For the first half of 2018, car sales were up across Europe by 2.7 per cent compared to the same time frame last year – with 8.66 million cars sold.
Only a handful of countries saw a sales decrease in the first six months of the year – including the UK – and diesel sales continue to plummet as alternatively-fuelled vehicles (AFVs) become more popular with European customers.
The areas that saw the largest decrease in diesel sales were Norway (32 per cent), the UK (30 per cent) and Slovenia (28 per cent), while AFVs made up 5.4 per cent of continental sales thanks to a 31 per cent increase. Norway had the largest proportion of AFV sales at 56 per cent of its market share.
The SUV segment was the most popular thanks to a 33.7 per cent market share and 2.92 million registrations – the segment’s best performance over a six-month period.
Volkswagen was the most popular brand with 988,507 registrations between January and June, with Renault (624,443) and Ford (573,250) in second and third.
The German brand also topped the model list, with its Golf the most popular car with 257,550 registrations. Renault’s Clio was second with 185,234 sales and the Polo had 163,924 registrations. The Golf suffered a decline in diesel sales – 26 per cent – but that was offset by people choosing petrol versions instead, with a 29 per cent increase in petrol Golf sales posted.
