Toyota, Volkswagen and BMW were big winners in April, while Audi, Ford and Opel/Vauxhall struggled; Chinese automakers increased their combined sales 30 percent; and there were significantly more sales winners than losers in a month when overall volume grew 12 percent.
Those were the key takeaways from the April figures from market researcher Dataforce.
Toyota's 45 percent sales increase to 76,883 boosted it to No. 2 overall in April from No. 3 during the same month last year.
Toyota was helped by a doubling of sales of the RAV4 midsize SUV last month, according to Dataforce's preliminary data representing 98 percent of sales in the European Union, the EFTA countries and the U.K.
BMW's 24 percent sales jump to 63,772 boosted it to No. 3 overall in April from No. 6 during the same month last year. BMW got a lift from sales of the X1, which were up 47 percent last month.
VW maintained its grip on the No. 1 spot by boosting its April sales 16 percent to 121,012. The car leading the way was the Golf, which had a 65 percent sales gain to 21,592.
Another winner was Volvo, which increased its sales by more than 12,000 last month. The new EX30 full-electric small SUV accounted 69 percent of the increase, according to Dataforce's preliminary figures.
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The month was not as successful for Audi, Ford and Opel/Vauxhall.
Audi's volume dipped 4.8 percent to 55,670. The slide dropped Audi to No. 7 in overall sales last month from a No. 2 finish in April 2023.
Ford's sales fell 11 percent to 38,857, knocking it down to 12th overall versus a No. 9 finish during the fourth month of 2023.
Opel/Vauxhall slipped to No. 15 from No. 13 after its sales fell 17 percent to 30,407, according to Dataforce's preliminary figures.
Chinese gain
Chinese automakers increased their combined sales 30 percent in April to 23,919.
That 5,551 unit gain came mostly from SAIC's MG brand (+2,031) and BYD (+1,985), according to Dataforce's preliminary figures.
Xpeng boosted its sales to 451 from 10 during the same month last year while Geely subsidiary Zeekr sold 105 cars last month, up from 12 during the same month last year.
Many more winners than losers
Last month 45 automakers increased their European sales by more than the market, while 30 automakers ended the fourth month of the year with volume declines, according to Dataforce.
Ten automakers, including China's Voyah and Hongqi recorded triple-digit percentage gains or higher.
Other brands that had strong sales increases last month included Aston Martin (+63 percent), Suzuki (+36 percent) and Porsche (+26 percent).
