Europe December Car Sales Jump 13% as Discounting Propels Ford
2014-01-16 07:00:01.856 GMT
By Mathieu Rosemain
Jan. 16 (Bloomberg) -- European new-car sales surged 13
percent in December, the biggest monthly gain in almost four
years, as price cuts by producers such as Renault SA and Ford
Motor Co. helped generate a recovery that may last through 2014.
Registrations last month jumped to 948,090 vehicles from
839,027 a year earlier, the Brussels-based European Automobile
Manufacturers Association, or ACEA, said today in a statement.
That pared the decline for the year to 1.8 percent for a total
of 12.3 million autos, the lowest number since 1995.
Carmakers are predicting a gradual increase in European
demand this year after a sovereign-debt crisis and recessions
led to a six-year contraction in deliveries through 2013.
Consumers replacing old cars will probably account for some of
the recovery, though gains are also being fed in part by
continued incentives from automakers and a government vehicle-
scrappage program in Spain.
“The market has bottomed out and the worst is clearly
behind us,” Peter Fuss, senior advisory partner at Ernst &
Young consulting company’s automotive unit, said in an e-mail
before the ACEA released figures. Demand in 2014 will show
“modest” gains, though “this growth will continue to be
artificial: one that is driven by discounts and self-
registrations” by dealers.
2010 Growth
The gain in December was the steepest since a 13 percent
jump in January 2010. It marked the fourth successive month of
increases, the longest stretch since the June 2009 through March
2010 period. The ACEA compiles figures for European Union
countries plus Switzerland, Norway and Iceland. The group will
start including numbers this year from Croatia, which became the
28th EU member in July.
Vehicles on European roads have been in use for an average
seven to eight years, unusually long for that market, prompting
buyers to seek new models, Stephen Odell, head of Ford’s
business in Europe, said in an interview on Jan. 13. At the same
time, unemployment near record highs in the countries using the
euro will hold back growth prospects, he said.
French carmakers PSA Peugeot Citroen and Renault combined
were among the three biggest vehicle discounters in Germany all
year, according to industry publication Autohaus PulsSchlag.
Ford, which posted a 20 percent European sales surge in
December, placed among the top three price cutters for seven
months of 2013 while Fiat SpA’s namesake brand, which sold 2.3
percent more cars, was in the ranking for nine months.
Audi’s Gain
For the second year in a row, the Fiat nameplate was
outsold in Europe by Bayerische Motoren Werke AG’s namesake
brand, Volkswagen AG’s Audi division and Daimler AG’s Mercedes-
Benz, the world’s biggest manufacturers of luxury vehicles. Of
the three, only Audi posted a sales gain in the region in
December, with a 17 percent jump, while Mercedes was the only
one reporting full-year growth.
“Europe still remains quite tough,” Ian Robertson, BMW’s
sales chief, said at a North American International Auto Show
press conference in Detroit on Jan. 13. “It’s going to take
several more years” for the market to reach previous levels.
“You still have unemployment,” and “an economy that is
extremely fragile.”
The sales growth last month contrasts with drops of as much
as 10 percent in February and March. Registrations rose in the
five biggest European auto markets in December, with jumps of 24
percent in the U.K. and 18 percent in Spain, where the
government revived a cash-for-clunkers incentive program in
October. Growth in another 11 countries exceeded 10 percent,
including a doubling of demand in the Netherlands that was
propelled by buyers seeking to avoid a government surcharge
taking effect in January.
Renault’s Surge
Group registrations in Europe increased 22 percent at
Wolfsburg, Germany-based Volkswagen, the region’s biggest
carmaker, and 29 percent at Renault, which ranks third.
General Motors Co. posted a 13 percent increase as a 22
percent jump at the Opel and Vauxhall divisions based in Europe
more than made up for a 29 percent plunge at the Chevrolet
brand, which is being withdrawn from the region by the end of
2015. Toyota Motor Corp.’s sales in Europe, where the Japanese
carmaker places 10th in sales, rose 11 percent, while demand at
Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Motors Corp., the 18th-biggest seller in
the market, more than doubled.
Hyundai Motor Co.’s European sales fell 8.4 percent last
month, the steepest drop in the region by an Asian carmaker.
“Many European markets are over the worst of the economic
crisis, but recovery will be slow, particularly in the first
quarter,” Allan Rushforth, chief operating officer of Hyundai
in Europe, said in an e-mail. Hyundai “will continue to develop
our sales organically rather than pursuing market share gains at
any cost.”
For Related News and Information:
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European car-sales graph: WCAR25 Y <Index> GP <GO>
Top transport Stories: TRNT<GO>
--With assistance from Jeff Green, Christoph Rauwald, Tommaso
Ebhardt and Craig Trudell in Detroit. Editors: Tom Lavell, Chad
Thomas
To contact the reporter on this story:
Mathieu Rosemain in Paris at +33-1-5530-6298 or
mrosemain@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Chad Thomas at +49-30-70010-6232 or
cthomas16@bloomberg.net
2014-01-16 07:00:01.856 GMT
By Mathieu Rosemain
Jan. 16 (Bloomberg) -- European new-car sales surged 13
percent in December, the biggest monthly gain in almost four
years, as price cuts by producers such as Renault SA and Ford
Motor Co. helped generate a recovery that may last through 2014.
Registrations last month jumped to 948,090 vehicles from
839,027 a year earlier, the Brussels-based European Automobile
Manufacturers Association, or ACEA, said today in a statement.
That pared the decline for the year to 1.8 percent for a total
of 12.3 million autos, the lowest number since 1995.
Carmakers are predicting a gradual increase in European
demand this year after a sovereign-debt crisis and recessions
led to a six-year contraction in deliveries through 2013.
Consumers replacing old cars will probably account for some of
the recovery, though gains are also being fed in part by
continued incentives from automakers and a government vehicle-
scrappage program in Spain.
“The market has bottomed out and the worst is clearly
behind us,” Peter Fuss, senior advisory partner at Ernst &
Young consulting company’s automotive unit, said in an e-mail
before the ACEA released figures. Demand in 2014 will show
“modest” gains, though “this growth will continue to be
artificial: one that is driven by discounts and self-
registrations” by dealers.
2010 Growth
The gain in December was the steepest since a 13 percent
jump in January 2010. It marked the fourth successive month of
increases, the longest stretch since the June 2009 through March
2010 period. The ACEA compiles figures for European Union
countries plus Switzerland, Norway and Iceland. The group will
start including numbers this year from Croatia, which became the
28th EU member in July.
Vehicles on European roads have been in use for an average
seven to eight years, unusually long for that market, prompting
buyers to seek new models, Stephen Odell, head of Ford’s
business in Europe, said in an interview on Jan. 13. At the same
time, unemployment near record highs in the countries using the
euro will hold back growth prospects, he said.
French carmakers PSA Peugeot Citroen and Renault combined
were among the three biggest vehicle discounters in Germany all
year, according to industry publication Autohaus PulsSchlag.
Ford, which posted a 20 percent European sales surge in
December, placed among the top three price cutters for seven
months of 2013 while Fiat SpA’s namesake brand, which sold 2.3
percent more cars, was in the ranking for nine months.
Audi’s Gain
For the second year in a row, the Fiat nameplate was
outsold in Europe by Bayerische Motoren Werke AG’s namesake
brand, Volkswagen AG’s Audi division and Daimler AG’s Mercedes-
Benz, the world’s biggest manufacturers of luxury vehicles. Of
the three, only Audi posted a sales gain in the region in
December, with a 17 percent jump, while Mercedes was the only
one reporting full-year growth.
“Europe still remains quite tough,” Ian Robertson, BMW’s
sales chief, said at a North American International Auto Show
press conference in Detroit on Jan. 13. “It’s going to take
several more years” for the market to reach previous levels.
“You still have unemployment,” and “an economy that is
extremely fragile.”
The sales growth last month contrasts with drops of as much
as 10 percent in February and March. Registrations rose in the
five biggest European auto markets in December, with jumps of 24
percent in the U.K. and 18 percent in Spain, where the
government revived a cash-for-clunkers incentive program in
October. Growth in another 11 countries exceeded 10 percent,
including a doubling of demand in the Netherlands that was
propelled by buyers seeking to avoid a government surcharge
taking effect in January.
Renault’s Surge
Group registrations in Europe increased 22 percent at
Wolfsburg, Germany-based Volkswagen, the region’s biggest
carmaker, and 29 percent at Renault, which ranks third.
General Motors Co. posted a 13 percent increase as a 22
percent jump at the Opel and Vauxhall divisions based in Europe
more than made up for a 29 percent plunge at the Chevrolet
brand, which is being withdrawn from the region by the end of
2015. Toyota Motor Corp.’s sales in Europe, where the Japanese
carmaker places 10th in sales, rose 11 percent, while demand at
Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Motors Corp., the 18th-biggest seller in
the market, more than doubled.
Hyundai Motor Co.’s European sales fell 8.4 percent last
month, the steepest drop in the region by an Asian carmaker.
“Many European markets are over the worst of the economic
crisis, but recovery will be slow, particularly in the first
quarter,” Allan Rushforth, chief operating officer of Hyundai
in Europe, said in an e-mail. Hyundai “will continue to develop
our sales organically rather than pursuing market share gains at
any cost.”
For Related News and Information:
Ford Europe Chief Says Replacement Demand to Drive Car Purchases
NSN MZE8536TTDT3 <GO>
Fiat Secures Full Control of Chrysler in $4.35 Billion Deal (2)
NSN MYSAYP6TTDS8 <GO>
Euro-Area Economic Growth Slows as Exports, Consumption Cool
NSN MXA0SE6S9744 <GO>
Draghi Strengthens Rate Pledge as ECB Warns on Complacency (2)
NSN MZ55CE6KLVR5 <GO>
European car-sales graph: WCAR25 Y <Index> GP <GO>
Top transport Stories: TRNT<GO>
--With assistance from Jeff Green, Christoph Rauwald, Tommaso
Ebhardt and Craig Trudell in Detroit. Editors: Tom Lavell, Chad
Thomas
To contact the reporter on this story:
Mathieu Rosemain in Paris at +33-1-5530-6298 or
mrosemain@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Chad Thomas at +49-30-70010-6232 or
cthomas16@bloomberg.net