Europe’s 2011 Vehicle Sales Push Past Prior Year

Europe’s vehicle sales slipped 0.8% in December after five consecutive months of increases, compared with prior-year, but results for full-2011 ended at 19.2 million units, 4.4% ahead of 2010’s 18.4 million.

For the 24 countries in the region tracked by WardsAuto, 20 of them within the European Union, 2011 saw the highest calendar-year result since 20.5 million units in 2008.

Despite this, there was underlying weakness in the member states grappling with sovereign debt crises, including Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain.

Vehicle deliveries in the EU countries included in the WardAuto survey grew only 2.9% in 2011, compared with 2010, and their December sales fell 4.1% from prior-year. Four of the six largest markets saw declines. France was down 0.8%; Italy, 10.5%; Spain, 16.4%; and the U.K., 1.9%.

Germany, Europe’s largest market with 9.2% penetration, bucked the trend with vehicle deliveries up 9.7% in 2011. However, data from the European automobile manufacturers’ association (ACEA) shows Germany suffered a small decline in the first months of 2012.

Indeed, the ACEA says all EU countries lost ground in this year’s January-February period, down 8.3% compared with year-ago. This includes the top-7 vehicle markets of Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the U.K.

Russia was a big sales winner last year, overtaking France, the U.K. and Italy to become the second-biggest market in the region. Vehicle sales soared 38.3%, compared with 2010, and the country’s market share jumped to 7.3% from 5.5%.

Other double-digit gains in Europe in 2011 included the Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Turkey and Norway. The biggest losers were Greece, down 32.0% and Portugal, down 29.9%.

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