Automotive News Europe - August 2019 - 14

AUTOMOTIVE NEWS EUROPE

 

AUTOMAKERS

WLTP hangover
Europe's first-half sales suffer blowback from new emissions testing regime
PETER SIGAL

psigal@autonews.com

T

he European auto market fell into
negative territory in the first half
for the first time since 2014, with vehicle sales declining by 3.1 percent to
8,183,562, according to industry association ACEA. The best-performing brands
were Lancia, Mitsubishi, Lexus, Dacia
and Citroen.
One reason for the decline was the introduction in the European Union last
year of the Worldwide harmonized Light
vehicle Testing Procedure, or WLTP. All
vehicles needed to be certified by Sept.
1, 2018, so automakers pushed sales
of noncompliant vehicles ahead of that
deadline. As a result of that sales surge.
which started in late spring 2018, gains
in the first half of this year were harder
to achieve, analysts said.
"Year-over-year comparisons will remain
challenging for the rest of the summer,
because purchases were pulled forward
ahead of the implementation of WLTP,"
LMC Automotive said in July.
For perspective, June registrations in
2018 set an all-time high for the month
with the market up 5.2 percent, according to ACEA. In June this year sales were
down 7.8 percent.
Some volume automakers have increased their market share significantly
so far this year, including Dacia, up 0.5
percentage points, and Citroen, up 0.4
percentage points. In contrast, Volkswagen brand lost 0.4 percentage points.
A slight sales increase of 0.5 percent in
Germany, Europe's largest market, was
partly able to offset declines among other
major markets, including former growth
drivers France (down 1.8 percent), Italy
(down 3.5 percent) and Spain (down
5.7 percent). The British market, Europe's
second largest, declined by 3.4 percent,
a relatively good result that was helped
by a Brexit delay granted by the European
Union from March 31 until Oct. 31.
"Germany has been Europe's outstanding performer in the first half," LMC Automotive said.

14

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Lexus sales in Europe have been boosted by the UX, the brand's first entry in
the fast-growing premium compact crossover segment.

12 winners
Among the 33 brands tracked by ACEA,
just 12 showed sales growth in the first
half, led by Lancia/Chrysler (27 percent),
Mitsubishi (14 percent) and Lexus (11
percent) but all three had comparatively
low volumes. Eight other brands lost
sales but still outperformed the market.
Lancia is an unusual case, analysts said.
The once illustrious Fiat Chrysler Automobiles brand is now sold only in Italy,
where its sole model, the Ypsilon small
hatchback, is the country's No. 2--selling
vehicle behind the Fiat Panda. According to DataForce, 20 percent of Ypsilon

sales were self-registrations -- twice the
Italian market average. Generous incentives also helped move Ypsilons in the
first half, said Felipe Munoz, global automotive analyst at JATO Dynamics.
Mitsubishi's growth has come largely from
the Outlander midsize SUV, which gained
an updated plug-in hybrid powertrain last
autumn with a longer range in electriconly mode. Munoz said electrified SUVs
from other brands, including the Hyundai
Kona and Kia Niro, also did well. Lexus
continued a five-year trend of steady
gains in Europe, helped by increasing
demand for hybrids, which now account

SIX GROUPS OUTPERFORM MARKET
Toyota only group to increase sales; VW, Renault-Nissan, Fiat Chrysler trail market
Toyota Group
Jaguar Land Rover
Hyundai-Kia
PSA Group
BMW Group
Daimler
Total market
VW Group
Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi
Fiat Chrysler

H1 2019
414,870
125,302
552,701
1,383,161
537,114
501,232
8,426,190
2,049,290
1,210,708
540,540

H1 2018
413,835
125,467
554,469
1,399,908
543,628
508,725
8,696,227
2,135,796
1,280,925
596,980

% change share '19 share '18
+0.3
4.9
4.8
-0.1
1.5
1.4
-0.3
6.6
6.4
-1.2
16.4
16.1
-1.2
6.4
6.3
-1.5
5.9
5.8
-3.1
-4.1
24.3
24.6
-5.5
14.1
14.7
-9.5
6.4
6.9

Source: Automotive News Europe analysis of ACEA data

AUGUST 2019
http://www.autonewseurope.com
Automotive News Europe - August 2019

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