European car sales continue to grow, With the Golf and Polo taking the top two spots.

• European new car sales grew 7.8% compared to February 2014
• All of the Big 5 markets recorded increased registrations in February
• Volkswagen’s Golf and Polo are the best-selling cars for the second month in a row

New car sales for the month of February were 7.8% higher than the same month in 2014, according to the latest new car sales analysis from JATO Dynamics, the world’s leading provider of automotive intelligence. Combined with the rise seen in January this means that the market is already 7.1% ahead of 2014 year-to-date.

JATO’s headline market analysis:

• Volkswagen’s Golf maintains its lead, with sales up 5.8% in February and 5.4% year-to-date, while the Polo retained second place for the month, up 7.2%
• Volkswagen, Renault and Ford were the best-selling brands in February
• 18 of the 29 markets covered recorded growth compared to February 2014

As in January, the five biggest markets in Europe (France, Germany, Great Britain Italy and Spain) recorded growth in the new car market compared to February 2015. Spain experienced the highest increase (up 22.2%) compared to the same month last year, while Italy and Great Britain also recorded double digit growth.

European Monthly Sales Volumes Year-on-Year Comparison

Volkswagen remains the market-leading brand, with Renault overtaking Ford for second position for both February and the year-to-date, with sales increases coming from the new Twingo and the Captur. All of the top 10 brands saw their volumes increase for the month, with BMW posting the strongest growth at 14.8% driven by the new 2-Series Active Tourer.

Outside the top 10 growth was also driven primarily by new models, with Nissan volumes up 26.8% for the month, SEAT up 20.9%, MINI up 33.4%, Mitsubishi up 45.1%, smart up 44.3% and Jeep up 186.2%.

Top 10 Brands

Make	Feb_15	Feb_14	% change Feb	Feb YtD_15	Feb YtD_14	% change YtD
VOLKSWAGEN	118,781	105,737	+12.3%	251,932	228,432	+10.3%
RENAULT	69,617	60,488	+15.1%	135,840	119,837	+13.4%
FORD	63,049	59,128	+6.6%	133,885	127,048	+5.4%
PEUGEOT	61,993	59,573	+4.1%	125,689	121,499	+3.4%
OPEL/VAUXHALL	59,658	56,861	+4.9%	123,236	112,238	+9.8%
AUDI	49,490	48,274	+2.5%	104,078	102,521	+1.5%
FIAT	48,306	46,304	+4.3%	95,958	92,140	+4.1%
BMW	48,278	42,069	+14.8%	99,972	90,918	+10.0%
MERCEDES	45,087	40,257	+12.0%	97,478	86,031	+13.3%
SKODA	43,548	40,215	+8.3%	87,960	83,572	+5.3%

The Volkswagen Golf remains the market leading model, with a 5.8% increase in February sales, followed by the Polo in second place with 7.2% more units sold following last year’s facelift. The Renault Clio (up 1.9%) took third place, ahead of the Ford Fiesta (down 1.5%) and Peugeot 208 (down 2.7%).

Volkswagen’s new Passat increased sales by 63.8% year-on-year compared to its predecessor last February, to record a year-to-date increase of 44.0%, making it the most improved performer across both measures among the top 10 models.

Outside the top 10, the Opel/Vauxhall Mokka recorded a 66.6% increase due to growing demand for small crossovers; while the new Mercedes-Benz C-Class increased sales by 53.4% compared to February 2014 the new Renault Twingo sold 132% more units than its predecessor managed in February 2014. 

However sales increases for the month were not limited to new or facelifted models, as demonstrated by the Fiat 500 (up 12.8%) and SEAT Ibiza (up 22.4%).

Top 10 Models

Make & Model	Feb_15	Feb_14	% change Feb	Feb YtD_15	Feb YtD_14	% change YtD
VOLKSWAGEN GOLF	36,292	34,292	+5.8%	77,414	73,463	+5.4%
VOLKSWAGEN POLO	21,495	20,059	+7.2%	45,102	42,808	+5.4%
RENAULT CLIO	21,406	21,005	+1.9%	43,355	42,049	+3.1%
FORD FIESTA	18,452	18,732	-1.5%	40,338	41,144	-2.0%
PEUGEOT 208	17,053	17,533	-2.7%	33,057	36,012	-8.2%
OPEL/VAUXHALL CORSA	16,719	16,816	-0.6%	37,970	31,030	+22.4%
SKODA OCTAVIA	16,407	14,700	+11.6%	33,701	31,631	+6.5%
VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT	15,711	9,590	+63.8%	30,639	21,278	+44.0%
NISSAN QASHQAI	15,682	13,100	+19.7%	33,903	25,885	+31.0%
AUDI A3/S3/RS3	14,036	12,690	+10.6%	29,507	28,328	+4.2%

“Car buyer confidence has remained strong across Europe through February,” commented Brian Walters, Vice President of Data at JATO Dynamics. “New models have brought customers into showrooms, and attractive offers have maintained demand for many existing models. We wait to see if this momentum can be maintained in the months to come, following a successful Geneva Motor Show and the prospective launch of new models.”