2014 (Jan to July) International: Worldwide Car Sales

Bentley GT and Flying Spur
In July 2014, new passenger vehicle registrations increased strongly in China, the USA, India and Europe while sales were weaker in Japan and Brazil. The new car market in Russia collapsed with sales down by nearly a quarter. The US was the biggest single-country car market in July 2014 but year to date, China remains the worlds largest and fastest growing passenger vehicle market. In 2014, car sales in China exceeded 10 million cars a month faster than in 2013.

Worldwide Car Sales in 2014 (January to July)

New light vehicle registrations in various major regions of the world as monitored by theΒ VDAΒ were as follows during the first seven months of 2014:

Region July 2014 % Change Jan to July 2014 % Change
Europe (EU+EFTA) 1’001’700 4.9 7’395’300 5.4
Russia* 180’800 -22.9 1’410’600 -9.9
USA* 1’428’500 9.1 9’552’800 4.9
Japan 391’400 -2.6 2’957’900 9
Brazil* 280’200 -13.6 1’865’100 -8.3
India 199’400 6.5 1’490’400 -2
China 1’269’700 10.7 10’126’900 14
Source: VDA

* USA, Brazil and Russia include light vehicles (trucks). % Change refers to same period the previous year.

US Largest Car Market in July 2014

The USA regained the top position as the world largest single-country vehicle market in July 2014 while China remained ahead in year-to-date figures.

Light vehicle sales in the USA started the year slowly – largely due to extreme winter weather – but sales have gained fast in recent months. The US light vehicle market (cars and light trucks) grew by 9.1% in July and by almost 5% thus far in 2014.

Car sales increased by 5% in July 2014 to 670,500 new passenger vehicle registrations for a 1% increase year to date to 4.6 million cars.

Light truck sales grew even faster. Truck sales increased by 13% in July 2014 to 758,000 registrations. Year to date, light truck sales increased by 9% to near 5 million registrations.

Further south in the Americas, in Brazil, the car market continued to contract with sales down 13.6% in July and down 8.3% year-to-date.

Strong Car Sales Growth in China in July 2014

New passenger vehicle registrations in China continued to increase strongly although at a less raced pace than in the previous two years. In July 2014, car sales in China increased by 10.7% with the year-to-date growth 14%. Although the USA car market was larger during July 2014, the Chinese market is still comfortably ahead on year-to-date sales statistics.

During July 2014, car sales in China passed the 10 million mark for the year – a month earlier than in 2013.

In India, the car market expanded for the third consecutive month. However, figures for the year is still down with overall numbers only a fraction of the number of cars sold in neighboring China.

In Japan, the car market continued to shrink with sales down 2.6%. Car sales during the first quarter of 2014 were very strong in Japan due to buying brought forward to avoid a sales tax increase on April 1, 2014. As a result, year-to-date car sales statistics for Japan in 2014 still show strong growth.

Car Sales Increased in Europe in July 2014

In Western Europe (EU and EFTA), new passenger vehicle registrations increased by 4.9% in July 2014. The two largest European car markets – Germany and the UK – grew by 7%, although the figures for Germany came from a weak base and followed a weak June.

Car sales in Italy grew by 5% despite reports that Italy had sunk back into recession. Private buyers – plus 8% – had the strongest appetite for new cars in Italy in July 2014.

In Russia, continued economic and political uncertainty is weighing heavily on the new car market. New car registrations were down nearly a quarter in July 2014 with sales thus far this year ten percent lower than a year ago.

See Also

2014 (First Half) International: Worldwide Car Sales

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.