Volkswagen was Europe’s largest car manufacturer in the first three quarters of 2015 with VW the top-selling brand and the Golf Europe’s favorite model. Only four car brands sold fewer cars in Europe thus far this year compared to a year ago. Jeep and Smart were the fastest-growing car brands in Europe thus far in 2015. New passenger vehicle registration in the EU and EFTA countries increased by 8.8% to 10,776,666 cars sold during the first nine months of 2015.

Best-Selling Car Manufacturers in Europe in 2015 (Q3)

The top-selling carmakers and brand in the Europe Union and EFTA during the first nine months of 2015 according to new passenger vehicle registration data released by the ACEA were:

Manufacturers 2015 (Q1-3) 2014 (Q1-3) % Share 2015 % Share 2014 % Change VW Group 2,696,447 2,509,781 25 25.3 7.4 – VOLKSWAGEN 1,313,310 1,218,324 12.2 12.3 7.8 – AUDI 590,719 558,158 5.5 5.6 5.8 – SKODA 472,648 443,815 4.4 4.5 6.5 – SEAT 263,307 246,905 2.4 2.5 6.6 – PORSCHE 53,849 40,220 0.5 0.4 33.9 PSA Group 1,121,881 1,069,962 10.4 10.8 4.9 – PEUGEOT 642,212 599,255 6 6 7.2 – CITROEN 422,591 401,443 3.9 4.1 5.3 – DS 57,078 69,264 0.5 0.7 -17.6 RENAULT Group 1,009,047 934,783 9.4 9.4 7.9 – RENAULT 720,197 657,132 6.7 6.6 9.6 – DACIA 288,850 277,651 2.7 2.8 4 FORD Group 784,252 733,095 7.3 7.4 7 OPEL Group 729,829 721,173 6.8 7.3 1.2 – OPEL/VAUXHALL 726,675 683,610 6.7 6.9 6.3 BMW Group 696,355 620,167 6.5 6.3 12.3 – BMW 554,822 509,148 5.1 5.1 9 – MINI 141,533 111,019 1.3 1.1 27.5 FCA Group 667,898 588,551 6.2 5.9 13.5 – FIAT 503,101 454,781 4.7 4.6 10.6 – JEEP 65,695 25,390 0.6 0.3 158.7 – LANCIA/CHRYSLER 48,326 55,873 0.4 0.6 -13.5 – ALFA ROMEO 43,495 45,564 0.4 0.5 -4.5 DAIMLER Group 626,233 534,433 5.8 5.4 17.2 – MERCEDES 554,354 492,891 5.1 5 12.5 – SMART 71,879 41,542 0.7 0.4 73 TOYOTA Group 458,560 426,023 4.3 4.3 7.6 – TOYOTA 429,286 404,512 4 4.1 6.1 – LEXUS 29,274 21,511 0.3 0.2 36.1 NISSAN 437,187 362,485 4.1 3.7 20.6 HYUNDAI 355,423 325,946 3.3 3.3 9 KIA 295,140 272,600 2.7 2.8 8.3 VOLVO CAR CORP. 198,390 183,274 1.8 1.9 8.2 MAZDA 160,711 138,789 1.5 1.4 15.8 SUZUKI 136,787 126,800 1.3 1.3 7.9 JAGUAR LAND ROVER Group 132,313 111,730 1.2 1.1 18.4 – LAND ROVER 103,239 89,192 1 0.9 15.7 – JAGUAR 29,074 22,538 0.3 0.2 29 HONDA 100,056 104,857 0.9 1.1 -4.6 MITSUBISHI 98,659 74,239 0.9 0.7 32.9

Statistics exclude manufacturers selling fewer than 29,000 cars during the first nine months of 2015.

Top Carmakers in Europe in 2015 (Q3)

There were no changed in the relative rank positions of Europe’s largest car manufacturers during the first three quarters of 2015. With the European car market growing by 8.8%, only four car brands registered lower sales than a year ago.

The Volkswagen Group continued to be Europe’s top carmaker with a quarter of the total new car market during the first three quarters of 2015. With the notable exception of Porsche, which increased sales by over a third, all marques in the Volkswagen Group underperformed the broader market. The VW brand underperformed the broader market by 2% in September 2015 with the full effect of the emission scandal that broke only at the end of the month still to come.

The PSA Group underperformed the general market with its new DS brand the worst performing car marque in Europe thus far this year. DS sales were down 17.6%. The Renault Group narrowly underperformed the market with Renault sales stronger and Dacia weaker than market average.

The Ford and Open groups maintained their relative positions. The Opel/Vauxhall group is now without Chevrolet but sales were up but slightly below market average.

The BMW Group outperformed with BMW sales up 9% and Mini sales up a more impressive 27.5%

THE FCA Group also outperformed the market with Fiat sales up 10.6% and Jeep sales up 160% – by far the biggest increase by any manufacturer. The FCA Group also had half of the four brands selling fewer cars in 2015 than in 2014: Lancia sales were down 13.5% and Alfa Romero sales were down 4.5% – not particularly bad by recent standards.

Sales of the Daimler Group improved by nearly twice the European market average. Mercedes-Benz sales were up 12.5% while Smart sales ballooned by 73% – only Jeep grew faster.

Toyota sales were up by just less than the market average but Lexus sales increased by a third. Nissan was the fastest growing of the top-ten carmakers in Europe with sales up by a fifth. Only Mitsubishi did better with sales up by a third. Honda was the fourth brand with weaker sales in Europe thus far this year.

Best-Selling Car Brands in Europe in 2015 (Q3)

The list of the top 20 best-selling car marques in Europe during the first three quarters of 2015 according to car sales data released by the ACEA were:

Car Brand 2015 (Q1-3) 2014 (Q1-3) % Share 2015 % Share 2014 % Change 1 VOLKSWAGEN 1,313,310 1,218,324 12.2 12.3 7.8 2 FORD 784,252 733,095 7.3 7.4 7 3 OPEL/VAUXHALL 726,675 683,610 6.7 6.9 6.3 4 RENAULT 720,197 657,132 6.7 6.6 9.6 5 PEUGEOT 642,212 599,255 6 6 7.2 6 AUDI 590,719 558,158 5.5 5.6 5.8 7 BMW 554,822 509,148 5.1 5.1 9 8 MERCEDES 554,354 492,891 5.1 5 12.5 9 FIAT 503,101 454,781 4.7 4.6 10.6 10 SKODA 472,648 443,815 4.4 4.5 6.5 11 NISSAN 437,187 362,485 4.1 3.7 20.6 12 TOYOTA 429,286 404,512 4 4.1 6.1 13 CITROEN 422,591 401,443 3.9 4.1 5.3 14 HYUNDAI 355,423 325,946 3.3 3.3 9 15 KIA 295,140 272,600 2.7 2.8 8.3 16 DACIA 288,850 277,651 2.7 2.8 4 17 SEAT 263,307 246,905 2.4 2.5 6.6 18 VOLVO CAR CORP. 198,390 183,274 1.8 1.9 8.2 19 MAZDA 160,711 138,789 1.5 1.4 15.8 20 MINI 141,533 111,019 1.3 1.1 27.5

There were no changes in the relative rank positions of the top ten best-selling car brands in Europe during the first nine months of 2015. Volkswagen remained easily the top-selling car marque in Europe and extended its lead over Ford to over half a million cars.

Renault was the only of the top six brands to have outperformed the market and ended the third quarter of 2015 only 6,500 cars behind Opel.

Audi lost market share to both BMW and Mercedes while the strong performance by Mercedes-Benz had it only around 500 cars behind BMW.

A strong performance moved Nissan ahead of both Toyota and Citroen while Kia overtook Dacia. Mini moved into the top 20 at the expense of Suzuki.

Best-Selling Car Models in Europe in 2015 (Q3)

The list of the top five best-selling car models in Europe during the first nine months of 2015 according to Jato:

Brand & Model Q1-3/2015 % Change Volkswagen Golf 408,970 3.1 Ford Fiesta 248,556 1.9 Renault Clio 231,321 1.7 VW Polo 230,784 11.3 Opel / Vauxhall Corsa 210,374 8

There were no changes in the list of Europe’s favorite car models during the first three quarter of 2015 compared to the same months in 2014. However, with the exception of the VW Polo, the top models all underperformed the broader market.

The VW Golf remained Europe’s favorite car model and despite sales increasing only 3% (compared to 15% last year), the Golf pulled even further ahead of the direct competition selling over 400,000 cars and 160,000 more than the second placed Ford Fiesta. Fiesta and Renault Clio sales increased only modestly given the expansion of the European car market thus far this year but sufficiently to stay ahead of the Polo.

VW Polo sales increased by a strong 11% but the diesel emission scandal may hurt Polo (and Golf) sales in the final months of the year. The Opel / Vauxhall Corsa sales improved in line with the broader market – probably less than Opel was hoping after launching the model at the end of 2014. However, sales of the outgoing model were strong in the final months of 2014 due to incentives with sales up 20,000 cars over the 2013 figures – only the Polo did better.

See also: 2015 (Q3) Europe: Car Sales per European Union and EFTA Countries