2013 (Jan-July) International: Worldwide Car Sales

New car sales increased in Europe, the USA and China during July 2013 but declined in Russia, India, Japan and Brazil.

BMW i8 Concept at Geneva Auto Show in 2013

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  July 2013  % Change  Jan-Jul 2013  % Change
Europe (EU+EFTA)  1,019,600 4.8  7,456,200 -5.2
Russia  234,600 -8.3  1,567,900 -6.2
USA  1,309,300 13.9  9,107,300 8.4
Japan  401,900 -9.7  2,713,300 -8.7
Brazil  324,300 -7.7  2,033,800 2.6
India  186,200 -8.3  1,519,600 -9.5
China  1,147,200 16.5  8,885,800 19.9
Source: VDA  4,623,100  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.

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.