Fiat Chrysler Hammers Ford in April EU Sales

By Paul Ausick Updated Jan 12, 11:59AM EST · Published May 16, 7:40AM EDT

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The European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) reported Tuesday that new vehicle registrations in the European Union (EU) tumbled 6.6% in April, compared with new registrations in April of 2016. New registrations for the month totaled 1.19 million units, which the ACEA attributed to the timing of the Easter holiday.

The United Kingdom posted a year-over-year drop of 19.8%, Germany saw sales fall 8%, French sales declined by 6% and Italy posted a decrease of 4.6%. Only Spain, with an increase of 1.1%, showed a gain in April.

For the first four months of 2017, new passenger car registrations are up 8.3%. However, the April decline broke the EU’s streak of 31 consecutive months of year-over-year sales increases.

The top-selling maker in the EU is Volkswagen, which sold 293,608 vehicles in April, down 8.8% year over year for the month. VW’s market share for the month totaled 24.7%, down from 25.3% in April 2016 and up from 21.3% in February.

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PSA Group, makers of Peugeot and Citroen, among other brands, posted a sales decline of 6.4% to 124,994 units. The company’s market share remained at 10.5%, a full point higher than its March share.

Renault Group sales dropped 2.6% to 128,013 units while its year-over-year share rose from 10.3% in April 2016 to 10.7%.

Of the Detroit Three, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (NYSE: FCAU) increased its market share in the EU from 6.9% to 7.4% year over year, led by an 18.6% increase in sales of the company’s Alfa Romeo brand. Jeep brand sales dipped 8.1% year over year. FCA sold 87,761 units in April, down 0.8% compared with April 2016.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) sold 76,899 units in April, down 11.4% year over year for the month. The company’s April market share came to 6.5%, down from 6.8% in April 2016.

Opel Group, still the General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) subsidiary in Europe until its sale to Peugeot is completed, posted an April market share decrease, slipping from 6.4% a year ago to 5.9% this year. Sales of the Opel/Vauxhall brands fell 13.1% year over year.

BMW Group’s market share in April ticked higher year over year from 6.3% to 6.4%. The company sold 75,965 units last month. Daimler also posted a market share gain, rising from 6.2% in April 2016 to 6.5% last month, with sales totaling 77,277 units.

Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) posted market share of 4.3% in April, up from 3.9% a year ago. Sales volume rose 5.3% to 51,805 units. The largest percentage increase came in the company’s Toyota division, up 5.9% year over year.

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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.