sales of 5,917 in the quarter. The Ford Focus is the eighth best-selling vehicle, sandwiched between VW’s Golf and Passat models. The Opel Corsa is the 10th best-selling model.

About the Author Paul Ausick →

Paul Ausick has been writing for a673b.bigscoots-temp.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.

He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.