Volkswagen’s Sales and Market Share in Europe Decline Due to Emissions Scandal

Volkswagen’s sales and market share in Europe fell in October of this year, despite an increase in overall automotive market sales, as the emissions scandal began to take its toll, data from the industry showed on Tuesday.

Registrations of new passenger cars in the European Union (EU) and the European Free Trade Association rose by 2.7 percent year-on-year last month, to 1.14 million, announced the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) from Brussels. The increase in registrations in Europe has been recorded for the 26th consecutive month, but it was somewhat slower than in previous months, although the data for last month included one less sales day than in October 2014.

However, sales of the largest European manufacturer, Volkswagen Group, fell by 0.8 percent last month, and its European market share decreased from 26.1 percent to 25.2 percent compared to the same month last year. VW brands recorded a sales decline last month, with Seat down by 11.2 percent, Škoda by 2.9 percent, and Volkswagen by 0.4 percent. However, premium brands Audi and Porsche continue to record sales growth of 3.5 percent and 13.3 percent, respectively.

As car deliveries typically follow a few weeks after the purchase decision, the true consequences of the emissions scandal related to VW diesel vehicles will become visible in the registration data for November. The overall growth in the European market last month was mainly driven by sales increases of German brands Daimler and BMW – by 20.9 percent and 12.8 percent, respectively, as well as Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, which recorded strong sales of the Jeep Renegade and Fiat 500x models, with total sales growth of 7.7 percent.

On the other hand, French manufacturers PSA Peugeot Citroën and Renault recorded sales declines of 1.5 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively. All European markets recorded sales increases in October except for the UK, where the number of registrations decreased by 1.1 percent. Among the five major markets, Italy recorded the highest growth of 8.6 percent, followed by Spain with a growth of 5.2 percent. In the first 10 months of this year, the number of registrations increased by 8.2 percent compared to the same period last year, announced the ACEA.