It doesn't often happen, but when it does, it even becomes news. The Volkswagen Golf was not the best-selling car in Europe (EU27) in February, but the Renault Clio, but not by much.
Only 184 units separated the two best-sellers of the respective brands, according to data from JATO, with the Clio having traded 24,914 units and the Golf 24,735 units.
It may be a victory for the French model, but both saw their sales drop in February compared to the same month in 2019: -4% for the Clio, and a significant -21% for the Golf.
Both reflect the widespread decline that the European market experienced last February — sales were down 7% — even before the coronavirus outbreak had virtually stopped most of the European economy. However, it did not mean sales declines for everyone, with some exceptions among the 10 best-selling cars in February in Europe.
Top 10 Europe — February:
- Renault Clio;
- Volkswagen Golf;
- Peugeot 208;
- Opel Corsa;
- Fiat Panda;
- Ford Focus;
- Citroën C3;
- Volkswagen Polo;
- Skoda Octavia;
- Toyota Yaris.
The new Peugeot 208, the new Opel Corsa and the veteran Fiat Panda saw their sales rise compared to the same period last year. If in the case of the 208 (+7%) and Corsa (+7%) it is still a reflection of the novelty effect of both models (they only started marketing in the last quarter of 2019), in the case of the Panda, this return to the Top 10 could be consequence of the introduction of the new mild-hybrid version, presented at the beginning of the year.
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Returning to the Volkswagen Golf and its steepest fall, this is partly justified by the fact that we are still in a transitional phase between generations. The launch of the eighth generation suffered some delays, and the start of its commercialization has been phased in — in Portugal, for example, it only started a little over a week ago.
This delay may also justify the fact that, in 2019, the Golf lost the title of Volkswagen best-selling on the planet to the SUV Tiguan — 702 000 Golf against 778 000 Tiguan. Note that both models sold less in 2019 than in 2018, but the decline in Golf was more pronounced (in 2018, the Golf sold 832 thousand units, the Tiguan 795 thousand).
As a curiosity, Europe's best-selling February SUV appears in 12th place, the Peugeot 3008. It's immediately followed by the Volkswagen T-Roc and the Nissan Qashqai — all of which show two-digit breaks.
We will soon know the impact of coronavirus on car sales during this month of March, but taking into account what happened in China in February (the month in which the outbreak had its strongest impact), when we saw car sales drop 80% , the scenario for Europe is, at all levels, worrying.
Razão Automóvel's team will continue online, 24 hours a day, during the COVID-19 outbreak. Follow the recommendations of the General Directorate of Health, avoid unnecessary travel. Together we will be able to overcome this difficult phase.