Volkswagen remains the best-selling car manufacturer and brand in Europe for the first six months of 2011. German premium brands Audi, BMW, and Mercedes saw strong new passenger vehicle registrations in Europe in 2011.

Volkswagen easily kept its position as the best-selling passenger motor vehicle manufacturer and car brand in Europe during the first half of 2011. Despite weakness, the French PSA and Renault groups remained the second and third strongest car manufacturers in Europe followed by GM and Ford. The strongest selling car brands in Europe from January to June 2011 were Volkswagen, Ford, and Renault.
See also 2011 (First Half) Best-Selling Car Markets by European Countries
Best-Selling Car Manufacturers and Brand in Europe 2011 (First Half)
The best-selling car manufactures and brands in the European Union and EFTA countries during the period January to June 2011 according to ACEA statistics were as follows:
%Share | %Share | Units | Units | % Chg | |
2011 | 2010 | 2011 | 2010 | ||
VW Group | 22.8 | 21.1 | 1,673,144 | 1,578,461 | +6.0 |
VOLKSWAGEN | 12.1 | 11.2 | 886,122 | 839,041 | +5.6 |
AUDI | 4.9 | 4.4 | 359,302 | 330,813 | +8.6 |
SEAT | 2.2 | 2.2 | 164,425 | 164,381 | +0.0 |
SKODA | 3.6 | 3.2 | 262,131 | 243,140 | +7.8 |
Others (1) | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1,164 | 1,086 | +7.2 |
PSA Group | 13.0 | 13.8 | 958,469 | 1,030,715 | -7.0 |
PEUGEOT | 7.1 | 7.5 | 520,953 | 561,573 | -7.2 |
CITROEN | 6.0 | 6.3 | 437,516 | 469,142 | -6.7 |
RENAULT Group | 9.5 | 10.5 | 700,781 | 782,995 | -10.5 |
RENAULT | 7.8 | 8.6 | 570,378 | 643,506 | -11.4 |
DACIA | 1.8 | 1.9 | 130,403 | 139,489 | -6.5 |
GM Group | 8.7 | 8.4 | 641,519 | 630,221 | +1.8 |
OPEL/VAUXHALL | 7.5 | 7.2 | 549,125 | 536,332 | +2.4 |
CHEVROLET | 1.3 | 1.2 | 92,061 | 93,066 | -1.1 |
GM (US) | 0.0 | 0.0 | 333 | 823 | -59.5 |
FORD | 8.0 | 8.4 | 591,515 | 630,873 | -6.2 |
FIAT Group | 7.2 | 8.1 | 530,228 | 606,967 | -12.6 |
FIAT | 5.4 | 6.5 | 395,924 | 489,377 | -19.1 |
LANCIA | 0.7 | 0.8 | 52,355 | 60,775 | -13.9 |
ALFA ROMEO | 1.1 | 0.7 | 78,393 | 53,029 | +47.8 |
Others (2) | 0.0 | 0.1 | 3,556 | 3,786 | -6.1 |
BMW Group | 5.8 | 5.1 | 424,200 | 382,461 | +10.9 |
BMW | 4.6 | 4.2 | 338,946 | 312,717 | +8.4 |
MINI | 1.2 | 0.9 | 85,254 | 69,744 | +22.2 |
DAIMLER | 4.7 | 4.6 | 346,797 | 340,734 | +1.8 |
MERCEDES | 4.1 | 4.0 | 302,906 | 296,384 | +2.2 |
SMART | 0.6 | 0.6 | 43,891 | 44,350 | -1.0 |
TOYOTA Group | 4.0 | 4.3 | 297,437 | 323,909 | -8.2 |
TOYOTA | 3.9 | 4.2 | 284,094 | 313,620 | -9.4 |
LEXUS | 0.2 | 0.1 | 13,343 | 10,289 | +29.7 |
NISSAN | 3.4 | 2.8 | 246,565 | 211,575 | +16.5 |
HYUNDAI | 2.8 | 2.5 | 208,225 | 190,800 | +9.1 |
KIA | 1.9 | 1.8 | 138,163 | 138,357 | -0.1 |
VOLVO CAR CORP, | 1.9 | 1.6 | 137,526 | 121,619 | +13.1 |
SUZUKI | 1.3 | 1.4 | 96,978 | 104,817 | -7.5 |
HONDA | 1.1 | 1.4 | 80,869 | 105,439 | -23.3 |
MAZDA | 1.1 | 1.4 | 79,323 | 103,073 | -23.0 |
MITSUBISHI | 0.9 | 0.7 | 65,414 | 48,968 | +33.6 |
JAGUAR LAND ROVER Group | 0.7 | 0.7 | 48,899 | 51,601 | -5.2 |
LAND ROVER | 0.5 | 0.5 | 37,420 | 37,332 | +0.2 |
JAGUAR | 0.2 | 0.2 | 11,479 | 14,269 | -19.6 |
CHRYSLER (3) | 0.2 | 0.3 | 15,584 | 22,454 | -30.6 |
OTHER** | 0.9 | 1.1 | 68,899 | 81,963 | -15.9 |
ALL BRANDS**(4) | 7,350,534 | 7,488,002 | -1.8 |
Best-Selling Car Manufacturers in Europe 2011 (First Half)
The Volkswagen Group easily maintained its position as the best-selling passenger vehicle manufacturer in Europe. In a weak market, Volkswagen managed to increase sales by 6% and to increase market share by 1.7% to 22.8% of the new car market in Europe.
French car manufacturers PSA and Renault both saw weak sales and a decline in market share but maintained their positions as the second and third largest manufacturers in Europe in 2011. GM saw a slight improvement in sales and in market share while Ford (-6%) was weak. Sixth place Fiat (-12.6%) was the worst performer of the major car manufacturers in Europe.
Top Ten Best-Selling Car Brands in Europe (First Half 2011)
Volkswagen (+5.6%) easily remained the strongest selling car brand in Europe. VW increased its market share by more than a percentage point to 12.1% of the new passenger vehicle market in Europe.
Ford became the second strongest selling car brand in Europe despite a decline in sales (-6%) and market share. Renault, the second best-selling car brand in Europe in 2010, slipped to third with very weak sales (-11.4%). This was the only position change on the list of top ten best-selling car brands in Europe in 2011 (first half).
Opel / Vauxhall saw an increase in sales (+2.4%) and market share while both Peugeot and Citroen saw sales slip by around 7%. However, Fiat was the worst performer overall with a decline of 19% in sales.
The list of top ten best-selling car brands in Europe during the first half of 2011 was rounded out by German premium brands Audi (+8.6%), BMW (+8.4%), and Mercedes (+2.2%). These German premium brands also did very well in the important Chinese and USA markets.
Germany easily remained the strongest car market in Europe during the first half of 2011.