2017 (Full Year) Europe: Best-Selling Car Manufacturers and Brands

In 2017, Volkswagen remained Europe’s largest carmaker despite the best-selling VW brand loosing market share.

Suzuki Geneva Auto Show 2017

New passenger vehicle registration data for the European Union and EFTA confirmed the Volkswagen Group as Europe’s largest car manufacturer in 2017 with the Volkswagen brand still by far Europe’s best-selling car marque. The French PSA and Renault groups increased market share with Peugeot, Citroen, Renault and Dacia brands outperforming the broader market. Mercedes-Benz also gained market share at the expense of competitors BMW and Audi that both had weak sales in Europe in 2017.

Best-Selling Car Manufacturers in the EU & EFTA in 2017

New passenger vehicle registration data released by the ACEA identified the following as the best-selling carmakers in the European Union and EFTA countries in 2017:

Carmaker Sales 2017 Sales 2016 % Change 16/17 % Market Share
EU & EFTA 15,631,687 15,131,719 3.3 100.0
VW Group 3,717,566 3,642,233 2.1 23.8
– VOLKSWAGEN 1,706,369 1,721,899 -0.9 10.9
– AUDI 826,370 830,933 -0.5 5.3
– SKODA 705,421 663,147 6.4 4.5
– SEAT 400,968 350,508 14.4 2.6
– PORSCHE 73,456 71,172 3.2 0.5
PSA Group 1,885,553 1,471,782 28.1 12.1
– PEUGEOT 925,113 864,565 7.0 5.9
– CITROEN 569,728 541,561 5.2 3.6
– Opel (PSA) 344,848 2.2
– DS 45,864 65,656 -30.1 0.3
RENAULT Group 1,628,472 1,526,874 6.7 10.4
– RENAULT 1,150,498 1,101,221 4.5 7.4
– DACIA 472,800 421,644 12.1 3.0
FCA Group 1,044,714 992,812 5.2 6.7
– FIAT 779,534 746,197 4.5 5.0
– JEEP 108,655 105,015 3.5 0.7
– ALFA ROMEO 85,691 66,167 29.5 0.5
– LANCIA/CHRYSLER 60,805 67,230 -9.6 0.4
BMW Group 1,042,580 1,031,840 1.0 6.7
– BMW 827,137 822,724 0.5 5.3
– MINI 215,443 209,116 3.0 1.4
FORD 1,031,957 1,034,635 -0.3 6.6
DAIMLER 992,528 945,074 5.0 6.3
– MERCEDES 893,574 839,779 6.4 5.7
– SMART 98,954 105,295 -6.0 0.6
TOYOTA Group 717,849 638,418 12.4 4.6
– TOYOTA 673,510 593,760 13.4 4.3
– LEXUS 44,339 44,658 -0.7 0.3
GM 600,904 994,622 -39.6 3.8
NISSAN 566,191 550,584 2.8 3.6
HYUNDAI 523,258 505,377 3.5 3.3
KIA 472,125 435,316 8.5 3.0
VOLVO CAR CORP. 303,312 291,473 4.1 1.9
SUZUKI 244,877 202,949 20.7 1.6
MAZDA 231,925 237,034 -2.2 1.5
JAGUAR LAND ROVER Group 221,039 221,758 -0.3 1.4
– LAND ROVER 151,566 153,071 -1.0 1.0
– JAGUAR 69,473 68,687 1.1 0.4
HONDA 140,343 159,187 -11.8 0.9
MITSUBISHI 114,182 117,086 -2.5 0.7

Europe’s Best-Selling Carmakers in 2017 (Full Year)

The Volkswagen Group easily remained Europe’s largest car manufacturer despite loosing market share for the second consecutive year in 2017. The Volkswagen Group increased sales by 2.1% but market share shrank to 23.8% in 2017 – a percentage point lower than in 2015. The two largest brands in the group – Volkswagen and Audi – both had slightly lower sales with VW alone loosing half a percentage point market share in 2017. Skoda outperformed while Seat was one of the most-improved brands in Europe in 2017.

The PSA Group regained second place at the expense of Renault. PSA Group sales were up 28% but this gain is somewhat artificial as Opel sales were included since August 2017. Nonetheless, both Peugeot and Citroen improved sales above market average. In contrast, DS sales were down by 30% – no brand performed worse in Europe in 2017.

Although the Renault Group sank back to third place, both Renault and Dacia brands outperformed the broader market. The FCA Group moved ahead of BMW with Fiat, Jeep and Alfa Romeo increasing sales, while Lancia / Chrysler sales were lower. Alfa Romeo was the best-performing brand in Europe in 2017.

The BMW Group increased sales below market average with both BMW and Mini brands underperforming.

The Daimler Group had another strong year with Mercedes-Benz sales up 6% but Smart sales down 6%.

The Toyota Group had a good year with Toyota branded cars increasing sales by around 80,000 cars – no other brand added more cars in 2017.

GM was the worst performing carmaker in Europe in 2017 following withdrawal from the European market. Opel / Vauxhall sales were listed under the PSA group from August 2017.

Best-Selling Car Brands in Europe in 2017 (Full Year)

The top-selling car marques in 2017 in Europe as listed by the ACEA were:

Carmaker Sales 2017 Sales 2016 % Change 16/17 % Share 17
EU & EFTA 15,631,687 15,131,719 3.3 100.0
1 – VOLKSWAGEN 1,706,369 1,721,899 -0.9 10.9
2 – RENAULT 1,150,498 1,101,221 4.5 7.4
3 – FORD 1,031,957 1,034,635 -0.3 6.6
4 – OPEL (PSA & GM) 943,227 993,464 -5.0 NA
5 – PEUGEOT 925,113 864,565 7.0 5.9
6 – MERCEDES 893,574 839,779 6.4 5.7
7 – BMW 827,137 822,724 0.5 5.3
8 – AUDI 826,370 830,933 -0.5 5.3
9 – FIAT 779,534 746,197 4.5 5.0
10 – SKODA 705,421 663,147 6.4 4.5
11 – TOYOTA 673,510 593,760 13.4 4.3
12 – CITROEN 569,728 541,561 5.2 3.6
13 – NISSAN 566,191 550,584 2.8 3.6
14 – HYUNDAI 523,258 505,377 3.5 3.3
15 – DACIA 472,800 421,644 12.1 3.0
16 – KIA 472,125 435,316 8.5 3.0
17 – SEAT 400,968 350,508 14.4 2.6
18 – VOLVO 303,312 291,473 4.1 1.9
19 – SUZUKI 244,877 202,949 20.7 1.6
20 – MAZDA 231,925 237,034 -2.2 1.5
21 – MINI 215,443 209,116 3.0 1.4
22 – LAND ROVER 151,566 153,071 -1.0 1.0
23 – HONDA 140,343 159,187 -11.8 0.9
24 – MITSUBISHI 114,182 117,086 -2.5 0.7
25 – JEEP 108,655 105,015 3.5 0.7
26 – SMART 98,954 105,295 -6.0 0.6
27 – ALFA ROMEO 85,691 66,167 29.5 0.5
28 – PORSCHE 73,456 71,172 3.2 0.5
29 – JAGUAR 69,473 68,687 1.1 0.4
30 – LANCIA/CHRYSLER 60,805 67,230 -9.6 0.4
31 – DS 45,864 65,656 -30.1 0.3
32 – LEXUS 44,339 44,658 -0.7 0.3

Top-Selling Car Brands in Europe in 2017 (Full Year)

There were only very minor changes in the sales rank order of the best-selling car brands in Europe in 2017. In the top ten, the only rank order change was BMW moving ahead of Audi – both brands lost market share.

Volkswagen remained easily the largest car brand in Europe despite loosing half a percentage market share in 2017. In 2015, VW still had a 12.2% market share in Europe.

In contrast second placed Renault increased sales in Europe in 2017 by 4.5% or around 50,000 more cars. Peugeot and Mercedes-Benz added similar volume with even stronger improvements in sales.

Ford maintained third place despite flat sales while Opel / Vauxhall was the worst performer among the top brands with market uncertainty due to the takeover by PSA not helping. Vauxhall sales in the UK were particularly weak.

Peugeot and Mercedes-Benz were the most-improved brand among the top ten in Europe in 2017. BMW and Audi both underperformed and swapped rank positions. Fiat and Skoda both outperformed the general market.

Just outside the top ten Toyota was the most improved top brand with sales up 13% or 80,000 cars. No other brand added similar volumes.

Citroen moved ahead of Nissan and Dacia outsold Kia. Suzuki increased sales by a fifth to move into the top 20 at the expense of Mini.

Alfa Romeo was the most-improved brand in Europe with sales up by 30% while DS was the worst performer with sales down by 30%.

See also:

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.