The big European car manufacturers continue to lose ground to Asian brands in the battle for sales in the Old Continent. In a complicated context for the sectorwith registrations that continue to fall (down 12.5% in May and 12.9% in the accumulated figure for the year throughout Europe, including the United Kingdom) due to the chip crisis, Asian firms Hyundai, Toyota and Nissan were the only ones in the top 10 that managed to increase their deliveries in the fifth month of 2022.
Hyundai, which so far this year has increased its share by 2.5 points to take 10% of the European market, is the one that continues to rise the most, according to data published this Thursday by ACEA, the European employers’ association of car manufacturers. In May, the South Korean (includes Hyundai and Kia) sold more than 96,000 units, which is 9.8% more than a year ago, ranking third with the most deliveries of the month.
Toyotawith a rise of 1% (it was the fifth car company with the most sales in May) and nissan (the tenth in the ranking), which increased its registrations by 3%, had more modest growth.
If instead of the month what is taken into account is the accumulated of the yearof the large automobile groups the one that has fallen the most in registrations was Stellantiswith a collapse of 22.2%, up to almost 872,000 units. For its part, volkswagenthe manufacturer with the most deliveries in the Old Continent, fell 19.6% until May, with 1.09 million cars sold. Closing the podium is the aforementioned Hyundai, with a rise so far in 2022 of 17% (in the accumulated figure for the year it is the only car company that grows in the top 10), thus stretching its advantage over Renaultwhich remains fourth.
Evolution by countries
On the other hand, the data offered by ACEA shows that the evolution of registrations is being very uneven between the different countries. Although in the whole of the European Union the decrease is 13.7% until May, several Eastern European nations managed to increase their registrations. Thus, Romania, which rose by 32.9%, and Bulgaria, which grew by 17.5%, are the markets that have performed best so far this year.
On the contrary, among those that fall the most is the third most important market in Europe, Italythat almost a quarter collapsed until May, 24.3%with 557,000 new cars delivered. Francethe second country with the highest sales volume, fell in the same period by 16.9% compared to 2021, up to 600,000 units.
Spain, for its part, the fourth EU market in volume, fell by 11.5%below the European average and only a little above the drop in the continent’s largest market: Germany, which fell by 9.3% until May, with just over 1.01 million units.
In the case of Spain, the market gave a good sign in May with the recovery of sales to the private and business channels, with increases in registrations of 4.3% and 3.3%, respectively. The drop in registrations as a whole is explained, however, by the large decline in rental companies, which fell by 41.4%.
“This improvement [del canal particular y de empresas], which places the month of May in the best record of the year, may reflect a growing interest on the part of buyers who, despite the economic and international context, are resuming vehicle purchases. We will have to wait for the evolution in the coming months to determine if it is a one-off situation or a first sign of recovery,” he said. Anfacthe national association of manufacturers, when the data for May in Spain became known.
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