2017 (Q1) Europe: Best-Selling Car Manufacturers and Brands

In the first quarter of 2017, the VW and PSA groups remained Europe’s largest carmakers with Volkswagen, Ford and Renault the top-selling brands.

Alfa Romeo Stelvio at Geneva 2017

The VW Group and PSA Group were again the largest car manufacturers in the European Union and EFTA countries during the first three months of 2017. Volkswagen was still the clear market leader despite loosing half a percentage market share. Second-placed Ford and third-placed Renault both gained market share. Only one of the top 20 best-selling car marques in Europe thus far in 2017 failed to increase sales volume.

New passenger vehicle registrations in the European Union (EU) and EFTA countries increased during the first quarter of 2017 by 8.2% to 4,256,202 cars – see 2017 (Q1) Sales per European Union Country for more details.

Best-Selling Car Manufacturers in Europe in 2017 (Q1)

The largest carmakers in the European Union and EFTA countries during the first three months of 2017 were as follows according to car sales statistics released by the ACEA:

Q1/2017 Q1/2016 MS2017 MS2016 % Change
EU + EFTA 4,256,202 3,932,911 +100.0 100.0 +8.2
VW Group 935,054 884,713 22.6 23.2 +5.7
– VOLKSWAGEN 432,771 418,852 10.5 11.0 +3.3
– AUDI 213,863 207,492 5.2 5.4 +3.1
– SKODA 169,415 157,403 4.1 4.1 +7.6
– SEAT 99,840 84,314 2.4 2.2 +18.4
– PORSCHE 17,816 15,754 0.4 0.4 +13.1
PSA Group 414,316 399,027 10.0 10.4 +3.8
– PEUGEOT 242,697 231,133 5.9 6.1 +5.0
– CITROEN 158,429 148,115 3.8 3.9 +7.0
– DS 13,190 19,779 0.3 0.5 -33.3
RENAULT Group 399,275 359,528 9.6 9.4 +11.1
– RENAULT 289,075 259,153 7.0 6.8 +11.5
– DACIA 109,060 99,675 2.6 2.6 +9.4
FORD 308,452 280,282 7.4 7.3 +10.1
FCA Group 298,605 261,525 7.2 6.8 +14.2
– FIAT 227,132 198,638 5.5 5.2 +14.3
– JEEP 26,364 25,807 0.6 0.7 +2.2
– LANCIA/CHRYSLER 21,525 19,880 0.5 0.5 +8.3
– ALFA ROMEO 20,770 15,764 0.5 0.4 +31.8
OPEL Group 271,798 265,668 6.6 7.0 +2.3
– OPEL/VAUXHALL 271,798 264,671 6.6 6.9 +2.7
BMW Group 260,539 244,569 6.3 6.4 +6.5
– BMW 209,962 197,351 5.1 5.2 +6.4
– MINI 50,577 47,218 1.2 1.2 +7.1
DAIMLER 242,370 220,891 5.9 5.8 +9.7
– MERCEDES 217,465 194,606 5.3 5.1 +11.7
– SMART 24,905 26,285 0.6 0.7 -5.3
TOYOTA Group 197,250 164,410 4.8 4.3 +20.0
– TOYOTA 185,360 153,320 4.5 4.0 +20.9
– LEXUS 11,890 11,090 0.3 0.3 +7.2
NISSAN 173,377 156,135 4.2 4.1 +11.0
HYUNDAI 131,796 123,305 3.2 3.2 +6.9
KIA 122,891 108,435 3.0 2.8 +13.3
VOLVO CAR CORP. 75,164 66,417 1.8 1.7 +13.2
JAGUAR LAND ROVER Group 73,446 64,027 1.8 1.7 +14.7
– LAND ROVER 49,249 48,969 1.2 1.3 +0.6
– JAGUAR 24,197 15,058 0.6 0.4 +60.7
SUZUKI 63,135 48,149 1.5 1.3 +31.1
MAZDA 61,997 64,551 1.5 1.7 -4.0
HONDA 42,581 47,890 1.0 1.3 -11.1
MITSUBISHI 29,302 30,211 0.7 0.8 -3.0

Notes: MS = % market share. Figures exclude “others” and brands selling fewer than 10,000 cars during the period.

Top-Selling Carmakers in Europe in 2017 (Q1)

The Volkswagen Group easily remained Europe’s largest carmaker despite underperforming the broader market and loosing just over half a percentage point in market share. The Volkswagen brand alone lost half a percentage point market share but was still larger than the total PSA Group (with Opel still calculated separately). Audi and Skoda also underperformed but Seat sales were up by nearly a fifth and Porsche also sold well.

The PSA Group also underperformed with all three brands performing below market average. The DS brand was the worst performer of the top 32 brands listed by the ACEA.

Renault, in contrast, had strong sales with Renault brand adding 30,000 cars during the first quarter of 2017. Ford and the FCA Group also had double-digit increases.

The Opel Group underperformed the market and slipped behind the FCA Group. Opel should help to increase PSA sales in future, although none of the brands performed strongly in Europe in recent months.

The BMW Group slightly underperformed the market but sales increase sufficiently to stay ahead of the Daimler group where Mercedes-Benz had very strong sales.

Toyota sales were up by a fifth while Nissan sales also increased by double digits. Suzuki sales were up by nearly a third while Mazda, Honda and Mitsubishi were the only three car manufacturing groups with weaker sales in Europe during the first quarter of 2017. Only two further brands – DS and Smart – had weaker sales.

Best-Selling Car Brands in Europe in 2017 (Q1)

The top 20 best-selling car marques in Europe during the first quarter of 2017 according to the ACEA were:

Q1/2017 Q1/2016 MS2017 MS2016 % Changs
1 – VOLKSWAGEN 432,771 418,852 10.5 11.0 +3.3
2 – FORD 308,452 280,282 7.4 7.3 +10.1
3 – RENAULT 289,075 259,153 7.0 6.8 +11.5
4 – OPEL/VAUXHALL 271,798 264,671 6.6 6.9 +2.7
5 – PEUGEOT 242,697 231,133 5.9 6.1 +5.0
6 – FIAT 227,132 198,638 5.5 5.2 +14.3
7 – MERCEDES 217,465 194,606 5.3 5.1 +11.7
8 – AUDI 213,863 207,492 5.2 5.4 +3.1
9 – BMW 209,962 197,351 5.1 5.2 +6.4
10 – TOYOTA 185,360 153,320 4.5 4.0 +20.9
11 -NISSAN 173,377 156,135 4.2 4.1 +11.0
12 – SKODA 169,415 157,403 4.1 4.1 +7.6
13 – CITROEN 158,429 148,115 3.8 3.9 +7.0
14 – HYUNDAI 131,796 123,305 3.2 3.2 +6.9
15 – KIA 122,891 108,435 3.0 2.8 +13.3
16 – DACIA 109,060 99,675 2.6 2.6 +9.4
17 – SEAT 99,840 84,314 2.4 2.2 +18.4
18 – VOLVO 75,164 66,417 1.8 1.7 +13.2
19 – SUZUKI 63,135 48,149 1.5 1.3 +31.1
20 – MAZDA 61,997 64,551 1.5 1.7 -4.0

Although Volkswagen remained by far the strongest car brand in Europe in the first quarter of 2017, Ford somewhat narrowed the gap with strong sales.

Renault performed strongly to take third place from Opel that underperformed the market. Peugeot increased sales by 5% to maintain fifth place.

Fiat increased sales by 14% to move up one position at the expense of Audi.

Mercedes-Benz had similar gains to move ahead of both Audi and BMW.

Toyota sales were up 20% to re-enter the top ten at the expense of Skoda that slipped to 12th.

The best-performing brands were Jaguar (+61%), Alfa Romeo (+32%) and Suzuki (+31%) – all three helped by the popularity of SUVs.

Only five brands had weaker sales: DS (-33%), Honda (-11%), Smart (-5%), Mazda (-4%) and Mitsubishi (-3%).

See also 2017 (Q1) Sales per European Union Country.