Cars and Drivers

Ford Leads Detroit Three in EU New Car Sales

Paul Ausick

Published: December 15, 2016 9:45 am

Last Updated: January 12, 2020 4:44 pm

New car registrations in the European Union (EU) for the month of November totaled 1.15 million units, up about 50,000 units compared with November of last year. Year over year, sales rose by 13.5% in Spain, 8.5 % in France and 8.2% in Italy. Including the four nations in the European Free Trade Association, total sales increased by 5.6% to 1.19 million units in the month.

For the first 11 months of 2016, total sales for the 27 EU members came to 13.5 million, up 7.1% compared with the first 11 months of last year. Germany posted a 10-month total of 3.1 million, while registrations in the United Kingdom totaled 2.51 million and new registrations in France rose to 1.82 million, just ahead of 1.7 million unit sales in Italy.

Among the Detroit Three carmakers, Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) saw unit sales rise 1.9% year over year in November and General Motors Co.’s (NYSE: GM) Opel Group experienced a sales decrease of 1.1%. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (NYSE: FCAU) posted year-over-year growth of 10.3%.

Ford’s market share in November slipped year over year from 7.0% to 6.7%. GM’s Opel Group posted a dip of 0.4 points to nab a 6.4% share, and Fiat Chrysler added 0.4 points to post a 6.4% share of the EU market.

For the year to date, Ford’s unit sales total 948,506, and unit sales have risen by 3.7% compared with the first 11 months of 2015. Year to date, market share has dropped from 7.3% to 7.0%. Opel Group’s share has dipped from 6.8% to 6.7% on unit sales of 908,246, up 5.7% over the first 11 months of last year, and FCA’s market share has risen from 6.3% a year ago to 6.7% on unit sales of 905,253, up 14.5% compared with the first 11 months of 2015.

The top-selling carmaker in the EU is Volkswagen, which sold 281,990 vehicles in November, up 6.5% year over year for the month. VW’s market share for the month totaled 24.6%, up from 24.4% in November 2015.

Renault Group ranked second in November market share with 10.8% of the EU market, and PSA Group, makers of Peugeot and Citroen among other brands, ranked third with 9.3% of the market.

BMW Group’s market share in November rose from 6.7% last year to 7.1%, and the company sold 81,147 units last month, an 11.3% increase year over year. For the first 11 months of 2016, BMW’s market share rose from 6.5% a year ago to 6.7% on sales of 905,952 units, a jump of 11.5% for the period.

Daimler also posted a market share gain, rising from 6.2% in November 2015 to 6.6% last month. For the first 11 months of the year, the Mercedes-Benz maker posted a year-over-year share gain of 0.4 points, to 6.2%, on sales of 836,365 units, a rise of 13.5%.

Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) posted market share of 4.2% in November, unchanged compared with last year. For the first 11 months of the year, the carmaker’s market share also remained unchanged at 4.2%.

The company with the largest percentage sales increase for the first 11 months of 2016 is Jaguar Land Rover, with sales up 24.5% to 199,308. Honda Motor Co. Ltd (NYSE: HMC) has lifted sales by 21.7% in the same period, and Mazda sales are up 14% year to date.