JATO Dynamics, a provider of automotive data and intelligence, has issued a report showing that the European new car market fell by 25.3 percent (313,361 units) during November 2008, when compared to the same month in 2007. Total sales for the month now stand at 924,936 units, down from 1,238,297 in 2007.
This further decline in the market, which has dropped consistently over the past seven months, sees an increased year to date deficit figure, in comparison to 2007, according to JATO. The total sales figure for the first 11 months of 2008 being 13,556,052 units – 7.1 percent (1,030,584 units) lower than the same period last year.
“The market is usually less buoyant at this time of year,” said David Di Girolamo, business manager for JATO Consult. “Though this is an unprecedented drop in sales, it’s not wholly unexpected, given the current economic climate.”
Volkswagen triumphed as Europe’s top-selling car brand during November, ahead of Ford, Renault, Opel/Vauxhall and Fiat. Top market performers year to date are Volkswagen, Ford, Opel/Vauxhall, Renault and Peugeot.
In such a depressed market, Audi stands out for posting sales of just 1.1 percent less than November 2007, whilst enjoying a 0.2 percent (1,457 units) sales increase year to date, largely buoyed by the strong performance of its new A4 model. Few other brands have recorded increased sales during the last month, though with a 27.9 percent up-turn to 10,163 units, Dacia stands out from the rest, following the introduction of its new Sandero model. Year to date this figure increases further, to 42.6 percent (from 68,149 to 97,206).
Other manufacturers worthy of note for their year to date numbers are Nissan (up 9.9 percent, 28,971 units), Mazda (up 2.4 percent, 5,356 units), smart (up 12.1 percent, 10,486 units), Subaru (up 10.5 percent, 4,439 units) and Jaguar (up 13.3 percent, 4,120 units).
