We look at the latest figures Brussels’ and wonder what will happen when the big car discounts stop coming
This
week, we reported that European car sales are up by 7.6 percent. This
came as no shock to us, particularly as in previous months, there have
been more than a handful of positive car manufacturing stories.
As well as the obvious improving economy, there are a few reasons for the rise. Changing buying patterns are but one of them.
Popularity of the SUV
Firstly,
there’s the growing demand for the sports utility vehicle. And we’re
not just talking the large SUV. We are talking about compact SUVs,
Medium SUVs, prestige SUVs and now even Mini-SUVs.
Struggling
Fiat have started to see a rise in sales after their 500L has appealed
to more families looking for practicality. Whilst I understand this is
technically not an SUV, it certainly seems to be all about practicality
and space when it comes to making profits (and the Fiat Group have also
been helped to reach their 5.8 percent gain by the Grand Cherokee SUV).
Sales
of the SUV are strong and Audi are bringing out a super-compact SUV,
the Q1, to further extend their reach into the sports utility vehicle
market.
It
was also good news for Renault who have reported a rise in sales for
their “budget brand”, Dacia. The Duster is still proving popular and
Renault themselves reported a rise in profit which was partly attributed
to their well-received Captur SUV.
Big Car Discounts
This positive news could also be down to manufacturers offering high levels of discounts that have never been seen before.
The
recent positive sales figures were reported by the European Automobile
Manufacturer's Association (ACEA), who are based in Brussels; Renault,
PSA Peugeot Citroen and VW are attracting buyers with super-keen prices
in the region.
Even
struggling Peugeot have reported a sales rise of 3.5 percent last
month, but the well-received winner of the 2014 European Car of the Year
Award, the new Peugeot 308, does have to take some of the credit.
Are early 2014 sales figures a reliable indication for the year ahead?
Initially,
I was quite surprised to hear that Hyundai Motor Co. was the only
manufacturer to report a sales slump, dropping 3 percent last month –
until I read about the case for their defence.
Hyundai’s
head of European Operations, Allan Rushforth, blamed their drop on
“record-high incentive levels and artificially inflated sales" and felt
that it was “too early to be celebrating a recovery in the European car
market".
It’s
always good to be positive but Allan could well have a very good point.
What will happen when (and if) the substantial car discounts – and
mass-registrations - leave the room?
It could well be that we are left with a rather big elephant.
Written by @MotorMistress
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