2020 (Full Year) Europe : Best-Selling Car Manufacturers and Brands

In 2020, the Volkswagen Group was the largest car manufacturer in Europe followed by PSA. VW and Renault remained the best-selling new car brands in Europe.

In 2020, the Volkswagen Group was the largest car manufacturer in Europe while VW and Renault remained the best-selling brands.

In full calendar year 2020, the Volkswagen Group remained the best-selling carmaker in Europe and increased market share to above a quarter. The PSA Group was the second largest car manufacturer in Europe despite sales down by nearly a third in 2020. The FCA Group and Ford were the worst-performing larger carmakers in Europe in 2020. Volkswagen and Renault were again the top-selling car brands in Europe while sales were sharply down for Ford and Opel. The VW Golf remained Europe’s favorite car model in 2020.

New passenger vehicle registrations in Europe in 2020 were down by a quarter to just less than 12 million cars. See 2020 (Full Year) Europe: Car Sales per EU and EFTA Country for an overview and analysis of the European new car market.

European Car Market Statistics 2020: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

Best-Selling Car Manufacturers in Europe in 2020 (Full Year)

The largest carmakers and marques in the European Union and EFTA in 2020 according to new passenger vehicle registration data released by the ACEA were:

20202019%19/20
Total Market EU & EFTA11,961,18215,805,75224.3
VW Group3,040,0303,866,779-21.7
-VOLKSWAGEN1,346,9991,769,482-24.5
-SKODA643,019761,761-15.7
-AUDI600,470743,042-19.2
-SEAT370,928507,149-26.9
-PORSCHE73,54679,624-7.6
-OTHERS25,0685,721-11.4
PSA Group1,718,6562,467,258-30.3
-PEUGEOT741,498964,937-23.2
-OPEL/VAUXHALL485,778815,683-40.4
-CITROEN448,352636,843-29.6
-DS43,02849,795-13.4
RENAULT Group1,227,8841,654,887-25.7
-RENAULT819,0091,063,957-22.9
-DACIA405,472581,543-30.2
-LADA2,0754,956-58.3
-ALPINE1,3284,431-70.0
BMW Group847,4811,048,047-19.2
-BMW674,654830,862-18.8
-MINI172,827217,185-20.4
HYUNDAI Group841,5201,065,859-21.0
-HYUNDAI424,805563,018-24.5
-KIA416,715502,841-17.1
DAIMLER765,3651,016,655-23.8
-MERCEDES738,236902,039-17.3
-SMART27,129114,616-75.8
FCA Group700,534946,571-26.0
-FIAT492,101659,622-25.4
-JEEP124,315167,118-25.6
-LANCIA/CHRYSLER43,10958,938-26.9
-ALFA ROMEO36,52653,876-32.2
-OTHERS34,4837,017-36.4
TOYOTA Group695,293797,397-13.0
-TOYOTA648,275741,342-12.7
-LEXUS47,01856,055-16.4
FORD654,729965,070-31.7
NISSAN290,343394,091-26.5
VOLVO CAR CORP.286,841342,579-15.6
JAGUAR LAND ROVER Group159,423228,626-30.3
-LAND ROVER112,776151,800-25.7
-JAGUAR46,64776,826-39.3
MAZDA149,418256,562-41.7
MITSUBISHI103,411148,248-30.2
HONDA80,699122,080-33.9
Source: ACEA

Note: 1. Not all brands provide statistics, eg Tesla. 2. Includes Bentley, Lamborghini, and Bugatti. 3. Includes Dodge and Maserati

Largest Carmakers in Europe in 2020 (Full Year)

In 2020, the Volkswagen Group outperformed the broader market to push market share to 25.4%. VW brand sales were in line with the market but Skoda and Audi gained market share while Seat, which suffered from the sharp contraction in sales in Spain, was weaker. Porsche was the best-performing brand in Europe in 2020 and the only brand with sales down by less than a tenth.

The PSA Group was again the second largest with Peugeot gaining some market share but Opel / Vauxhall sales were sharply down. The Renault Group performed better with the Renault brand gaining market share while Dacia sales were weaker. Alpine sales collapsed but the brand is surviving due to its new repositioning as the sports brand of the group.

The BMW Group moved ahead of the Hyundai Group. Both BMW and Mini brands gained market share. Hyundai sales were down by a quarter but Kia was one of the better performers in Europe in 2020.

The Daimler Group also outperformed the market with Mercedes-Benz sales performing better than BMW and Audi. Smart sales were sharply down — although electric car sales were sharply up, Smart was unable to meet demand and will be unlikely to recover until new models arrive from China in 2022.

The FCA Group had another dismal year with all brands having sales down by at least a quarter. A further brand / model shakeout is expected in 2021 following the merger with PSA.

The Toyota Group was the best-performing carmaker in Europe in 2020 with Toyota brand one of the best-performing brands too. In contrast, Ford and Nissan sales were sharply down.

Of the larger smaller brand, with the exception of Volvo, all sharply underperformed in Europe in 2020.

Best-Selling Car Brands in Europe in 2020 (Full Year)

The 30 top-selling car brands in Europe in 2020 were as follows:

CAR BRAND20202019%19/20
1VOLKSWAGEN1,346,9991,769,482-24.5
2RENAULT819,0091,063,957-22.9
3PEUGEOT741,498964,937-23.2
4MERCEDES738,236902,039-17.3
5BMW674,654830,862-18.8
6FORD654,729965,070-31.7
7TOYOTA648,275741,342-12.7
8SKODA643,019761,761-15.7
9AUDI600,470743,042-19.2
10FIAT492,101659,622-25.4
11OPEL/VAUXHALL485,778815,683-40.4
12CITROEN448,352636,843-29.6
13HYUNDAI424,805563,018-24.5
14KIA416,715502,841-17.1
15DACIA405,472581,543-30.2
16SEAT370,928507,149-26.9
17NISSAN290,343394,091-26.5
18VOLVO286,841342,579-15.6
19MINI172,827217,185-20.4
20MAZDA149,418256,562-41.7
21JEEP124,315167,118-25.6
22LAND ROVER112,776151,800-25.7
23MITSUBISHI103,411148,248-30.2
24HONDA80,699122,080-33.9
25PORSCHE73,54679,624-7.6
26LEXUS47,01856,055-16.4
27JAGUAR46,64776,826-39.3
28LANCIA/CHRYSLER43,10958,938-26.9
29DS43,02849,795-13.4
30ALFA ROMEO36,52653,876-32.2
Source: ACEA

Europe’s Favorite Car Brands in 2020 (Full Year)

In 2020, Volkswagen remained Europe’s largest car brand by far. Volkswagen had some production issues with the new Golf 8 and VW ID3 early in the year but still managed to sell in line with the broader market and to gain market share during the final months of the year.

Renault and Peugeot gained some market share but sales were down by almost a quarter. Mercedes and BMW each moved up one rank position with both premium brands gaining market share in Europe in 2020. Ford dropped from third to sixth biggest car brands in Europe in 2020 with sales down by nearly a third.

Toyota was the best-performing large car brand in Europe in 2020 — only Porsche performed better. Toyota moved from tenth to seventh-largest car brand in Europe. Skoda and Audi also gained market share but remained in the same positions as a year ago.

Fiat entered the top ten again despite sales down by a quarter in Europe in 2020. Opel / Vauxhall dropped from seventh to 11th with sales down by 40% — only Mazda performed worse.

European Car Sales Statistics for 2020 (Full Year)

European New Car Market in 2020

Sales and Market Analysis:

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.