European new car sales grew 6.4% in April, 8.5% year-to-date, and no sign of it dipping anytime soon.

• European new car sales grew 6.4% in April, 8.5% year-to-date
• All Big 5 EU markets recorded increased registrations in April
• Volkswagen Golf, Renault Clio and Ford Fiesta were the best-selling cars for the month

New car sales in Europe were 6.4% higher in April 2015 than in the same month of 2014, according to the latest new car sales analysis from JATO Dynamics, the world’s leading provider of automotive intelligence. Year-to-date sales were 8.5% higher than a year earlier.

JATO’s headline market analysis:

• Volkswagen’s Golf maintained its lead, with sales up 4.2% year-to-date, ahead of Renault Clio and Ford Fiesta
• Spain recorded a 3.9% increase over an already strong April last year
• All of the top ten brands increased their sales for April and the year-to-date over 2014

Continuing the trend of recent months, all of the Big five markets (France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy and Spain) recorded greater registration volumes than a year ago. 

After an increase of over 40% in March, Spain recorded only a 3.9% increase in April, but sales in April 2014 were unseasonably high, and the country joins the Czech Republic, Ireland and Portugal in achieving year-to-date growth above 20%.

Brian Walters, Vice President of Data at JATO Dynamics, commented, “Consumer confidence remains high in many European markets, leading to improved sales for the car industry across the continent. 

While some may view the lower growth in Spain this month as a sign of a softening market, taken in context with the monthly figures from previous years it is a return of the normal seasonality, but at a much higher level than before.”

Volkswagen maintained its dominant position at the top of the sales table, increasing sales by 5.5% in April and 9.4% year-to-date. Ford, Renault, Opel/Vauxhall and Peugeot complete the top five for the month, while Ford is ahead of Renault in 2^nd place for the year-to-date.

All of the top ten brands recorded increased volumes compared to April 2014. Renault achieved the strongest growth, up 15.2% in April and 13.4% year-to-date, thanks to continued strong sales of the Clio and Captur, and impressive sales of the new Twingo city car.

Top Ten Brands

Make	Apr_15	Apr_14	% change Apr	Apr Ytd_15	Apr Ytd_14	% change Ytd
VOLKSWAGEN	154,058	146,026	+5.5%	589,352	538,720	+9.4%
FORD	87,839	86,077	+2.0%	359,708	339,234	+6.0%
RENAULT	86,963	75,478	+15.2%	329,963	291,068	+13.4%
OPEL/VAUXHALL	76,670	73,202	+4.7%	318,071	299,318	+6.3%
PEUGEOT	73,522	69,862	+5.2%	295,962	277,477	+6.7%
AUDI	70,031	67,584	+3.6%	261,991	252,169	+3.9%
BMW	60,586	56,275	+7.7%	242,714	225,166	+7.8%
FIAT	58,949	54,370	+8.4%	229,276	211,957	+8.2%
MERCEDES	58,711	57,617	+1.9%	239,503	215,421	+11.2%
SKODA	55,536	51,150	+8.6%	206,604	194,378	+6.3%

Outside the top ten brands Jeep’s new Renegade and Cherokee models continue to sell well contributing to a 170% increase in the brand’s April sales. Infiniti saw sales increase across the brand by 105% as more British customers bought their cars, and Tesla recorded an 87.2% increase as its Model S electric executive car continues to win customers in many markets.

The Volkswagen Golf retained its lead of the market but saw total sales for the month decline by 0.7%, losing market share in Germany, Spain and France. In contrast, its sibling, the new generation Passat achieved a 46.5% increase, the greatest growth in the top ten.

Renault’s Clio claimed 2^nd place for the month, and posted a 14.2% increase in sales over April 2014 due to strong performances in Italy and Spain.

Outside the top ten, Peugeot’s new 308 continues to sell over 40% ahead of its predecessor’s performance last year, and the addition of 5-door versions to the latest generation of the MINI hatchback has driven a 92.2% increase in the model’s volumes in April, and a doubling year-to-date sales.

Top Ten Models

Make & Model	Apr_15	Apr_14	% change Apr	Apr Ytd_15	Apr Ytd_14	% change Ytd
VOLKSWAGEN GOLF	49,330	49,663	-0.7%	186,758	179,256	+4.2%
RENAULT CLIO	29,973	26,244	+14.2%	110,144	100,679	+9.4%
FORD FIESTA	26,717	28,428	-6.0%	114,665	114,018	+0.6%
VOLKSWAGEN POLO	25,180	23,383	+7.7%	103,887	96,757	+7.4%
OPEL/VAUXHALL CORSA	22,893	20,402	+12.2%	101,715	85,289	+19.3%
FORD FOCUS	21,057	20,158	+4.5%	82,038	81,274	+0.9%
VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT	20,188	13,777	+46.5%	71,906	50,490	+42.4%
AUDI A3/S3/RS3	19,861	18,884	+5.2%	74,259	68,848	+7.9%
PEUGEOT 208	19,404	19,464	-0.3%	80,252	81,882	-2.0%
NISSAN QASHQAI	18,728	19,526	-4.1%	84,070	73,317	+14.7%

“Although total sales volumes of some popular models slipped in April, the market remains buoyant overall, as demonstrated by the results of the ten biggest-selling brands,” concluded Brian Walters.