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Showing posts with label Region Europe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Region Europe. Show all posts


ACEA figures (below) reveal that 1,357,500 cars were sold in Europe (less Russia) in 2011, down 1.4%.
VW took top spot with 12.4% penetration, up from 11.2% in the preceding year. While VW makes some good cars, the Passat for example is exceedingly ordinary, yet it is doing very well for the brand in Europe. This debunks the myth that buyers in Europe are always discerning, but rather badge followers like car buyers everywhere. Rating: Good cars, but overachieving.
Ford came in second, with 7.9% share (8.1% in '10). They should have done better with the new Focus. Rating: A good placing, but losing market share surprising. Wrong badge image maybe? Third was
Renault with 7.7% (8.3%), which lost 2nd spot to Ford this year. Rating: It will continue to fall down the rankings as it sacrifices sales for better margins.
Now for the figures in thousands:
1 VW 1,684 +9%
2 Ford 1,078 -3% 3 Renault 1,045 -9%
4 Opel 989 -2%
5 Peugeot 912 -9%
6 Citroen 771 -8%
7 Fiat 682 -17%
8 Audi 680 +9%
9 BMW 642 +5%
10 Mercedes 592 +1%
11 Toyota 527 -8%
12 Skoda 495 +6%
13 Nissan 458 +14%
14 Hyundai 398 +11%
15 Seat 306 +1%
16 Kia 294 +12%
17 Volvo 255 +11%
18 Dacia 252 -5% 19 Suzuki 178 -9%
20 Chevrolet 176 -2%
21 MINI 168 +19%
22 Honda 150 -20%
23 Mazda 137,447 -25%
24 Alfa Romeo 131 +19%
25 Mitsubishi 115 +7%
26 Lancia 106 -6%
27 smart 80 -4%
28 Land Rover 75 +12%
29 Lexus 27 +53%
30 Jeep 24 +61%
31 Jaguar 23 -15%
Others 125,500
Total 13,573,550 1.4% decrease.
This year the Fiat Group and the Chysler Group have been merging. I think ACEA got it wrong with how they addressed this. Lancia now includes all Chrysler sales, Jeep is alone and Dodge has been included in the 'Other Fiat' figures with Ferrari and Maserati. Why not keep the sales under which ever brand they were sold?
European car figures would have been poorer but for solid sales in Germany. 2012 could well reinforce the trends of 2011.
To read about European sales in 2010, click here

Car Sales Europe: 2011

As to which manufacturer is top in a given country can be influenced by various factors. For example, a local brand is usually top where it is made. German speaking countries and northern Europe favour VW, Renault is most popular in southern Europe, while Skoda and Lada are strong in eastern parts.
Below shows which make was most popular in the listed country. A number in brackets by the brand name shows how many countries it is top in. A number by a country shows its position the previous year, and no number by a nation means it was top last year also.
VW (14) Austria
Belgium (2)
Bulgaria (3)
Croatia (2)
Denmark (4)
Finland (2)
Germany
Latvia (2)
Lichtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Netherlands
Norway
Switzerland
Renault (4)
France
Portugal
Slovenia
Turkey
Skoda (4)
Czech Rep
Estonia (3)
Poland
Slovakia


Toyota (3)
Iceland
Ireland (2)
Greece
Ford (2)
Hungary (2)
UK
Fiat (2)
Italy
Serbia (FAS)
Lada (2)
Russia
Ukraine
One Each
Dacia - Romania
Nissan - Cyprus
Seat - Spain
Volvo - Sweden

Europe is turning VW. To the degree that is happening I do not find particularly impressive. I thought Europeans had more imagination. For example, apart from its being a competent appliance, what appeal does a Passat have? I'm not knocking VW, but they aren't that good. A little more imagination may be in order; thinking outside the square.

Top Brands In Europe By Country: 2011


I wrote this article in December 2009: http://tiny.cc/BVGf2b
Just over two years later little has been done about European overcapacity. Both Fiat and GM closed a plant in 2011, but that was not enough by far. GM and PSA are trying to save costs with a cooperation deal as I mentioned in a recent article. That will achieve little if they both fail to bite the bullet and close factories. So what is the problem?
The Problem: Depressed Sales. Europe is in a financial squeeze and the brands hurting are the makers of standard, everyday cars. Premium brands are doing fine.
The Reaction So Far: Slash prices to try keep people buying cars. With no end in sight to the economic woes, this means big losses.
What To Do: Reduce capacity. Not too much though as any future economic improvement needs to be met, but enough to get operating costs down.
Why It Hasn't Happened: It is a very unpopular thing to do. Politicians get involved when plant closures get mentioned and government meddling always makes things worse.
Those Most Affected: Fiat, PSA, Renault and GM Opel/Vauxhall.
To Be Done: Some car plants in France need to close, another in Italy for Fiat and one GM plant (obviously one of the three German plants). This is a minimum.
Will It Happen?: It has to, but how it is handled will say much about Europe.

The European Car Making Mess


Ford just posted another loss in Europe, $149m this time. GM loses money each year. Yet both are popular within the region, 2nd and 3rd respectively according to ACEA. GM knows it needs to close a plant at least, one of the three in Germany would be obvious. I'm less sure what Ford should do. Close its Belgium plant and move Mondeo production elsewhere? PSA, Renault and Fiat all have far too much capacity. They all need to close plants in their home nations.
All these companies have a common problem. European politics. Companies need to run profitable businesses or they will eventually fail. Governments know that closing a car plant is bad publicity. Politicians only think of the next election and getting voted back in. Each year the Koreans use their profits to make better cars. The Chinese brands are getting better. If Japanese brands make more cars offshore and become more profitable, then they will make a comeback too.
In the meantime, European operations will slip back as R&D is cut back, quality suffers and market share is eroded. Of course the 'here today and gone tomorrow' politicians won't be worried about that. They kept the short sighted public happy and got reelected. No wonder things in Europe are a mess.

Plant Closures In Europe...Not

If you look at Europe minus the former Soviet nations (ACEA figures in other words), then Japanese everyday brands are retreating. They are particularly being hit by Hyundai and Kia.
Below we see the difference, with Jan-Apr 2012 percentages first and April only figures in parentheses:
Mitsubishi -32% (-38)
Honda -22% (+2)
Suzuki -17% (-22)
Mazda -12% (-9)
Toyota -9% (-13)
Nissan -4% (-20)
Hyundai +9% (+0)
Kia +23% (+19)

There is nothing between the Korean and Japanese brands except value for money perhaps. I assume that is why the two Korean brands are taking sales from them, especially Kia. Honda showed signs of improving in April, and Nissan's poor April may just be an aberration. Premium brand Lexus is up 10.5% for the four month but down 39% in April, relying almost solely on the CT200H model proving unsustainable.
In summary: Japanese brands that make cars in Europe will fare alright, but brands such as Mitsubishi and Mazda will struggle. The new CX-5 will help the latter in the short term only. Offering value and more exciting cars is the way forward for Japanese makes. Then they will take sales back from the Koreans, who otherwise make pretty drab cars.

Japanese Brands Falling In Europe In 2012

Car sales are poor in Europe and will not be improving for the foreseeable future. It is not upmarket brands that are suffering, they never do. The well healed are less affected by economic downturns. The people who pull out of new car buying in harder times are the people who purchase ‘run of the mill’ models.
When car makers of these ‘bread and butter’ models run factories at full capacity, they still only make modest profit. If the factory is under utilised, then losses soon come calling. This is what is happening in Europe, factories well below optimum use.
Unfortunately the farce that is the European Union is now responsible for the weakening of car makers in the region. The name may have ‘Union’ in it, but that is where it ends. Each government puts self interest before the overall good of the region. Plants can close elsewhere but not in their country. Any car maker that suggests a car factory is closing is castigated and then in effect bullied by the government where the plant is located. They back down, the inefficiency then continues, ultimately weakening the company further.
One nation that has accepted factory closures is the UK. It understood reality. Interestingly, car plants in Britain are not now suffering to the degree that some in Europe are, due to earlier rationalisations. However, I scratch my head at the way some nations across the channel carry on when it is clear to everyone else that closures are essential for the survival of the companies involved. No one closes a plant for the sake of it. They want busy factories, but the also have to run competitive businesses. The sooner that is realised, the sooner the mess can be sorted out.
In future posts, some detail about the situation will be explored. I am apolitical in my opinions.

The European Car Crisis Overview 2012


Back in the 1990’s, Ford and Opel/Vauxhall had between them 20-25% of Western European car sales. In the first six months of 2012, only 16% and for June a mere 14%. You don’t have to be a statistician to work out there is a steady decline in market share for the two main US brands. When you also add that sales in the 90’s were similar to now, then volumes are well down. In 1999 for example, sales were on the rise and the two brands sold over 3 million, for six months of 2012 950,000. Much of the reduced production has been in the UK, from 600,000 units made in 1996, to less than 140,000 by GM only in 2011.
They need to cut back more, but where? I fear that Belgium having lost GM may now lose Ford. However, Germany would be an obvious place, as the German car buying public does not support them well anyway and they have several plants there. Below shows how the brands do in the four major car markets of Europe. The first number is place in the market; the last number is market share. Figures are for the first six months of 2012:
Germany:
5 Opel 7.3%
6 Ford 6.9%
Total 14.2%
UK:
1 Ford 14.2%
2 Vauxhall 11.0%
Total 25.2%
France:
5 Ford 5.2% 6 Opel 3.7%
Total 8.9%
Italy:
3 Ford 7.2%
4 Opel 5.7%
Total 12.9%
Total Western Europe:
2 Ford 7.8%
3 Opel/Vaux 6.9%
Total 14.7%
German consumers are increasingly turning to VW and the three premium brands of that country. Europe as a whole is also going that way to those German marques, but not quite to the same degree. So considering the majority of Ford and GM vehicles are made in Germany, the fact they are only 5th and 6th in that market and below the Euro West average is surprising. Factories must be closed and Germany is the obvious place. They are not that supportive of the brands and the economy is the strongest one to cope with it. However, whether GM and Ford have the stomach to take on Ms Merkel and the unions is probably unlikely.

The European Car Crisis: GM/Ford 2012

The three main car producers in France, Peugeot / Citroen (PSA) and Renault are doing it tough. Sales are falling because of too much reliance on Europe which is doing badly. Also, they have been not very aggressive expanding into new niche areas like you would expect French brands to be doing. They once produced fine cars as you see pictured, however now they don't. In a word, they have become complacent. Strong sales in Europe masked all this, but economic changes have brought it to the fore. To see the impact of recent times, let’s look at some data. Sales as listed are for the first six months of 2012 by main markets and West Europe as a whole:
France
1 Renault 21.2%
2 Peugeot 16.2%
3 Citroen 14.7%
Germany
8 Renault 3.4%
12 Peugeot 2.5%
13 Citroen 2.1%
UK
7 Peugeot 5.0%
10 Citroen 3.5%
18 Renault 1.9%
Italy
6 Citroen 5.2%
7 Peugeot 4.6%
8 Renault 4.5%
Europe West
4 Renault 6.7%
5 Peugeot 6.5%
6 Citroen 5.7%
Even with over 50% of the French market, PSA and Renault are still doing it tough. PSA have held up reasonably well across Europe, but Renault has really hurt. It was the second most popular brand in Europe a decade ago and less, peaking at 10.7%. Now it is 6.7% and dropping. Around the same time, it was ranked third in Britain, but is now 18th!
The first thing to do now is get costs under control. Renault is pulling away from unprofitable sales, which is the sensible thing to do. This causes sales to fall, leading to the need to reduce production capacity. That is politically unpopular in France as well as with the French people.
Then they need to gradually expand the reach of French automobiles beyond Europe. This is where future growth is. Unfortunately these measures are neither popular nor easy, but what is the alternative? A slow slide to oblivion?

The European Car Crisis: PSA/Renault 2012

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