Volvo, Skoda and Dacia made big gains thanks to small cars; BMW and Audi slipped because of weak sales for key models; a Chinese newcomer soared into the top 30; and there were significantly more sales losers than sales winners in a month when overall volume fell 17 percent.
Those were some of the key takeaways from the August figures from market researcher Dataforce.
Volvo's 36 percent sales increase to 19,605 boosted it to No. 14 overall in August from No. 21 during the same month last year, pushing it ahead of Tesla, Fiat, Cupra and Citroen, according to Dataforce's preliminary figures representing 96 percent of sales in the European Union, the EFTA countries and the U.K.
Volvo was helped by the EX30 full-electric small SUV, which added 6,377 sales to the automaker's total sales last month. The EX30 debuted last June and started deliveries to customers in Europe in January. The small SUV was Europe's No. 2-selling full-electric car last month, trailing only the Tesla Model Y.
Skoda passed BMW to become Europe's No. 3-selling automaker despite having flat sales of 46,785 last month. Skoda was helped by a 22 percent sales increase for the Fabia hatchback, which through August is Europe's No. 8-selling small car.
Dacia jumped to No. 9 in overall sales last month from 12th place in August 2023 despite a 12 percent decline in volume to 32,173. The Sandero small hatchback, Europe's No. 1-seller overall in August and after eight months, was a key contributor for the Renault-owned budget brand. Sales of the Sandero rose 9.7 percent last month. Dacia also increased sales of the Duster small SUV 8.2 percent in August.
Stumbled in August
Kerrigan Advisors interviewed its clients, Howard Keyes and Howard Tenenbaum, of Keyes Motors, about the opportunities and challenges facing auto retail in the future.
BMW dipped to No. 4 in overall sales last month after its volume fell 9.5 percent to 45,550. One reason for the decline was a 16 percent decrease in sales of the 3 Series premium midsize model.
Audi fell to No. 6 last month from No. 4 in August 2023 after sales dipped 17 percent to 41,398. A key reason for the slide was a 20 percent decline in sales of the A4 premium midsize model. Tesla slipped to 15th overall from 14th in August 2023 after sales fell 43 percent to 18,551, according to Dataforce's preliminary numbers.
Huge jump for Omoda
Chery, China's biggest car exporter, has set its sights on the European market and its Omoda brand is already making huge gains.
Omoda finished August with 1,142 sales, which was good enough to make it Europe's No. 37-seller, up from 73rd place last August when it only sold 13 cars.
The majority of those sales -- 65 percent -- came from Spain, where the Omoda 5 was the market's No. 15 seller in August, topping models such as the Renault Captur, Hyundai Kona and Toyota RAV4 in Europe's fifth largest market, according to Dataforce.
China's BYD also made a big leap in August, to No. 30 from No. 34 during the same month last year by increasing sales 12 percent to 3,059.
The gains came from the Seal and Dolphin, which added a combined 2,263 sales to the China automaker's total last month.
SAIC's MG, which is the top-selling Chinese brand in Europe, slipped to No. 22 in August from No. 20 in August 2023 after its sales decreased 28 percent to 10,511.
More losers than winners
Last month just 21 automakers increased their European sales, down from 35 in July. Among them were China's Omoda, Zeekr, Voyage and Hongqi as well as the U.K.'s McLaren and Morgan, which all recorded triple-digit percentage sales gains or higher.
Meanwhile, 14 automakers were in negative territory but still beat the overall market's 17 percent decline.
There were 38 automakers that ended the eighth month of the year with volume declines, according to Dataforce, including Hyundai, VW, Kia, Porsche and Ford.
