2014 (Full Year) Europe: Best-Selling Car Brands and Manufacturers

Skoda Octavia Scout at the Geneva Auto SalonIn 2014, the Volkswagen, PSA and Renault groups remained Europe’s largest car manufactures with VW, Ford and Opel / Vauxhall the best-selling car brands. In an expanding European car market, all of the top 20 top-selling car marques increased car sales in 2014. The VW Golf was again Europe’s favorite car model in 2014.

New passenger vehicle registrations in 2014 in the European Union and EFTA countries increased by 5.4% to 13,006,451 cars.

Best-Selling Car Manufacturers in Europe in 2014 (Full Year)

The largest carmakers and marques in the European Union (EU) and EFTA countries in 2014 according to new passenger vehicle registration data released by the ACEA were:

  Share 2014 Share 2013 Sold 2014 Sold 2013 % Change
ALL BRANDS     13,006,451 12,336,883 5.4
VW Group 25.5 25.1 3,313,435 3,095,392 7
-VOLKSWAGEN 12.5 12.6 1,619,921 1,553,251 4.3
-AUDI 5.6 5.6 726,059 694,600 4.5
-SKODA 4.5 4.1 582,140 511,172 13.9
-SEAT 2.5 2.3 328,334 289,356 13.5
-Others 0.4 0.4 56,981 47,013 21.2
PSA Group 10.7 10.9 1,390,900 1,341,221 3.7
-PEUGEOT 6 6 782,855 739,944 5.8
-CITROEN 4.7 4.9 608,045 601,277 1.1
RENAULT Group 9.5 8.9 1,237,606 1,095,707 13
-RENAULT 6.7 6.5 874,504 801,273 9.1
-DACIA 2.8 2.4 363,102 294,434 23.3
FORD 7.3 7.3 947,951 901,343 5.2
OPEL Group 7.1 7.9 924,275 968,448 -4.6
-OPEL/VAUXHALL 6.8 6.7 885,372 824,787 7.3
-CHEVROLET 0.3 1.2 38,560 143,274 -73.1
BMW Group 6.4 6.4 833,312 794,697 4.9
-BMW 5.2 5.2 676,410 641,196 5.5
-MINI 1.2 1.2 156,902 153,501 2.2
FCA Group 5.9 6 767,856 741,788 3.5
-FIAT 4.5 4.7 586,271 573,674 2.2
-LANCIA/CHRYSLER 0.6 0.6 72,168 74,847 -3.6
-ALFA ROMEO 0.5 0.5 59,198 64,510 -8.2
-JEEP 0.3 0.2 41,378 24,391 69.6
DAIMLER Group 5.4 5.5 708,002 682,651 3.7
-MERCEDES 5 5 652,373 617,244 5.7
-SMART 0.4 0.5 55,629 65,407 -14.9
TOYOTA Group 4.3 4.4 558,459 545,593 2.4
-TOYOTA 4.1 4.2 527,380 521,742 1.1
-LEXUS 0.2 0.2 31,079 23,851 30.3
NISSAN 3.7 3.4 477,183 422,043 13.1
HYUNDAI 3.3 3.4 424,467 422,444 0.5
KIA 2.7 2.8 353,719 339,306 4.2
VOLVO 2 1.9 254,610 230,063 10.7
MAZDA 1.3 1.2 175,028 147,461 18.7
SUZUKI 1.3 1.2 162,828 152,341 6.9
JAGUAR LAND ROVER Group 1.1 1.1 144,442 136,262 6
-LAND ROVER 0.9 0.9 115,826 108,865 6.4
-JAGUAR 0.2 0.2 28,616 27,397 4.4
HONDA 1 1.1 133,268 140,061 -4.9
MITSUBISHI 0.8 0.7 102,364 81,861 25

Top-Selling Carmakers in Europe in 2014

In 2014, the Volkswagen Group expanded it lead as Europe’s top car manufacturing group to more than a quarter of the total new passenger car market. The group’s top-selling marques, Volkswagen and Audi, slightly underperformed the broader market but Skoda and Seat showed strong growth. The “others” in the VW Group is mostly Porsche but also include luxury brands Bugatti, Bentley, and Lamborghini. (Porsche had its best year ever in 2014.)

The PSA Group remained Europe’s second largest car manufacturer despite underperforming the market. Peugeot sales were stronger than the market average but Citroen sales hardly increased in 2014.

The Renault Group had a strong performance in 2014. Renault sales were up 9% but the budget Dacia brand saw sales increase by nearly a quarter.

Ford regained fourth place in Europe in 2014 from the GM Group. Ford sales were just below the market average but strong sales of Opel (Vauxhall) could not make up for the losses of Chevrolet, which withdrew from the European market during the year.

In the BMW Group, BMW sales were just above market average while Mini sales lagged behind, largely a result of a model change during the year.

Sales of the FCA Group were below market average with a mixed performance for the group’s brands. Fiat sales were fairly flat while Lancia / Chrysler and Alfa Romeo were two of only five brands with negative growth in Europe in 2014. However, Jeep (+70%) was the strongest performer of all brands in Europe in 2014.

The Daimler Group also had mixed results. Mercedes-Benz sales were just above market average while Smart (-15%) was the worst performing car brand in Europe (apart from Chevrolet). The launch of the new Smart at the end of 2014 should help the brand in 2015.

Strong sales in Europe in 2014 allowed Nissan to overtake Hyundai that had flat sales. Kia sales were also below market average.

Volvo sales increased by 11% while strong growth allowed Mazda to overtake Suzuki in Europe in 2014. Jaguar and Land Rover increased sales but not at the same stellar rate as in previous years.

Honda was the second-weakest performing brand in Europe while Mitsubishi increased sales by a quarter.

Best-Selling Car Brands in Europe in 2014

There were no changes in the rank order of the top 10 most popular car marques in Europe in 2014. Skoda missed out on the top 10 list by only around 4,000 cars. The order remained as follow:

 Brand Cars Sold in 2014
1 VOLKSWAGEN 1,619,921
2 FORD 947,951
3 OPEL/VAUXHALL 885,372
4 RENAULT 874,504
5 PEUGEOT 782,855
6 AUDI 726,059
7 BMW 676,410
8 MERCEDES 652,373
9 CITROEN 608,045
10 FIAT 586,271

The Volkswagen Golf remained Europe’s favorite car model in 2014.

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.