European Surge

The numbers tell the story: Toyota Motor Corp., up 7.1%; Honda Motor Co. Ltd., up 6.2%; and Nissan Motor Co. Ltd., up 12.6%.

Even smaller Asian auto makers — Mazda Motor Corp. (27.8%), Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. (16.5%) and Hyundai Group (15.8%) — posted double-digit sales growth in 2003.

What makes this so remarkable is that the numbers mark the performance of the Asian auto makers in the least likely of markets: Western Europe.

And they are especially noteworthy against the backdrop of the overall market, where sales decreased 1.9%.

While all Asian brands except Suzuki Motor Corp. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. saw sales and market share increase, all European brands save BMW AG had sales and share erode at home.

BMW's gains were modest: a 1.1% volume change, up just 0.2 of a point to 3.9% share.

Auto makers from Japan and South Korea are far from dominating the European landscape.

Combined, they registered a 14.8% market share in Western Europe last year. But considering they captured 13.3% of the market in 2002, the growth not only is significant but also could mark the beginning of a trend.

Toyota holds a larger slice of the market than any other foreign auto maker on the continent, giving it a record 4.7% share, with a 10% sales rise last year to 834,661 units, marking a seventh-consecutive year of growth.