April 2013 car sales in most major international markets (even in Europe) showed positive growth.
New passenger vehicle and light truck registrations in most major international markets increased during April 2013 compared to a year earlier. Europe had a positive month for the first time since September 2011 while strong growth continued in both China and the USA. The largest expansion in April was in the Brazilian car market while Japan also had positive numbers. The car markets in Russia and India contracted in April.
New Car Sales in International Markets in April 2013
According to car sales statistics released by the VDA, new automobile sales in major international markets in April 2013 were as follows:
| Region | Jan-April 2013 | % Change | Sales April | % Change | March | February | January |
| Europe (EU+EFTA) | 4,176,700 | -7 | 1,081,300 | 1.8 | 1,346,900 | 829,400 | 918,300 |
| Russia | 862,300 | -2.2 | 245,300 | -8 | 244,000 | 210,700 | 162,100 |
| USA | 4,955,800 | 6.9 | 1,280,300 | 8.4 | 1,447,700 | 1,188,100 | 1,039,900 |
| Japan | 1,624,200 | -7.5 | 308,600 | 0.7 | 570,700 | 412,900 | 332,100 |
| Brazil | 1,105,500 | 8.7 | 317,000 | 29.6 | 268,600 | 222,700 | 297,200 |
| India | 934,300 | -10.9 | 208,400 | -8.2 | 257,000 | 226,500 | 242,400 |
| China | 5,213,700 | 23.7 | 1,294,000 | 18.8 | 1,390,600 | 985,500 | 1,528,400 |
| 4,734,900 | 5,525,500 | 4,075,800 | 4,520,400 |
Worldwide Car Markets in April 2013
Car sales in most major international markets expanded during April 2013. The biggest surprise was probably that the European Union showed positive year-on-on year growth in April for the first time since September 2011. However, the European car market was mostly helped by two extra working days in April 2013 compared to the previous year.
The major driving forces on the European car markets were continued growth in Britain (+15%) and more surprisingly Germany (+4%). Scandinavian car markets expanded too in April 2013 but the major French (-5%) and Italian (-11%) new passenger vehicle markets continued to drag the numbers down.
The Russian car market, which had flat growth during the first quarter of 2013, has now clearly turned strongly negative.
The USA market continued to grow strongly (8.4%) in April but continued expansion in China (19%) saw the Chinese market narrowly bigger in April. Year-to-date, the Chinese car market has expanded by almost a quarter.
In contrast the Indian car market continued to contract while Japan was flat but narrowly positive in April 2013.
The Brazilian market showed the strongest growth in April helped by the postponement of tax changes. The Brazilian car market increased by almost a third to exceed the Japanese market for the month. The Brazilian market was also helped by extra working days, as was the case in most European countries in April 2013. (I130521)