New car sales increased in Europe, the USA and China during July 2013 but declined in Russia, India, Japan and Brazil.
New passenger vehicle registrations in the three largest car market in the world – the USA, China and Europe – increased during July 2013. However, other large markets including Russia, Japan, Brazil and India saw a contraction in car sales. The USA remains the largest single-country car market in the world but China is still catching up although at a slower pace.
Worldwide Car Sales in 2013 (January to July)
Car sales in different regions of the world monitored by the VDA were as follows during July 2013:
| Region | Â July 2013Â | % Change | Â Jan-Jul 2013Â | % Change |
| Europe (EU+EFTA) | Â 1,019,600 | 4.8 | Â 7,456,200 | -5.2 |
| Russia | Â 234,600 | -8.3 | Â 1,567,900 | -6.2 |
| USA | Â 1,309,300 | 13.9 | Â 9,107,300 | 8.4 |
| Japan | Â 401,900 | -9.7 | Â 2,713,300 | -8.7 |
| Brazil | Â 324,300 | -7.7 | Â 2,033,800 | 2.6 |
| India | Â 186,200 | -8.3 | Â 1,519,600 | -9.5 |
| China | Â 1,147,200 | 16.5 | Â 8,885,800 | 19.9 |
| Source: VDA | Â 4,623,100 | Â 33,283,900 |
Car Sales in World Regions in 2013 (January to July)
Probably the biggest surprise in car sales statistics of July 2013 was that the European new passenger vehicle market saw positive growth for only the second month this year. However, year-to-date sales in Europe are still down 5.2% thus far in 2013.
Britain (+13%) remained the only strong growing large market in Europe but the largest European market – Germany (+2%) – also saw positive growth. France (+1%) saw its first positive month this year while Italy (-2%) are doing better than for several months. Strong double-digit growth was recorded in Southern European countries such as Spain, Portugal, and Greece.
In the USA, the world’s largest single-country car market, sales of passenger cars and light trucks increased by 14% in July and 8.4% thus far in 2013. Car sales in China increased by 16.5% in July or almost 20% thus far in 2013.
Car sales in Brazil were down sharply in July but the figures were influenced by high sales a year ago due to government subsidies. Brazilian car sales are up 2.6% year-to-date.
Vehicle sales in Russia, Japan and India were down in July to continue the downward trend in the markets for most of 2013.
