VW Golf tops Euro sales
May 20th, 2009 by Richard Aucock
VOLKSWAGEN’S new Golf 6 hatch has stolen the European best-seller crown back from the Ford Fiesta.
And it’s a double win for Volkswagen. The brand is also Europe’s best-seller overall, too.
Ford didn’t cede the title without a fight, though. Year to date sales are up nearly 20 percent, and an exceptional April saw them increase by over a quarter.
The Fiat Panda also increased sales by over 17 percent.
This is in stark contrast to the overall European car market, which is down nearly 17 percent so far in 2009.
Indeed, it is only small cars that are doing well – because of national scrappage schemes. These are driving sales of cheaper, smaller models.
Only 1 car from the European top 10 is not a supermini or family hatch… together, these two categories alone take 22.5 percent of sales.
And that odd one out? Why, it’s an even cheaper city car – the Fiat Panda…
They are ‘really starting to have an impact, both in the sales volumes in different markets and in the type of cars being sold’, said David Di Girolamo, head of JATO Consult.
‘The bigger picture shows the size of the drop in new car sales across Europe, and we’ll continue to monitor this closely for signs of a wider improvement.’
European top 10 sales league
1 Volkswagen Golf
2 Ford Fiesta
3 Vauxhall Corsa
4 Fiat Grande Punto
5 Peugeot 207
6 Volkswagen Polo
7 Fiat Panda
8 Ford Focus
9 Vauxhall Astra
10 Renault Clio