It’s not just Volkswagen Group with diesel woes, during August EU diesel car sales showed the lowest monthly market share since diesel penetration peaked in 2011. However, with a market share of 48.3%, diesel car sales remain substantial. Year-to-date the tally is 4.7 million diesel car sales.
What’s for worrying automakers – but maybe not environmentalists – is the trend. The downward slide in diesel demand is ongoing. The average level of monthly decline since peak diesel share is 1.2 percentage points.
Caveat here: August is routinely a poor month for diesel car sales in several important markets. Therefore 2016 has been no exception, according to consultancy LMC Automotive, the source of the data.
All markets aside from Denmark, Italy and Switzerland saw declines in annualized diesel share during August. Of the Big 5 markets (Italy aside) France and Spain continue to see the most decline (about 6 percentage points) while Germany and the UK were more stable with year‐on‐year falls of below ‐2%.
Diesel sales volume across the region in August, at 370,000 units, was 2.5% up compared to 2015. Only France, Netherlands, Norway and Sweden saw notable falls. Germany and Italy were key to improved volume. Spain also saw modest growth in diesel volume. The UK was flat. Of the declining markets, the Netherlands has seen the largest move away from diesel.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
