Following two consecutive months of growth, the European new car market dropped 7.9% in June 2019 (compared with June 2018) as 1.49m vehicles were registered. Only four out of the 27 markets included in JATO’s analysis posted growth but counted for a marginal 2.6% of total registrations.
Lower consumer confidence is affecting diesel car registrations and is particularly challenging in Scandinavia (-52%; 20,092 units), where EVs continue to increase their market share (20,182 units). The Swedish record in June 2018 came ahead of a new tax hike that hit the market in July.
In fact, the results of diesel and electric vehicles contrast heavily across Europe. In June 2019, diesel car registrations fell by 21% but made up 31% of the total market, while demand for electrified vehicles increased by 20%. However, the latter’s growth (to 7.5%) is still not strong enough to enable them to become a big player on the market and electrified vehicles need to attract more consumers, or they won’t be able to capitalise on the demise of diesel.
More worrying of June’s results is the slowdown for SUVs, which totalled 556,400 units during the month, up by only 0.7% compared to the 552,500 units of June 2018. Two factors explain the limited growth: 1. Higher costs of SUVs and 2. Possible SUV peak being reached. If the latter is the case, Europe could be losing its main driver of growth.
Most of the slowdown in the SUV segment in June came from premium SUVs, where demand fell by 5% as a result of double-digit drops at Mercedes, Volvo and Land Rover. Although several mainstream brands posted growth, such as Seat (+37%), Dacia (+21%) and Volkswagen (+19%), the three most popular SUV models posted the biggest drops: Nissan Qashqai (-15%), Volkswagen Tiguan (-18%) and Peugeot 3008 (-18%).
Yet, there were some success stories in June. Among all the automakers, Tesla posted the highest market share gain, as registrations increased from 4,034 units in June 2018, to 14,106 units last month. In June 2019, the compact Model 3 was Europe’s best-selling premium midsize saloon and, thanks to it, Tesla has been able to more than triple its sales in the first half of 2019.
Toyota was the other big market share winner of the month. The new Corolla performed far better than the (outgoing) Auris, and the new RAV4 continued to climb the SUV rankings. Along with Lexus, these brands controlled 72% of the hybrid car market in June.
It was also a good month for the Volkswagen T-Cross, which hit the top 50 with 11,058 recorded sales, and the Citroen C5 Aircross, which recorded 7,741 sales and outsold both the Mazda CX-5 and Jeep Compass. Meanwhile, the Mercedes A-Class occupied the 4th position amongst compact cars, just behind the Golf, Focus and Octavia. Focus sales were boosted by increased demand in Germany, Italy and France.
The Hyundai Kona also did well in June, recording almost 8,700 sales, of which 22% originated from its EV version. Elsewhere, the Seat Tarraco recorded 3,910 registrations and became Europe’s 4th best-selling mainstream midsize SUV, just behind the 5008, Kodiaq and Outlander.
