Europe sales by model, Sept. and 9 months; VW, Peugeot, Bentley, Jeep make gains; Opel/Vauxhall Corsa surprises Renault Clio

MG, Suzuki, Bentley, Audi, Dacia and Ferrari were among the 20 brands that increased European sales in September in a market that was up 1.2 percent. The first monthly sales increase of 2020 was a positive change after overall volume declined 17 percent in August.

Suzuki's September sales rose 55 percent, Bentley was up 49 percent, Audi grew 42 percent, Dacia made a 32 percent gain and Ferrari increased its volume by 30 percent. The big winner, however, was once again Chinese-owned MG, which grew more than 240 percent, according to figures from market researcher JATO Dynamics.

The models propelling those brands in August were the Suzuki SX4 S-Cross and Ignis, Bentley Bentayga, Audi Q7 and e-tron, Dacia Sandero, Ferrari 812 and MG ZS EV small SUV.

The other brands that beat the market included Jeep (+28 percent), Skoda, (+16 percent), Fiat and Lancia (both +13 percent), Toyota (+12 percent), Lotus (+10 percent), Seat (+7.8 percent), Volkswagen (+7.7 percent), Nissan (+6.9 percent), Honda (+5 percent), Kia (+4.3 percent) and Peugeot (+2.6 percent).

A growing number of models increased sales in September despite the lingering challenges caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, including the Nissan Juke, which rose more than 260 percent to 8,557 sales. The Renault Zoe full-electric small car was up more than 210 percent to 10,995, and BMW increased sales of its 8-Series premium coupe 119 percent to 898.

The Volkswagen Golf was Europe's No. 1 seller for the third consecutive month in September with a volume of 28,559.

Earlier this year the Golf was under pressure from the Renault Clio, which has finished No. 1 for three separate months in 2020, but demand for the French small car has cooled. As a result, the Clio not only fell further behind the Golf, it was passed in September by the Opel/Vauxhall Corsa, which finished No. 2 with 26,277 sales. The Clio was third with 23,549 sales.

The Golf won the month despite an 11 percent sales decline, which was more than both the Corsa (-7.2 percent) and the Clio (-4.6 percent), according to JATO data.

The Renault Captur, Peugeot 208, Dacia Sandero, VW Polo and Ford Puma were the models in Europe's top 10 that increased sales in September. The Sandero was the best performer in the top 10 with an increase of 55 percent compared with September 2019, followed by the Polo, with a 40 percent gain. The Puma made its first appearance in the ranking and finished the month at No. 10 with 17,870 sales.

For the first nine months, the Golf was No. 1 with 200,425 sales, a decline of 35 percent, followed by the Clio (180,033, down 26 percent) and the Corsa (140,490, down 24 percent), which rose to No. 3 from No. 5 after eight months.

Rounding out the top five were the 208 (140,286, down 18 percent) and VW Tiguan (133,044, down 33 percent).