Car sales in Europe up 11% in August due to SUVs

Sep 23, 2015

The new car sales in Europe grew 11% in August, which is the second biggest gain this year as the economic recovery led to a boost in SUV sales from BMW, Citroen, Mercedes-Benz and Renault.

The European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) stated that the number of new registrations increased from 701,251 in 2014 up to 781,676 units sold last month.

So far, in 2015, sales have grown 8.6% up to 9.38 million units, which include a 9.5% increase in July. The French Renault Group witnessed a 20% growth in August due to the debut of its new Kadjar compact SUV and also to the continuous popularity of its smaller Captur crossover.

The PSA / Peugeot-Citroen also had a boost of 9.2% in sales with the C4 Catus model leading to a 14% jump in new registrations. Sales in Europe for the BMW Group went up 21%, with the brand registering an increase of 17% at the Mini division, which has recently renewed its lineup. The German carmaker has used its coupe-like X4 and X6 SUVs to attract more clients, but also its new X1, the smallest car in the segment, which was introduced at the Frankfurt Auto Show a day ago.

With a chance to surpass Audi and become the world’s biggest luxury carmaker this year, Mercedes-Benz sold 19% more units due to the GLA compact SUV, which customers love. Volkswagen has also gained a 5.7% increase in its sales last month, with Porsche scoring a massive 34% growth, Skoda a 12% increase and 8.2% registered by Audi’s new registrations.

Source: INAUTONEWS