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Volkswagen Leads European Brand Sales for the First Half of 2013

All but one European automaker on the list had falling sales.

VolkswagenVolkswagenGermany, 1938 > present98 models
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had the highest sales in Europe in the first half of the year with over 50% higher sales than its nearest competitor. However of the ten brands on the list, only one has had growing sales in the first half of the year.

Jato Dynamics' report finds that the European market is down 6.7% from January through June of this year with 464,204 fewer cars being sold in Europe than in the previous year.

The list, which you can click through below, contains all of the major European automakers, and there is not an imported brand to be found.

MercedesMercedes-BenzGermany, 1924 > present197 models
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was the lone brand on the list to post growth in the first half of the year with sales up 2.1%.

The major loser on the list was CitroënCitroënFrance, 1919 > present94 models
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with sales 15.7% lower than last year, but even Volkswagen is down 7.7%

Of the major European markets, Great Britain is the only one to experience growth with sales up 10%. The only other European countries to experience growth were Belgium up 1.7%, Denmark up 9.1%, Estonia up 0.2%, Norway up 2.1% and Portugal up 1.5%. Historically major markets like Italy, France and Germany are down 10.3%, 11.2% and 8.1% respectively.

1. 10. Fiat

Fiat is the automaker with the tenth most sales in Europe from January to June of this year. It has sold 318,569 cars in that period, down 2.8% from the previous year. Despite all of the worrying that we hear about Fiat's position in Europe, it is still the tenth largest automaker.

2. 9. Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz ranks as the ninth largest automaker in Europe with 322,860 units sold from January to June of this year. With 2.1% growth over the same period last year, it is the only automaker on this list showing an improvement over the previous year.

3. 8. Citroën

Citroën is Europe's eighth largest automaker with 325,209 sales from January to June, a 15.7% reduction from last year. The company has the largest percentage drop in sales of any automaker on this list.

4. 7. BMW

BMW is the seventh largest automaker in Europe from January to June. It has sold 327,623 cars in that period, a 2.9% drop from the year before. It seems that BMW is resisting the shrinking European market relatively well.

5. 6. Audi

Audi is Europe's sixth largest automaker from January to June. It has sold 364,457 cars in Europe in that period, down 3.7% from last year.

Traditionally luxury-oriented automakers, have survived the European downturn better than more populist automakers.

6. 5. Peugeot

Peugeot has moved 393,041 from January to June of this year to make it Europe's fifth largest automaker. Sales are down 11.4% for the year.

7. 4. Renault

Renault sold 412,416 cars from January to June this year, down 10.8% from the previous year.

The French automakers have suffered of the biggest dips in sales in the first six months of the year, but they still rank among Europe's largest automakers.

8. 3. Opel/Vauxhall

The combined Opel/Vauxhall brand sold 437,112 cars from January to June, down 7% from the previous year.

The company has the advantage of being popular in the UK, which is the only member of Europe's five largest markets to grow sales in the first six months of the year.

9. 2. Ford

Ford is Europe's second largest automaker from January to June with 488,011 sales, down 9.7%.

Ford may be turning around its falling sales. In June, it and Mercedes were the only brands on this list to have their sales increase month-on-month.

10. 1. Volkswagen

Volkswagen is Europe's largest automaker from January to June with 809,486 cars sold, down 7.7% from the previous year.

It is shocking to see how large VW truly is in Europe. This list is only looking at VW Cars, not VW Group. Only VW Cars sells 67% more cars than its nearest competitor.