In 2008, the VW Group was the top car manufacturer with the highest number of new passenger vehicles registered in Europe. Volkswagen was followed by PSA, Ford, GM, and Renault.
In 2008, the VW Group (Volkswagen, Audi, Seat and Skoda) easily held on to its traditional position as top-selling car manufacturer in Europe (European Union and European Free Trade Association countries). Peugeot-Citroen (PSA) maintained its second place while the Ford Group (Ford and Volvo) pulled ahead of the GM Group (Opel/Vauxhall, Chevrolet, and Saab) to become the third strongest seller of passenger vehicles in Europe in 2008.
New Passenger Car Registrations in Europe in 2008 by Manufacturer
The top 10 best-selling car manufacturers in Europe* in 2008 by car producing groups were as follows:
- Position … Car Manufacturer …No of Cars Sold … % Market Share … % Change vs 2007
- VW … 3,026,550 … 20.6 … -4.4
- PSA … 1,865,407 … 12.7 … -9.1
- Ford … 1,461,235 … 9.9 … -5.2
- GM … 1,406,916 … 9.6 … -13.9
- Renault … 1,286,120 … 8.7 … -6.9
- Fiat … 1,179,989 … 8.0 … -5.5
- BMW … 819,461 … 5.6 … -3.5
- Toyota … 814,581 … 5.5 … -12.4
- Daimler … 788,955 … 5.4 … -5.9
- Nissan … 337,913 … 2.3 … +8.8
Top-Selling Car Manufacturers in Europe in 2008
Of the top 10 car manufacturers in the European market, only Japanese Nissan managed to increase the number of vehicles sold in 2008. The Volkswagen Group increased its market share from 19.8% in 2007, to 20.6% of new passenger vehicles registered in Europe in 2008. However, even Volkswagen saw a decline in volume and sold 140,000 fewer cars in 2008 than in 2007.
Japanese manufacturers generally struggled in Europe in large part due to the surging yen during 2008. Nissan (+8.8%) and Mazda (+2.1%) were notable exceptions. However, Toyota was down 12.4% with Lexus sales plummeting by 25.7%. Mitsubishi (-16.1%) and Honda (-15.7%) had very bad years too.
GM (Opel/Vauxhall, Chevrolet, and Saab) had a bad year in Europe with sales down almost 14%. French brands also struggled with sales of Peugeot, Citroen, and Renault down by around 9%.
Volkswagen easily remained the best-selling car brand in Europe in 2008 and was followed by Ford, Opel / Vauxhall, Renault, Peugeot, and Fiat.
Notes:
- *For statistical purposes Europe is defined as the European Union (EU27) without the very small car markets in Malta and Cyprus, plus the EFTA Countries (Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland).
- Statistics provided by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA).
