Hector Fratty

Western Europe’s car market was at 13.63m units in 2009, 0.5% ahead of the 2008 market.
JD Power forecast a decline of 10.5% to 12.2m units in 2010.
– Germany’s car market was up by 23.2% on the year to 3.8 million cars
– Strong sales continued in France with 2.26m units/year.
– An even better result was achieved in Italy as the selling rate rose to over 2.16m units/year.
– In Spain, a continuation of recent sales was achieved as the incentive continued to lift demand solidly, though from a low level
– The UK market notched up a healthy 1.99 million units selling .

JD Power note that many of the strong performers in smaller cars in 2009 will see demand for their products crumble in 2010, at least for a while. Meanwhile, large and luxury car segments look set to begin to recover from the recession slowly but steadily, as economic conditions improve.
JD Power also consider that premium car manufacturers struggled more than volume car makers in the European market last year because they were not big beneficiaries of scrappage schemes.

Small car specialists and those who have done particularly well in the scrappage-boosted markets of 2009 – such as Hyundai-Kia and Fiat – will face a much less favorable European market environment in 2010.
But the situation for some of the major volume producers – like Ford, GM, Renault, PSA and Volkswagen – is more mixed. While they have, in many cases, benefited from having small car products that have been good sellers in 2009, they also carry larger models and brands that haven’t been major beneficiaries.

West Europe sales from 1988 to 2010