European market in February: Fiat still ahead of GM

[Bravada]

European market in February: Fiat still ahead of GM

Your European Correspondent reporting on official ACEA statistics + own commentary

What could've been a one-month anomaly is now confirmed to be a sign of a stable trend - the Fiat Group has knocked GM off the Number Four place in Europewide sales. GM's one-time ally, who still shares the entire diesel lineup with Opel and Saab, has come ahead of both the troubled giant and Renault the second month in a row, albeit by a small margin. Fiat is now poised to become a rival to GM even in its home market, as it now pushes toward an alliance, and possible takeover, of Chrysler LLC.

It is worthwile to note that in both Fiat's and GM Europe's "home" countries (with Germany arguably being the home market for GM Europe) there are strong incentives for new car buyers in place.

Sales by country

Europewide sales were down 18,3% in February, which contributed to the overall decline by 22,6% YTD. The only two countries to record YTD sales increases were Germany (with sales propped by the government's car-scrapping incentive programme) and Poland (where the economy has still not lost its growth momentum).

Overall declines are in the double digits in an overwhelming majority of countries, with the hardest hit being Iceland, Ireland and the Baltics, whose economies were hit hard by local financial system crises, as well as Romania. Thanks to the abovementioned incentive program, Italy remained Europe's second-largest market, behind Germany and ahead of France. Poland remains the largest market of the new EU members, and is now Europe's eight market by YTD sales.

Sales by automaker and brand

Volkswagen AG retains the sales crown, far ahead of rivals and enjoying a relatively mild decrease in sales. Strong Audi sales, as well as the popularity of VAG's core brand, contribute heavily to the result. PSA (Peugeot + Citroen) and Ford Group (with strong Ford sales and larger than average declines at Volvo) retain the second and third place, respectively. Of note is the fact that Renault and Nissan report their sales separately - counted together, they would knock Ford out of its position on the box.

Of peculiar interest:

1. The only brands among those with sales reported separately to GROW in YTD terms are Jaguar (by almost 20%) and Hyundai (+0,7% YTD, but +20% in Feb). Alfa Romeo also recorded strong Feb-to-Feb growth, but this was due to the 2008 results affected by temporary plant closure.

2. The single-vehicle Smart brand managed to outsell BMW's MINI. Both outsell the entire Chrysler Group.

3. The Japanese automakers managed to stop the sales slump and now record sales decreases lower than the market rate, or even a slight increase in Feb (Suzuki). The only exception is Mitsubishi.

4. Hyundai's brilliant results in February are offset by just as dramatic a loss at Kia.

Focus on GM

As with last month, Chevrolet fared better than Opel, especially in Western Europe. The latter still accounts for over 80% of GM's sales though. Saab sales are expectedly down in the dumps, with over half of last year's volume's lost. The North American premium brands (Cadillac, Corvette, Hummer) posted an even more astounding loss of over 70%, and only managed to sell 330 vehicles YTD in TOTAL in all EU + EFTA countries.

[CarFreak77]

YAWN. Nothing we haven't seen and nothing that deserves the front page. They must pay You for advertising Fiat before U.S launch.

[RedVee8]

thanks Bravada. Chev doing well proportionally then, hmm, raises a question.... GME hasn't been favouring Chev in preparation for divesting Opel? I'm guessing Chev debt levels in europe would be far lower than Opel.

[BigThreeForever]

The idea that Chevrolet (or Daewoo, let's be frank about it) is a viable replacement for Opel/Vauxhall is about as sensible as suggesting Cadillac can challenge the Mercedes-BMW-Audi triumvirate in the European market's premium sectors. This is all the more so in the developed markets of Western Europe and Scandinavia.

Opel IS GM in Europe. The firm must do everything it can to avoid selling or closing Adam Opel.

[westtxsky]

Originally Posted by BigThreeForever

The idea that Chevrolet (or Daewoo, let's be frank about it) is a viable replacement for Opel/Vauxhall is about as sensible as suggesting Cadillac can challenge the Mercedes-BMW-Audi triumvirate in the European market's premium sectors. This is all the more so in the developed markets of Western Europe and Scandinavia.

Opel IS GM in Europe. The firm must do everything it can to avoid selling or closing Adam Opel.

Huh? Opel is losing market share and costing tons of money despite having good cars. Sounds like Saturn here.

[Rocket 88]

Clearly its the Apocolypse!

Fiat is outselling GM in Europe... Jaguar sales are up 20%.... you can't give away Cadillacs, Corvettes or Hummers (down 70%). Smart cars outsell MINIs. AND Volkswagens, which can't sell dinky doo in the US remains the #1 brand.

Anybody been to Europe? What goes on over there? Have they gone mad? Does this stem from Mad Cow?

Its official, Europe gets my "WTF?" of the year award.

[johnny smallblock]

Originally Posted by Rocket 88

Fiat is outselling GM in Europe... Jaguar sales are up 20%

They like their hometown brands. That's not too shocking.

Originally Posted by Rocket 88

.... you can't give away Cadillacs, Corvettes or Hummers (down 70%).

Gas is $9 a gallon there and the streets are much narrower in many cities.

Originally Posted by Rocket 88

Smart cars outsell MINIs.

Smart cars make great sense for small, cramped cities.

Originally Posted by Rocket 88

AND Volkswagens, which can't sell dinky doo in the US remains the #1 brand.

The success of VW defies all rational explanation.

[BigThreeForever]

Originally Posted by westtxsky

Huh? Opel is losing market share and costing tons of money despite having good cars. Sounds like Saturn here.

I must disagree. Opel in Europe is not like Saturn, a relatively new brand, and one with a major identity crisis. Opel is roughly the equivalent of Chevy in North America, a high-volume marque with a similar market image.

'Chevrolet' in Western Europe is simply not on the radar screens of consumers. Those who know the brand at all know it for what it is . . . a collection of badly-styled, mediocre-at-best South Korean cars for paupers. That's a crude characterization, I admit, but an accurate one.

None of my European friends (UK, Germany, The Netherlands, Sweden, Finland) would entertain a Daewoo-Chevrolet. They all like Opel/Vauxhall products. Some own them - one Vectra and three Astras in total.

The so-called 'Chevrolets' do better in the east of the continent, where living standards and budgets are far less.

As for Opel, it is losing money for the same reason that everybody else is - the market is well and truly in the toilet, and those cars that are moving off dealerships are doing so at deep discounts.

Plus, in Opel's case, one of its core big-selling models, the Astra, is reaching the end of its life cycle, and the all-new Astra waits in the wings for a fall debut. The next Astra is said to be sensational (and certainly looks promising from spy photographs) so I imagine it will have big market impact.

My feeling is that GM should hang onto Opel, whatever it takes. Doing otherwise is effectively abandoning Europe's main - and most affluent - markets.

[Bravada]

The success of VW defies all rational explanation.

VW has been the largest seller for years now, after taking over from Fiat or PSA. Volkswagens are extremely popular. The Golf is the default a pan-European compact car bestseller, and compact cars are the most popular class here. Same for Passat, and to some extent Polo. Add the very popular Audi (larger than Mercedes and BMW now), as well as Skoda and Seat.

Smart cars make great sense for small, cramped cities.

They are also simply fashionable and popular. Even US sales are rather high for a country of dozen-lane highways and hundred-mile commutes.

.... you can't give away Cadillacs, Corvettes or Hummers

Or perhaps they are completely unappealing (esp. Cadillacs). Duh, GM. And yet, let's kill Saab.

Jaguar sales are up 20%

This is pretty shocking, indeed. A great success for the brand found unworthy by Alan. Except for the UK, Jaguar is a foreign brand. There are at least 30 different nations living in the area for which the report is compiled.

[1931Chevy]

This is pretty shocking, indeed. A great success for the brand found unworthy by Alan. Except for the UK, Jaguar is a foreign brand. There are at least 30 different nations living in the area for which the report is compiled.

^ considering that Jag sold less than 100,000 cars globally last year and they need about 5 to 6 billion to update the whole lineup what would you do keep giving away money that its needed by the parent company. IMO the biggest mistake Ford did was that back in 98 when Ford bought LR from BMW they could had made and agreement so that Jag could use some of BMWs platforms and by that reducing the cost of having to develop a platform in house

They like their hometown brands. That's not too shocking.

Well its looks like Ford its European too because there sales have declined but lower than the EU market, and IMO what its hurting GM Europe its the fear of GM going down , GM its testing how will going to chapter 11 would be with Saab when they entered reorganization and thats the equivalent of chapter 11 here in the states

[Bravada]

IMO the biggest mistake Ford did was that back in 98 when Ford bought LR from BMW they could had made and agreement so that Jag could use some of BMWs platforms and by that reducing the cost of having to develop a platform in house

The biggest mistake was limiting sharing platforms and components with other Ford brands (e.g. Lincoln), not including the OZ Falcon and Panther in the equation and botching execution (the result was a so-so platform with very high production costs).