2012 (Full Year) Europe: Best-Selling Car Manufacturers and Brands

In 2012, Volkswagen remained Europe’s strongest carmaker and best-selling car brand. VW was followed by PSA as second strongest car manufacturer while Ford was the second best-selling car brand. The VW Golf was again Europe’s favorite car in 2012.

VW Golfs - all series 1 to 7
Volkswagen and the VW Golf continue to dominate the European car market in 2012. © Volkswagen Media Services

In 2012, the Volkswagen Group remains Europe’s strongest selling car manufacturing group with a market share of 25%. Despite much weaker sales, PSA was again the second strongest group followed by Renault. Volkswagen remains Europe’s strongest car brand or marque. VW was followed by Ford and Opel / Vauxhall. The only major brands to increase the number of cars sold in 2012 in Europe were Audi and the South Korean duo Kia and Hyundai. The VW Golf remains Europe’s favorite car model in 2012.

The European New Passenger Vehicle Market in 2012

Car sales in the European Union and EFTA contracted by 7.8% to 12,527,912 new passenger vehicle registrations in 2012 – over a million cars less than a year ago.

Germany remains the largest car market in Europe while Britain is now the second largest. The UK was the only major market to have shown an increase in car sales in 2012. Sales in France, Italy, and Spain were sharply down.

See: 2012 European Car Sales per Country for full car sales data.

Best-Selling Car Manufacturers in Europe in 2012

The best-selling carmakers in Europe (EU + EFTA,  but excluding Malta) in 2012 according to new passenger vehicle registrations figures released by the ACEA were:

  2012 2011 % Chg % 2012  %2011
ALL BRANDS 12,527,912 13,592,823 -7.8  100 100 
VW Group 3,112,304 3,147,463 -1.1 24.8 23.2
VOLKSWAGEN 1,607,472 1,678,072 -4.2 12.8 12.3
AUDI 704,219 679,156 +3.7 5.6 5.0
SEAT 260,464 304,447 -14.4 2.1 2.2
SKODA 491,951 483,669 +1.7 3.9 3.6
Others 48,198 2,119 +2174.6 0.4 0.0
PSA Group 1,465,009 1,682,712 -12.9 11.7 12.4
PEUGEOT 793,052 911,886 -13.0 6.3 6.7
CITROEN 671,957 770,826 -12.8 5.4 5.7
RENAULT Group 1,052,824 1,297,833 -18.9 8.4 9.5
RENAULT 813,278 1,045,592 -22.2 6.5 7.7
DACIA 239,546 252,241 -5.0 1.9 1.9
GM Group 1,007,304 1,166,442 -13.6 8.0 8.6
OPEL/VAUXHALL 834,790 989,244 -15.6 6.7 7.3
CHEVROLET 172,077 176,541 -2.5 1.4 1.3
GM (US) 437 657 -33.5 0.0 0.0
FORD 939,409 1,080,194 -13.0 7.5 7.9
BMW Group 799,277 810,520 -1.4 6.4 6.0
BMW 641,083 641,907 -0.1 5.1 4.7
MINI 158,194 168,613 -6.2 1.3 1.2
FIAT Group 798,542 948,231 -15.8 6.4 7.0
FIAT 581,885 683,956 -14.9 4.6 5.0
LANCIA/CHRYSLER 93,624 103,157 -9.2 0.7 0.8
ALFA ROMEO 89,962 130,534 -31.1 0.7 1.0
JEEP 28,263 23,742 +19.0 0.2 0.2
Others 4,808 6,842 -29.7 0.0 0.1
DAIMLER 656,557 671,480 -2.2 5.2 4.9
MERCEDES 586,631 591,750 -0.9 4.7 4.4
SMART 69,926 79,730 -12.3 0.6 0.6
TOYOTA Group 540,990 554,780 -2.5 4.3 4.1
TOYOTA 514,840 527,747 -2.4 4.1 3.9
LEXUS 26,150 27,033 -3.3 0.2 0.2
NISSAN 432,411 459,167 -5.8 3.5 3.4
HYUNDAI 432,240 395,018 +9.4 3.5 2.9
KIA 337,466 294,556 +14.6 2.7 2.2
VOLVO CAR CORP. 232,186 256,367 -9.4 1.9 1.9
SUZUKI 154,446 178,393 -13.4 1.2 1.3
HONDA 141,019 150,415 -6.2 1.1 1.1
MAZDA 124,439 137,870 -9.7 1.0 1.0
JAGUAR LAND ROVER 124,383 97,975 +27.0 1.0 0.7
LAND ROVER 100,698 74,865 +34.5 0.8 0.6
JAGUAR 23,685 23,110 +2.5 0.2 0.2
MITSUBISHI 77,226 114,759 -32.7 0.6 0.8
OTHER 99,880 148,648 -32.8 0.8 1.1

The Top Ten Best-Selling Car Manufacturers in Europe in 2012

The Volkswagen Group easily remained Europe’s strongest car manufacturing conglomerate. Although the VW Groups sales were down 1.1%, it still outperformed the overall car market to increase market share to just less of a quarter of the European car market.

The rather stellar performance of “Other” in the VW Group is due to Porsche figures being added since August 2012. Porsche, which sold around 50,000 cars in Europe in 2012, will presumably be listed separately in future.

The PSA Group, Renault, GM, and Ford all maintained their relative positions despite double-digit losses. The BMW Group overtook Fiat, which had another weak year. The only other position change in 2012 was Mitsubishi slipping behind Jaguar Land Rover, which performed the best of all car-manufacturing groups in Europe in 2012.

The only other car manufacturers to have shown unit growth in Europe were the South Korean duo Hyundai and Kia. Combined – although Hyundai owns just less of half of Kia – Hyundai-Kia is stronger than Daimler and just behind Fiat and BMW.

Best-Selling Car Brands in Europe in 2012

The best-selling car brands or marques in Europe in 2012 according to new passenger vehicle registrations figures released by the ACEA were:

2012 2011 2012 2011 % Chg % 2012 % 2011
1 1 VOLKSWAGEN 1,607,472 1,678,072 -4.2 12.8 12.3
2 2 FORD 939,409 1,080,194 -13.0 7.5 7.9
3 4 OPEL/VAUXHALL 834,790 989,244 -15.6 6.7 7.3
4 3 RENAULT 813,278 1,045,592 -22.2 6.5 7.7
5 5 PEUGEOT 793,052 911,886 -13.0 6.3 6.7
6 8 AUDI 704,219 679,156 +3.7 5.6 5.0
7 6 CITROEN 671,957 770,826 -12.8 5.4 5.7
8 9 BMW 641,083 641,907 -0.1 5.1 4.7
9 10 MERCEDES 586,631 591,750 -0.9 4.7 4.4
10 7 FIAT 581,885 683,956 -14.9 4.6 5.0
11 11 TOYOTA 514,840 527,747 -2.4 4.1 3.9
12 12 SKODA 491,951 483,669 +1.7 3.9 3.6
13 13 NISSAN 432,411 459,167 -5.8 3.5 3.4
14 14 HYUNDAI 432,240 395,018 +9.4 3.5 2.9
15 16 KIA 337,466 294,556 +14.6 2.7 2.2
16 15 SEAT 260,464 304,447 -14.4 2.1 2.2
17 17 VOLVO 232,186 256,367 -9.4 1.9 1.9
18 18 DACIA 239,546 252,241 -5.0 1.9 1.9
19 20 CHEVROLET 172,077 176,541 -2.5 1.4 1.3
20 MINI 158,194 168,613 -6.2 1.3 1.2

Changes in the Top 20 Best-Selling Car Brands in Europe 2012

Volkswagen easily maintained its lead as Europe’s top car brand in 2012 by gaining even further market share despite weaker sales. German luxury carmakers Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz all gained market share and higher relative positions by strongly outperforming the overall market. All three overtook Fiat in sales in Europe. Audi was the only top ten best-selling car brand to have increase volume in Europe in 2012.

The rest of the top ten carmakers in Europe in 2012 all suffered from double-digit losses. Renault and Citroen both slipped one rank position while Fiat slipped from seventh to tenth.

Lower down the list, Kia overtook Seat, while both Chevrolet and Mini moved up a place at the expense of Suzuki, which dropped off the list of top twenty best-selling car brands in Europe in 2012.

Top-Ten Best-Selling Car Models in Europe in 2012

According to JATO, the top-ten best-selling cars in Europe in 2012 were:

2012 2011 Brand and Model 2012 2011 % Change
1 1 Volkswagen Golf 431,742 485,824 -11.1
2 3 Ford Fiesta 306,405 350,850 -12.7
3 2 Volkswagen Polo 287,828 358,726 -19.8
4 4 Opel / Vauxhall Corsa 265,297 316,254 -16.1
5 5 Renault Clio 244,280 295,627 -17.4
6 7 Ford Focus 241,862 283,702 -14.7
7 6 Opel / Vauxhall Astra 232,645 291,218 -20.1
8 Nissan Qashqai 207,885 208,431 -0.3
9 9 Renault Megane 199,167 241,483 -17.5
10 10 Volkswagen Passat 195,617 235,852 -17.1

In 2012, the Volkswagen Golf was Europe’s favorite car for the fourth consecutive year. All of the cars in the top-ten list, except new entrant Nissan Qashqai, saw a double-digit decline in sales numbers. The Ford Fiesta overtook the aging VW Polo for second place.

The Peugeot 207, which was replaced by the 208 early in 2012, dropped off the list. However, Peugeot can take heart that the 208 was only outsold by the Golf in December 2012 with the new Renault Clio third in the final month of 2012.

Apart from Hyundai and Kia, German luxury car producers performed best in the European car market in 2012. Although sales were flat in Europe, Germany’s five top carmakers had record sales worldwide in 2012.

About the author:

Henk Bekker

Henk Bekker is a freelance writer with over 20 years of experience in online writing. His best-selling cars website has been reporting car sales statistics since 2008 with classic car auction prices focusing on the most expensive automobiles sold at public auctions in the past decade. He also owns the travel websites European-Traveler.com and Lake Geneva Switzerland. Henk holds an MBA from Edinburgh Business School and an MSc in Finance from the University of London.