7-month review 2023 - EUROPE car market

With an increase in sales in every month since the beginning of the year, the European car market is showing a positive result, with sales up 17.5% to 7,612,451 units*, an increase of more than 1.2 million cars. However, this assessment is distorted by the particularly low level of 2022, which distorts the results for this first part of the year. In reality, the European car market is still 20% lower than in the years before the crisis.

In this context, sales of the

• ALFA ROMÉO, up 94% to 31,356 units for a market share of 0.4%.

• CITROËN, down 2.9% to 221,882 units for a market share of 2.9%; and

• DS up 10.5% to 31,938 units for a market share of 0.4%.

• FIAT were down 4.3% to 231,567 units for a market share of 3%.

• JEEP up 13.7% to 74,525 units for a market share of 1%.

• LANCIA up 10.6% to 27,261 units for a market share of 0.4%.

• OPEL up 5.1% to 276,633 units for a market share of 3.6%.

• PEUGEOT up 5.9% to 403,772 units for a market share of 5.3%.

In total, Stellantis** sold 1,304,948 units, an increase of 4.1% and a market share of 17.1%, putting the group in second place behind the Volkswagen Group, but with a gap that is now hollow and represents 9 points of market share. It is interesting to note that the group's two so-called accessible brands have seen their sales fall while the premium brands have grown, albeit at a lower rate than the market as a whole. No one can prove that Stellantis favours margin over volume, even if it means "sacrificing" Citroën for a while like Fiat, but it has been observed month after month since the beginning of the year. However, now that the semiconductor crisis is 95% over and deliveries have resumed, it's a safe bet that Stellantis will put the package on its accessible brands, especially since the latter, especially Citroën with the future C3, will have sufficient weapons to bounce back.

* Includes sales in EU, EFTA + UK

** Includes sales of Maserati, Ram, Abarth, for which figures are not disclosed.