European new car registrations increased 7.8 per cent in August to 787,500 vehicles as all major markets found themselves growing at the same time for the first month in over a year, data showed today.
"Even without Germany, the number of registrations would have been 4 per cent higher than last year," the German automotive industry association VDA said in a statement, referring to the 18 per cent growth rate recorded in its domestic market.
However, in the year so far total new car registrations are down 1.1 per cent at 9.19 million vehicles in the EU and European Free Trade Area (EFTA).
In August German brands took a greater market share, considerably helped by gains in their domestic market, according to figures from the European industry association ACEA.
Sales by Volkswagen, its luxury brand Audi and Daimler's Mercedes-Benz all grew by close to 20 per cent, while new models like the X3 helped BMW's sales grow by more than 30 per cent.
GM's Opel managed to maintain its share of the market in August, while Ford's sales advanced by 20 per cent, helped by its new C-Max and Focus models.
Korean brands Hyundai and Kia also grew by around 20 per cent, beating the 15 per cent gains that Nissan could boast.
By comparison, Honda saw its sales drop by 20 per cent, and Mazda was also badly hit. Toyota dropped 8.5 per cent.
French brands Renault, Peugeot and Citroen also all lost market share in August.
Fiat suffered a dreadful August, with sales falling by 12 per cent to a level lower than any of the three main German luxury brands. On a cumulative basis, the 481,826 new Fiats registered through August barely surpassed the 456,560 new Audis recorded.
Reuters