Category Archives: sales

January 2024 EU New Car Registrations Up 12%

In January 2024, the EU new car market rallied from the slowdown experienced in December 2023, with year-on-year car registrations increasing by 12.1% to 851,690 units. The trade bloc’s major markets all saw significant growth, with Germany (+19.1%), Italy(+10.6%), France (+9.2%), and Spain (+7.3%) posting either high single-digit or double-digit gains, according to ACEA.*

The EU diesel car market contracted by 4.9% in January. However new battery-electric car sales surged by 28.9% to 92,741 units, representing a total market share of 10.9%. The four largest markets in the region, together covering 66% of all battery electric car registrations, recorded double-digit gains: Belgium (+75.5%), the Netherlands (+72.2%), France (+36.8%), and Germany (+23.9%). Continue reading

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US Vehicle Transaction Prices Down in January

The automobile market is not contributing to inflation. The extensively covered January Consumer Price Index (CPI), a key measure of inflation is widely misrepresented in AutoInformed’s opinion.

Cox Automotive* said today that it observed declines in retail vehicle prices last month, according to actual transaction data. Kelley Blue Book reported that average transaction prices for new vehicles were down by 3.5% year-over-year, Another Cox measure, Dealertrack data show average used retail prices down slightly less. “Both measures indicate the retail auto market is not pushing overall inflation higher,” Cox said. Continue reading

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Germany Bucks Death of the Diesel Trend

GlobalData* said today that the 2023 full-year car diesel share in Western Europe is confirmed at 15.8% with 1,830,000 units sold for a 15.8% market share. January 2024 was another month of low Month-over-Month variation in the share of new … Continue reading

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Do Media Have the Electric Vehicle Market Collapse Wrong?

The European Passenger Vehicle (PV) Battery Electric Vehicle market EV market grew ~32% with positive growth in all months except December during 2023. This growth was better than many forecasters indicated at the start of last year (and better than in 2022), with some predicting no growth. BEV sales volume came in at just under 2.1 million units. This is 500,000 more than were sold in 2022.

“It is clear there has been some recent slowdown in the market, but it depends where you look. Some brands are doing considerably better than others, with the likes of MG and Tesla standing out as strong performers in 2023,” the respected consultancy GlobalData said today. Continue reading

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Stellantis Posts Record 2023 Results – €18.6B Net

“As we just passed the three-year mark since Stellantis’ inception, I warmly thank our teams who are executing at the highest levels and contributing greatly to our growth story, even in the strongest of headwinds. Today’s record financial results are proof that we have become a new global leader in our industry and will remain rock solid as we look to a turbulent 2024. Thanks to our flexible technology and product roadmap, we are prepared to address the various scenarios that could arise and to continue delivering on our Dare Forward 2030 targets,” said Carlos Tavares, CEO. Continue reading

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Stellantis Increases January European Sales and Market Share

“Stellantis’ sales growth across key markets in January reflects our collective dedication to innovation and customer satisfaction,” said Uwe Hochgeschurtz, Stellantis Chief Operating Officer, Enlarged Europe. “This performance, both in volumes and market share across all energies and segments, reaffirms our position as the unrivaled challenger for the #1 spot in Europe. Continue reading

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European Passenger Car Sales Soft in January 2024

The Western Europe passenger car selling rate fell slightly to 12 million units a year in January, according to numbers just released by the respected GlobalData* consultancy, at 901,000 vehicle registrations. Year-over-year (YoY) January grew 10.7% with strong growth in Germany and other major West European countries. However, relative to pre-pandemic January 2019, the  passenger vehicle (PV) market is down almost 19%.

“With supply having been a key limiting factor over recent years, 2024 will see the focus return to the health of underlying demand. In this regard, consumers face headwinds such as high interest rates, inflation, and elevated vehicle pricing. However, the latter should ease as a function of greater vehicle supply and further volume recovery is baked into the 2024 outlook. Risks remains, noting the recent Red Sea attacks hitting freight costs, which only increases pressure on the manufacturing cost base,” the GlobalData European Light Vehicle Sales Forecasting Team said. Continue reading

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Toyota Motor Q3 Profit Soars to ¥4.24 Trillion

“The increase in profits for fiscal year 2024 has been mainly due to the new car business, and our ‘transformation into a mobility company’ initiative is still a work in progress. We aim to further strengthen our value chain by leveraging our strength (asset) of having 100 million cars owned by our customers,” Toyota said. Continue reading

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Slow Sales Start for US Light Vehicles in January 2024

“After a flurry of sales activity in December, there was always a risk that January would see some payback, with fewer consumers on the hunt for a new vehicle, and so it transpired. Apart from normal seasonal effects, the current environment is such that buyers remain price-sensitive and if the right deals are not available, volumes are liable to suffer,” said David Oakley, Manager, Americas Sales Forecasts, GlobalData. Continue reading

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January 2024 US Light Vehicle Sales Forecast to Drop a Tad

“After December 2023 reached the strongest sales pace in several years, January’s pace has slowed to 15.2 million units. December’s SAAR of 16.2 million was inflated by elevated discounts from manufacturers, particularly as they aimed to clear out remaining inventory of 2023 model-year vehicles. In addition, changes in the eligibility of many electric vehicles to qualify for government rebates, which took effect Jan. 1, meant many EV purchases that would have occurred in January were made in December. Since January is the month of the year when the fewest vehicles are sold, the aforementioned factors have a bigger effect on the SAAR than they would in higher volume months. In fact, while the drop in the SAAR is notable, January sales results historically are not particularly indicative of future sales performance,” says Thomas King, president of the data and analytics division at J.D. Power. Continue reading

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Manheim – Used-Vehicle Prices Drop in January

Wholesale used-vehicle prices decreased 1.0% from December during the first 15 days of January, according to data just released by industry expert Manheim.* The Manheim mid-month Used Vehicle Value Index dropped to 201.9, which was down 10.2% from the full … Continue reading

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Ford Cuts F-150 Lightning Production. Ups Bronco and Ranger

“We are taking advantage of our manufacturing flexibility to offer customers choices while balancing our growth and profitability. Customers love the F-150 Lightning, America’s best-selling EV pickup,” said Ford President and CEO Jim Farley, who last year was boasting about his ability to increase prices on the Lightning. “We see a bright future for electric vehicles for specific consumers, especially with our upcoming digitally advanced EVs and access to Tesla’s charging network beginning this quarter,” Farley claimed.

Ford of course is hemorrhaging red ink in it’s EV business as Tesla (Cybertruck), GM (Chevy, Cadillac Lyric SUV, GMC, Hummer) and Stellantis – (electrified Jeeps) increase theirs. Ford’s EV business – Model e – lost $1.3 billion on electric vehicles even though it reported 44% higher shipments of electric vehicles, and 26% revenue growth during Q3 of 2023. Continue reading

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BMW Motorrad in 100th Year Posts Highest Sales Ever

“I would like to thank our customers all over the world for the great trust they have placed in us again in 2023. With a record result in our anniversary year, BMW Motorrad remains the world’s number one in the premium motorcycle and scooter segment and once again demonstrates the brand’s successful strategic orientation. Our market leadership in numerous segments is based on innovation leadership, our highly attractive product range and our strong brand. Based on these three main success factors, BMW Motorrad is ideally positioned and I am very confident about the year 2024,” said Markus Flasch, Head of BMW Motorrad. Continue reading

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Western European Market Diesel Car Sales Down in 2023

“The slowdown in BEV growth will no doubt have boosted the internal combustion engine (ICE) sector to some degree and perhaps fed into the relatively buoyant end to the year as far as diesel is concerned,” said GlobalData. “All markets ended 2023 with a smaller diesel share than seen in 2022 except one. Our figures indicate that Germany, with a diesel share of 24.4% for 2023 saw a rise from the 2022 value of 23.6%. Diesel demand has held up well in the country, supported by plenty of product from the dominant domestic brands and driving patterns that highlight the value available from diesel versus alternatives very well.” Continue reading

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EU Car Market Drops in December after 16 Months of Growth

During 2023, the EU car market concluded with a 13.9% expansion compared to 2022, reaching a full-year volume of 10.5 million units. All EU markets grew in the past year except for Hungary (-3.4%). Double-digit gains were recorded in most markets, including three of the largest: Italy (+18.9%), Spain (+16.7%), and France (+16.1%). Conversely, Germany recorded a more modest 7.3% year-on-year increase, influenced by its weaker December performance. Continue reading

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