Although the European market remained dormant throughout the year (–6.1% in eleven months), it has recovered some color since the summer, an upward trend that was confirmed in November. New car registrations thus experienced a fourth consecutive month of rebound last month in the European Union, with 829,527 units sold, manufacturers said on Thursday.
Taking advantage of a favorable comparison with a historically low month of November 2021, the market remains far from the million vehicles sold in November 2019, before the Covid pandemic, AFP specifies. The market was notably boosted last month by the Volkswagen group.
porsche performs
The German consortium sold more than 200,000 cars, or a 25.1% market share, with a strong increase of 36.4% in one year, across all its brands. Since January, however, VW has seen its registrations fall by 7.9%, like other large general groups such as Stellantis (-14.7%) or Renault (-5%). Some brands continue to navigate this complicated market.
Within the Volkswagen group, this is the case for Porsche. The sports car maker has seen sales rise by 9.6% since January, driven in particular by the 911, but also by the Cayenne and Macan SUVs. In the VW galaxy, Audi (+2.6%) but also Lamborghini, Bentley and Bugatti (+24.9% accumulated) remain in the green.
Another sports brand that has progressed since the beginning of the year: Alpine, whose registrations have increased by 39.5%. Volumes remain modest (2,441 blue cars versus almost 55,000 Porsches), but the A110’s price-performance ratio allows it to gain market share.
The return of the premium outsiders
Another category of brands stands out for its commercial performance: premium outsiders. Thus, DS sees its sales increase by 15.5%, exceeding the 40,000 units registered since January. The French manufacturer is benefiting in particular from the good sales of the DS7 Crossback, redesigned this summer.
After years of stagnation, especially in 2021 with sales at their lowest point (just under 26,000 cars sold worldwide), the Italian manufacturer Alfa Romeo is also finding color. Sales increased by 24.6% from January to November and Alfa has already sold more cars this year in Europe (26,104 copies) than in all of last year in the world.
The brand director, Jean-Philippe Imparato, has improved margins and is confident of next year, with the arrival on the market of the small SUV Tonale. “Alfa Romeo has also returned to being a profitable brand, whose profits will increase significantly in the coming years. With the arrival of the Tonale and its all-important plug-in hybrid version, our order book has already multiplied by 10”, he explained. in November at Caradisiac. He wanted us to get out of toxic sales channels and by 2023, our bottom line should increase by 40% thanks to our new approach.”
affordable brands
Finally, unsurprisingly, while car prices are only rising amid manufacturers’ repositioning of price tables, chip shortages and inflation, price-contained brands are winning buyers. This is the case of Dacia whose registrations have increased by 14% since January. To a lesser extent, Kia also benefits from this positioning, with sales growth of 7.6%.
Source: BFM TV
