2013 (First Half) Europe: Best-Selling Car Manufacturers and Brands

The VW, PSA and Renault Groups remained Europe’s strongest car manufacturers during the first semester or 2013. Volkswagen, Ford and Opel were the strongest brands.

Bugatti Veyeron at the Geneva Auto Show 2013
Adding some glamour to Volkswagen’s sales figures

Volkswagen, PSA, and Renault remained the strongest car manufacturing groups in the European Union during the first half of 2013. The top car brands in Europe were Volkswagen, Ford, and Opel / Vauxhall. While the top brands underperformed the broader market, Dacia, Seat, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, and Kia were the only car brands with positive growth in the European Union during the first six months of 2013.

New passenger vehicle registrations in the EU and EFTA countries contracted by 6.7% to 6,436,743 cars during the first semester of 2013.

Best-Selling Car Manufacturers and Brands in Europe in 2013 (First Semester)

The top-selling car manufacturing groups and brands in Europe during the first six months of 2013 according to car sales figures released by the ACEA were:

  January to June (First Semester)
  % Market Share Car Sales % Change
  HY2013 HY2012 HY2013 HY2012 HY13/HY12
ALL BRANDS*     6,436,743 6,895,875 -6.7
VW Group 24.8 24.1 1,598,768 1,659,780 -3.7
VOLKSWAGEN 12.5 12.7 805,745 872,609 -7.7
AUDI 5.7 5.5 363,997 377,781 -3.6
SEAT 2.4 2.0 151,836 138,747 +9.4
SKODA 3.9 3.9 251,899 269,140 -6.4
Others (1) 0.4 0.0 25,291 1,503 +1582.7
PSA Group 11.1 12.0 716,739 827,033 -13.3
PEUGEOT 6.1 6.4 392,449 442,351 -11.3
CITROEN 5.0 5.6 324,290 384,682 -15.7
RENAULT Group 8.6 8.5 555,467 583,193 -4.8
RENAULT 6.4 6.7 411,211 460,153 -10.6
DACIA 2.2 1.8 144,256 123,040 +17.2
GM Group 7.9 8.3 511,247 573,618 -10.9
OPEL/VAUXHALL 6.8 6.8 436,493 468,298 -6.8
CHEVROLET 1.2 1.5 74,523 105,038 -29.1
GM (US) 0.0 0.0 231 282 -18.1
FORD 7.4 7.7 478,584 531,087 -9.9
FIAT Group 6.4 6.6 409,142 456,060 -10.3
FIAT 4.9 4.8 318,065 327,580 -2.9
LANCIA/CHRYSLER 0.6 0.8 41,132 56,100 -26.7
ALFA ROMEO 0.6 0.8 36,170 54,059 -33.1
JEEP 0.2 0.2 11,317 15,169 -25.4
BMW Group 6.3 6.1 407,275 421,480 -3.4
BMW 5.1 4.9 328,057 337,335 -2.8
MINI 1.2 1.2 79,218 84,145 -5.9
DAIMLER 5.5 5.1 356,560 349,312 +2.1
MERCEDES 5.0 4.5 320,359 309,544 +3.5
SMART 0.6 0.6 36,201 39,768 -9.0
TOYOTA Group 4.2 4.3 271,387 294,831 -8.0
TOYOTA 4.1 4.0 261,003 279,262 -6.5
LEXUS 0.2 0.2 10,384 15,569 -33.3
NISSAN 3.5 3.5 226,829 239,373 -5.2
HYUNDAI 3.5 3.4 223,594 231,997 -3.6
KIA 2.7 2.5 175,453 173,232 +1.3
VOLVO CAR CORP. 1.7 1.8 111,850 125,540 -10.9
HONDA 1.2 1.1 78,077 72,555 +7.6
SUZUKI 1.2 1.2 77,224 86,177 -10.4
MAZDA 1.2 1.0 74,419 70,581 +5.4
JAGUAR_LAND_ROVER_Group 1.2 1.0 74,130 66,829 +10.9
LAND ROVER 0.9 0.8 59,306 54,239 +9.3
JAGUAR 0.2 0.2 14,824 12,590 +17.7
MITSUBISHI 0.6 0.6 39,078 44,010 -11.2
  • *EU figures exclude Malta
  • (1) Include Porsche, Lamborghini, Bugatti, Bentley

Best-Selling Car Manufacturing Groups in Europe in 2013 (First Half)

The Volkswagen Group easily maintained its position as Europe’s leading car manufacturing conglomerate. VW increase its market share to nearly a quarter of the total new passenger vehicle market in Europe. The phenomenal growth of “Others” is due to Porsche figures being included only since August 2012 – Bugatti, Bentley and Lamborghini add more glamour than sales numbers.

The French Peugeot-Citroen and Renault Groups continue to struggle. The Renault Group outperformed the market but only due to the performance of Dacia, which showed the strongest growth of the top-20 best-selling car brands in Europe.

GM, Ford and Fiat were all down around ten percent. However, Ford has showed positive growth in June after flat sales in May giving hope that its restructuring efforts are beginning to pay off.

Daimler, Kia, Honda, Mazda, and Jaguar-Land Rover were the only manufacturing groups to have increased sales during the first half of 2013. Hyundai outperformed the broader market but sales were down indicating that the fast growth of the two South Korean car brands in Europe is slowing down.

Best-Selling Car Brands in Europe in 2013 (First Semester)

The top twenty best-selling car brands in Europe during the first half of 2013 were:

  Brand Sales % Change
1 VOLKSWAGEN 805,745 -7.7
2 FORD 478,584 -9.9
3 OPEL/VAUXHALL 436,493 -6.8
4 RENAULT 411,211 -10.6
5 PEUGEOT 392,449 -11.3
6 AUDI 363,997 -3.6
7 BMW 328,057 -2.8
8 CITROEN 324,290 -15.7
9 MERCEDES 320,359 +3.5
10 FIAT 318,065 -2.9
11 TOYOTA 261,003 -6.5
12 SKODA 251,899 -6.4
13 NISSAN 226,829 -5.2
14 HYUNDAI 223,594 -3.6
15 KIA 175,453 +1.3
16 SEAT 151,836 +9.4
17 DACIA 144,256 +17.2
18 VOLVO 111,850 -10.9
19 MINI 79,218 -5.9
20 HONDA 78,077 +7.6

The top five best-selling car brands in Europe during the first semester of 2013 all underperformed the broader market.

The best performers amongst the top ten best-selling car brands were the German luxury or premium brands. Mercedes-Benz was the only top-ten brand with positive growth. Competitors Audi and BMW both outperformed the market. Europeans may be buying fewer cars but increasingly seem to prefer better cars.

In contrast French car brands Renault, Peugeot and Citroen continue to struggle, while Fiat managed to outperform the wider market. Seat for once provided positive growth to the Volkswagen Group while Dacia, Renault’s cheaper brand, were the most improved of the top twenty car marques. (E130716)

See also: 2013 (First Half) Car Sales per European Country

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.