JATO Dynamics reports on brands' performance in January Euro

JATO Dynamics reports that Volkswagen has made a strong start to the year and maintains its position as Europe¡¯s top-selling car brand with total sales of 127,350 units, 4.9% more than January 2007. Ford, Opel/Vauxhall, Renault and Fiat complete the top five places in the European new car market, followed by Peugeot, Citroen, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz and BMW.
 
¡°January tends to be a slow sales month in Europe, so it¡¯ll take a few more weeks to see how 2008 is shaping up¡±, says Nasir Shah, Global Business Development Director for JATO. ¡°Now that the German market has recovered at least from last year¡¯s VAT depression we should see it make a far greater contribution to European volumes this year. We are already seeing a resurgence of the German brands as a result.
 
¡°This is the first time we have seen Fiat in the top five for some time¡±, says Shah. ¡°This is a major turn-around, and with sales 5.6% higher than a year ago they are demonstrating significant growth. With the immediate success of the new 500 model, it is likely that Fiat will consolidate its position as the year progresses.¡±
 
Nissan is also notable for its 46.1% increase in sales over January 2007, a success that has largely been driven by continued demand for the Qashqai model.
 
The Volkswagen Golf was Europe¡¯s top-selling new car in January with 39,887 units sold (up 31.4%) ahead of the Peugeot 207 (37,506 units, up 9.2%), Ford Focus (33,884 units), Opel/Vauxhall Corsa (32,688 units), Fiat Punto (30,293 units), Renault Clio (29,859 units), Ford Fiesta (28,673 units), Opel/Vauxhall Astra (28,391 units), Volkswagen Polo (22,498 units, up 2.2%) and Fiat Panda (21,858 units).
 
From: auto industry.uk/industry news

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