BMW is up to a record 2nd place in Europe in May.
According to preliminary data by ACEA, new car sales in Europe (EU+EFTA+UK) improve 18.2% year-on-year in May to 1,121,644 which leads to a year-to-date tally up 17.4% or almost 800,000 units to 5,323,630. BEV sales are up a whopping 65.6% year-on-year for the month to 170,389 units, while PHEVs only edge up 0.8% to 81,391. HEV registrations gain 26.9% to 288,112, petrol is up 11.3% to 410,665 and diesel down -4.3% to 142,407. Note YTD BEV sales are up 42.3% to 730,137 and HEV up 26.3% to 1,378,535. Among the Big Five countries, Italy is up 23.1%, Germany up 19.2%, the UK up 16.7%, France up 14.8% and Spain up 8.3%. Best performing markets include Croatia (+74.5%), Portugal (+54.6%), Belgium (+42.5%), Ireland (+42.2%) and the Netherlands (+41.6%).
In the groups ranking, the VW Group (+20.2%) outpaces the market to comfortably retain the lead whereas Stellantis (-0.5%) has an off month, enduring the only year-on-year decline in the Top 7. Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi for its part surges 27.4% as the BMW Group is up 24.8%. Hyundai-Kia (+0.1%) is stable and disappoints, as do Toyota Group (+8.4%) and Ford Motor (-2.8%). Brand-wise, Volkswagen (+14.5%) is rather soft unlike BMW (+28.3%) climbing up four spots on April to #2, its highest ever ranking in Europe and first time since April 2020. Toyota (+4.2%) stays in third position while Audi (+29.5%) and Renault (+29.3%) impress in the remainder of the Top 5. Further down, Skoda (+36.1%), Dacia (+44.4%), Tesla (+1920.5%!), Volvo (+39.9%) and MG (+189.3%) make themselves noticed.
Previous month: Europe April 2023: Dacia (+44.2%), Skoda (+41.4%), Renault (+36.8%) highlight market up 16.1%, Sandero #1
One year ago: Europe May 2022: Toyota (+3.6%), Hyundai (+9.9%), Kia (+9.8%) defy bettering market (-12.5%), Peugeot 208 #1
Full May 2023 Top 10 groups and Top 30 brands below.
Europe May 2023 – groups (Source: ACEA):
| Pos | Group | May-23 | /22 | Apr | 2023 | /22 | Pos | FY22 |
| 1 | Volkswagen Group | 289,451 | 20.2% | 1 | 1,374,438 | 24.9% | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Stellantis | 190,688 | -0.5% | 2 | 935,080 | 7.2% | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi | 135,066 | 27.4% | 3 | 652,435 | 26.6% | 3 | 3 |
| 4 | Hyundai-Kia | 97,081 | 0.1% | 4 | 468,943 | 3.0% | 4 | 4 |
| 5 | BMW Group | 84,781 | 24.8% | 5 | 361,554 | 8.5% | 6 | 5 |
| 6 | Toyota Group | 74,604 | 8.4% | 6 | 368,175 | 12.8% | 5 | 6 |
| 7 | Mercedes | 55,324 | 1.4% | 7 | 289,324 | 7.7% | 7 | 7 |
| 8 | Ford Motor | 44,900 | -2.8% | 8 | 224,429 | 2.1% | 8 | 8 |
| 9 | Tesla | 29,600 | 1920.5% | 10 | 138,294 | 121.8% | 9 | 10 |
| 10 | Geely Group | 26,804 | 39.9% | 9 | 117,995 | 13.3% | 10 | 9 |
Europe May 2023 – brands (Source: ACEA):
| Pos | Brand | May-23 | /22 | Apr | 2023 | /22 | Pos | FY22 |
| 1 | Volkswagen | 118,169 | 14.5% | 1 | 561,811 | 23.4% | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | BMW | 69,499 | 28.3% | 6 | 287,543 | 9.2% | 5 | 3 |
| 3 | Toyota | 68,779 | 4.2% | 3 | 346,436 | 11.6% | 2 | 2 |
| 4 | Audi | 65,673 | 29.5% | 2 | 303,891 | 22.5% | 3 | 6 |
| 5 | Renault | 62,073 | 29.3% | 5 | 274,656 | 22.0% | 8 | 7 |
| 6 | Peugeot | 61,644 | 10.6% | 7 | 293,495 | 11.0% | 4 | 5 |
| 7 | Skoda | 57,634 | 36.1% | 4 | 278,766 | 32.4% | 7 | 9 |
| 8 | Mercedes | 53,045 | 1.3% | 9 | 279,433 | 8.4% | 6 | 4 |
| 9 | Kia | 51,513 | 5.8% | 8 | 250,146 | 3.5% | 9 | 8 |
| 10 | Dacia | 48,022 | 44.4% | 10 | 239,514 | 42.9% | 10 | 12 |
| 11 | Hyundai | 45,568 | -5.6% | 12 | 218,797 | 2.5% | 12 | 10 |
| 12 | Ford | 44,900 | -2.8% | 11 | 224,429 | 2.1% | 11 | 11 |
| 13 | Opel/Vauxhall | 40,841 | 0.6% | 13 | 195,108 | 7.3% | 13 | 13 |
| 14 | Fiat | 31,479 | -22.8% | 14 | 164,966 | -2.5% | 14 | 14 |
| 15 | Citroën | 30,325 | -7.8% | 15 | 160,998 | 0.7% | 15 | 15 |
| 16 | Tesla | 29,600 | 1920.5% | 21 | 138,294 | 121.8% | 16 | 18 |
| 17 | Volvo | 26,804 | 39.9% | 16 | 117,995 | 13.3% | 18 | 17 |
| 18 | Nissan | 20,703 | 8.0% | 18 | 121,462 | 26.5% | 17 | 16 |
| 19 | Seat | 20,593 | -11.1% | 17 | 109,580 | 9.3% | 19 | 19 |
| 20 | MG (est) | 19,700 | 189.3% | 20 | 79,131 | 129.3% | 20 | 24 |
| 21 | Cupra | 17,913 | 30.8% | 19 | 72,617 | 51.3% | 24 | 22 |
| 22 | Suzuki | 15,987 | 63.6% | 23 | 73,616 | 33.2% | 23 | 23 |
| 23 | Mini | 15,282 | 10.7% | 22 | 74,011 | 5.7% | 22 | 20 |
| 24 | Mazda | 13,602 | 55.6% | 24 | 76,419 | 37.0% | 21 | 21 |
| 25 | Jeep | 11,150 | 7.5% | 26 | 52,057 | 10.0% | 25 | 25 |
| 26 | Porsche | 8,582 | 25.9% | 27 | 43,859 | 25.9% | 27 | 27 |
| 27 | Land Rover | 8,476 | 13.0% | 25 | 50,277 | 30.5% | 26 | 26 |
| 28 | Lexus | 5,825 | 107.4% | 29 | 21,739 | 36.5% | 31 | 32 |
| 29 | DS | 5,000 | 19.2% | 30 | 22,846 | 15.5% | 29 | 30 |
| 30 | Alfa Romeo | 4,729 | 95.3% | 28 | 21,792 | 124.5% | 30 | 33 |
Source: ACEA
