In the first quarter of 2020, Volkswagen remained the top-selling car brand in Europe while Peugeot outsold Renault.
Volkswagen gained some market share in Europe during the first three months of 2020 but the overall market was down by more than a quarter. Peugeot was the second-best-selling car brand in Europe ahead of Renault. Mercedes-Benz and BMW gained fourth and fifth place. Only Porsche, DS, and Lexus had stronger sales during the first quarter of 2020 compared to the first three months of 2019. The effects of the coronavirus on the various European new car markets make it fairly meaningless to make too much out of the relative sales performance of the various car brands in Europe thus far in 2020.
New passenger vehicle registration in the European Union, EFTA, and the UK were down 26.3% to 3,054,703, cars during the first quarter of 2020.
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 (Q1)
The top-selling carmakers in the European Union (EU), EFTA, and the UK during the first quarter of 2020 were as follows according to the ACEA:
| Q1/2020 | Q1/2019 | % Change | |
| EU + UK + EFTA | 3,054,703 | 4,146,822 | -26.3 |
| VW Group | 800,482 | 993,044 | -19.4 |
| -VOLKSWAGEN | 351,113 | 461,959 | -24.0 |
| -SKODA | 163,616 | 194,734 | -16.0 |
| -AUDI | 160,859 | 198,898 | -19.1 |
| -SEAT | 107,269 | 123,086 | -12.9 |
| -PORSCHE | 16,107 | 12,803 | +25.8 |
| -OTHERS | 1,518 | 1,564 | -2.9 |
| PSA Group | 453,461 | 689,703 | -34.3 |
| -PEUGEOT | 186,193 | 263,452 | -29.3 |
| -OPEL/VAUXHALL | 134,330 | 239,999 | -44.0 |
| -CITROEN | 119,857 | 175,819 | -31.8 |
| -DS | 13,081 | 10,433 | +25.4 |
| RENAULT Group | 268,275 | 420,120 | -36.1 |
| -RENAULT | 184,200 | 272,424 | -32.4 |
| -DACIA | 83,286 | 145,221 | -42.6 |
| -LADA | 534 | 1,206 | -55.7 |
| -ALPINE | 255 | 1,269 | -79.9 |
| HYUNDAI Group | 221,889 | 273,104 | -18.8 |
| -KIA | 113,026 | 132,174 | -14.5 |
| -HYUNDAI | 108,863 | 140,930 | -22.8 |
| BMW Group | 216,724 | 260,100 | -16.7 |
| -BMW | 174,326 | 204,553 | -14.8 |
| -MINI | 42,398 | 55,547 | -23.7 |
| TOYOTA Group | 184,175 | 200,619 | -8.2 |
| -TOYOTA | 170,827 | 187,483 | -8.9 |
| -LEXUS | 13,348 | 13,136 | +1.6 |
| DAIMLER Group | 182,773 | 237,060 | -22.9 |
| -MERCEDES | 179,268 | 214,875 | -16.6 |
| -SMART | 3,505 | 22,185 | -84.2 |
| FCA Group | 170,327 | 260,016 | -34.5 |
| -FIAT | 122,348 | 178,986 | -31.6 |
| -JEEP | 26,216 | 45,925 | -42.9 |
| -LANCIA/CHRYSLER | 12,726 | 18,575 | -31.5 |
| -ALFA ROMEO | 8,156 | 14,731 | -44.6 |
| -OTHERS | 881 | 1,799 | -51.0 |
| FORD | 162,528 | 259,773 | -37.4 |
| -NISSAN | 87,260 | 117,209 | -25.6 |
| -VOLVO CAR CORP. | 70,392 | 86,872 | -19.0 |
| JAGUAR LAND ROVER Group | 50,350 | 71,631 | -29.7 |
| -LAND ROVER | 35,708 | 46,850 | -23.8 |
| -JAGUAR | 14,642 | 24,781 | -40.9 |
| MAZDA | 36,088 | 65,518 | -44.9 |
| MITSUBISHI | 32,610 | 43,112 | -24.4 |
| HONDA | 22,414 | 38,250 | -41.4 |
| Source: ACEA |
The Volkswagen Group increased market share in Europe during the first quarter of 2020 by more than 2% to 26.3%. This was largely due to the Coronavirus effects hitting the French and Italian markets earlier — sales for PSA, Renault and FCA were down by more than a third.
The Toyota Group performed the best with sales down by only 8.2%. the BMW, Hyundai, and Daimler groups also gained market share.
Top-Selling Car Brands in Europe in 2020 (Q1)
The 20 top-selling car marques in the European Union (EU), EFTA, and the UK during the first quarter of 2020 were as follows according to the ACEA:
| Q1/2020 | Q1/2019 | % Change | ||
| EU + UK + EFTA | 3,054,703 | 4,146,822 | -26.3 | |
| 1 | VOLKSWAGEN | 351,113 | 461,959 | -24.0 |
| 2 | PEUGEOT | 186,193 | 263,452 | -29.3 |
| 3 | RENAULT | 184,200 | 272,424 | -32.4 |
| 4 | MERCEDES | 179,268 | 214,875 | -16.6 |
| 5 | BMW | 174,326 | 204,553 | -14.8 |
| 6 | TOYOTA | 170,827 | 187,483 | -8.9 |
| 7 | SKODA | 163,616 | 194,734 | -16.0 |
| 8 | FORD | 162,528 | 259,773 | -37.4 |
| 9 | AUDI | 160,859 | 198,898 | -19.1 |
| 10 | OPEL/VAUXHALL | 134,330 | 239,999 | -44.0 |
| 11 | FIAT | 122,348 | 178,986 | -31.6 |
| 12 | CITROEN | 119,857 | 175,819 | -31.8 |
| 13 | KIA | 113,026 | 132,174 | -14.5 |
| 14 | HYUNDAI | 108,863 | 140,930 | -22.8 |
| 15 | SEAT | 107,269 | 123,086 | -12.9 |
| 16 | NISSAN | 87,260 | 117,209 | -25.6 |
| 17 | DACIA | 83,286 | 145,221 | -42.6 |
| 18 | VOLVO | 70,392 | 86,872 | -19.0 |
| 19 | MINI | 42,398 | 55,547 | -23.7 |
| 20 | MAZDA | 36,088 | 65,518 | -44.9 |
| Source: ACEA |
Top-Ten Car Brands in Europe in 2020 (Q1)
Volkswagen remained by far the largest car brand in Europe during the first quarter of 2020 and was the only brand in the top ten in the same rank position as a year ago. VW increased market share slightly to 11.5% of the new car market in Europe.
Peugeot gained second place from Renault but both French brands had sales sharply down due to the French market, and other south European markets where these brands are popular, closing earlier in March due to the coronavirus.
Mercedes Benz (up from 6th) and BMW (up from 7th) gained from the important German new car market closing slightly later in March. Also, premium brands gained from planned purchases for tax and other business reasons that would register new cars early in March.
Toyota improved from 10th to 6th with the best performance of the top ten brands. Skoda gained two positions while Audi slipped one.
Ford (down from 4th) and Opel (down from 5th) were the worst-performing top-ten brands.
The worst performing brand overall was Smart – down 84% — clearly still unable to really make the move to a battery-electric-only brand. Smart dropped out of the top 30 — even Alfa Romeo and Lancia performed better.
Only three brands sold more cars in Europe during the first three months of 2020 compared to the first quarter of 2019: Porsche, DS, and Lexus. Porsche and DS increased sales by 25% but that improvement was more a correction of the disastrous start for these brands to 2019 than any special performance this year.
See also 2020 (Q1) Europe: New Car Sales Per EU, UK, and EFTA Country.
European New Car Market in 2020
Sales and Market Analysis:
