2018 (January to July) International: Worldwide Car Sales

July 2018: New passenger vehicle registrations increased in Europe, Russia, Japan and Brazil but car sales were weaker in the USA, China and India.

January to July 2018: Car sales in all major regions of the world increased thus far this year with the exception of the Japanese new car market that was moderately weaker. Russia, Brazil and India remained the fastest growing new car markets in the world with new light vehicle registrations increasing by double digits so far in 2018. The increase in new car sales in China continued but at a lower rate than earlier in 2018. New passenger vehicle registrations in Europe remained on a growth path while the US market was slightly stronger than during the first seven months of 2017.

Worldwide Car Sales in 2018 (Jan to July)

New passenger vehicle registrations in major regions of the world monitored by the VDA were as follows in July 2018 and the first seven months of 2018:

Brazil – Strong Car Sales in July 2018

The Brazilian new car market experienced strong growth, as expected, after sales were relatively weak in June due to political upheaval and road blockages. Sales of new light vehicles increased by 17% in July 2018 to 209,100 cars.

During the first seven months of 2018, the Brazilian new car market expanded by 14% – only the Russian new car market grew faster.

Russia – Continued Strong Car Sales in July 2018

In July 2018, the Russian new car market expanded by 10.6% to 143,500 cars. This is the 17th consecutive month of growth in new car sales in Russia and the 15th consecutive months of double digit increases.

New light vehicle registrations in Russia increased by 17% to 992,700 cars – the fast growth of any major car market.

Europe – Strong Car Sales in July 2018

New passenger vehicle registrations in Western Europe (EU15 & EFTA) increased by a strong 9% to 1,188,700 cars in July 2018. All five largest European car market expanded in July 2018: Germany (12%), France (19%), Italy (4%), Spain (19%) and Britain (1%).

Year-to-date 2018, the new car market in Western Europe grew by 2.9% to 9,140,500. (Sales in the full European Union likely grew even faster but statistics for the other EU members are traditionally available late during the summer season!)

Japan – Stronger Car Sales in July 2018

In July 2018, new passenger vehicle registrations in Japan increased by 3.3% to 368,900 cars – only the second positive month thus far this year.

During the first seven months of 2018, new car sales in Japan contracted by 1.6% to 2,660,900 cars.

India – Weaker Car Sales in July 2018

Car sales in India were slightly weaker in July 2018 when sales were down 2.7% to 291,000. This contraction was largely expected as July 2017 had extraordinarily strong sales due to a change in tax regime.

New passenger vehicle registrations in India remained strong during the period January to July 2018 with sales up 10.6% to just over two million cars.

USA – Weaker Vehicle Sales in July 2018

After surprisingly strong light vehicle sales in the USA in June 2018, the market contracted again in July 2018 by 3.4% to 1,360,100 cars.

Thus far in 2017, the US new car market remained positive with sales of light vehicles up by 1.3% to 9,934,000 vehicles. The trend away from traditional passenger cars continued with sales down 12% while sales of light trucks and SUVs increased by 9%.

China – Weaker Car Sales in July 2018

Car sales in China contracted by 6% in July 2018 although with 1,553,900 cars sold China remained by far the world’s largest single-country new car market.

During the first seven months of 2018, car sales in China increased by 4% to 13,094,100 cars – over 3 million more than in either the USA or EU.