2013 (Jan to Nov) International: Worldwide Car Sales

New passenger vehicle registrations increased in Europe, the USA, Japan and China in November 2013, while car sales contracted in India, Brazil, and Russia.

Lamborghini Aventador at the Geneva Auto Salon 2013

Car sales in November 2013 increased in most major car markets. In China, new passenger vehicle registrations were up by a quarter in November 2013, while Japan and the USA also showed strong growth. In Europe, the car market expanded for the third month in a row, although from a very low base. Car sales in Russia, Brazil an India continued to weaken.

Worldwide Car Sales in 2013 (January to November)

New car sales in various regions of the world monitored by the VDA were as follows during November 2013, as well as year to date:

Region  Jan-Nov  % Change  November  % Change  Oktober  % Change
Europe (EU+EFTA)  11’360’900 -2.8  975’300 0.9  1’044’900 4.6
Russia  2’513’200 -6.4  232’000 -3.6  234’500 -7.7
USA  14’179’400 8.3  1’238’400 8.6  1’202’000 10.5
Japan  4’203’100 -2  378’600 16.7  354’500 18.4
Brazil  3’243’700 -1.4  288’500 -2.9  313’900 -4
India  2’367’800 -7.4  201’500 -10.2  239’100 -2
China  14’651’300 22.2  1’569’600 24.1  1’478’400 33.1
Source: VDA  52’519’400  4’883’900  4’867’300

Increased Car Sales in World Markets in 2013 (January to November)

New passenger vehicle registrations in November 2013 in China increased by another 24% after growth of a third in October. Year to date, car sales in China is up by 22% to just less than 15 million cars. China is comfortably the largest single-country vehicle market in the world.

The USA remains the second largest single-country market, just behind China. New light vehicle registrations, including passenger cars and light trucks, increased by almost 9% to 1.2 million vehicles. It was the strongest November in the USA for a decade – largely due to the government shutdown in October that caused some uncertainty in the market.

European car markets expanded in November 2013 for the third growth month in succession. However, the growth is from a very low base and major markets such as Germany and France continued to contract. European car sales are down almost 3% year-tot-date but much improved after an almost 7% contraction during the first half of 2013.

New passenger vehicle registrations in Japan continued to grow too. In November 2013, car sales in Japan increased by 17%. These figures followed on similar high growth numbers in October and September. Year to date, car sales in Japan are down 2% – during the first half of 2013, the contraction was 8.5%.

Car sales in Russia, Brazil, and India continued to decline in November. The Brazilian car market, which saw growth of near 5% during the first half of 2013, has now turned negative for the first 11 months of the year. New vehicle registrations in both Russia and India also continue to fall.

2014 car sales predictions are currently largely positive for all major regions in the world.

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.