Ford October European Sales Maintain Volume, Share Lead Over Fiat Chrysler

Cars and Drivers

Published: November 16, 2017 9:20 am

Last Updated: January 12, 2020 6:15 am

The European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) reported Thursday that new vehicle registrations in the European Union (EU) rose 5.9% in October compared with new registrations in October of 2016. New registrations for the month totaled 1.17 million units. New registrations fell by 2% in September, so the return to growth is good news.

Bulgaria reported the largest year-over-year gain, up 41% to a total of 3,000. The biggest decline came in Ireland, down 13.8% with just 1,946 new registrations. On a volume basis, registrations in Germany totaled 272,855 units (up 3.9% year over year) and registrations in the United Kingdom totaled 158,192 units (down 12.2%).

For the first 10 months of 2017, new passenger car registrations are up 3.9% to a total of 12.83 million. Registrations rose the most in Lithuania (23.7%), Croatia (21.7%) and Bulgaria (20.5%). Sales in the United Kingdom are down 4.6% for the same period.

The top-selling maker in the EU is Volkswagen, which sold 286,744 vehicles in October, up 4.8% year over year for the month. VW’s market share for the month totaled 24.5%, down from 24.8% in October 2016. Registrations are up 2.6% for the first 10 months of the year.

PSA Group, makers of Peugeot and Citroen among other brands, posted an increase of 74.1% to 189,876 units. The company’s market share rose from 9.9% to 16.2%. The increase includes sales in the Opel/Vauxhall group the company acquired from General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) earlier this year.

Renault Group posted an increase of 17.7% to 123,956 units, while its year-over-year share rose from 9.5% in October 2016 to 10.6%.

Of the Detroit Three, Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) sold 78,248 units in October, up 5.5% year over year for the month. The company’s October market share came to 6.7%, flat with last year.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (NYSE: FCAU) saw its market share in the EU dip from 6.7% in October 2016 to 6.4% this year. Sales were led by a 19.8% increase in sales of the company’s Jeep brand and an 18.7% increase in Alfa Romeo sales. FCA sold 74,647 units in October, up 1.1% compared with October 2016.

GM has effectively left the EU market and had sales of just 35 units in October.

BMW Group’s market share in October fell from 7% a year ago to 6.1%. The company sold 71,459 units last month. Daimler posted a market share gain, ticking up from 6.5% in October 2016 to 6.6% last month with sales totaling 76,983 units.

Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) posted market share of 4.6% in October, up from 4.1% a year ago. Sales volume rose 20.5% to 55,115 units. The percentage increase came in the company’s Toyota division, up 22% year over year while Lexus division sales rose 0.5%.