Archive New registrations - slump in March
Subscriptions & booklets
In total, new registrations in March were 350,606 vehicles , which corresponds to a decrease of 22.5 percent compared to March 2009. In the first quarter of 2010, the total number of new registrations was down by 20.9 percent with 770,598 vehicles. New car sales were 670,410, 22.8 percent lower than in the same quarter of the previous year.
Small cars break in with no scrapping bonus
After the great demand for small, inexpensive vehicles last year with the environmental bonus, significant changes are becoming apparent in the first quarter. The mini segment fell by 45.4 percent, while the small car segment was 41.8 percent. Also in the middle class (minus 21.1 percent) there were considerably fewer new registrations than in the previous year. There was little demand for premium vehicles in 2009, but demand is now increasing again: the upper middle class increased by 6.5 percent, the upper class increased by 1.1 percent. The SUVs are just above the previous year's level (plus 0.5 percent). The largest increases were seen in sports cars (plus 16.3 percent) and mobile homes (plus 14.7 percent). The private share of new car registrations fell sharply, with most cars being run by commercial owners in the first quarter (57.8 percent).
Nissan is the winner in the first quarter
Only Nissan can establish itself as a real winner in the quarterly balance sheet. After three months, the Japanese are 58.3 percent above the previous year. The Micra and the Qashqai are selling particularly well. Land Rover (plus 23.0 percent), Jaguar (plus 13.6 percent) and BMW (plus 1.4 percent) are also up.
The premium suppliers Audi (minus 6.8 percent) and Mercedes (minus 11.1 percent) remained significantly below the previous year's result. With the volume providers, VW pulls out the best with a minus of 6.8 percent. Fiat (minus 58.8 percent), Ford (minus 26.9 percent), Opel (minus 26.4 percent), Citroen (minus 19.9 percent), Peugeot (minus 29.7 percent) Renault (minus 13.4 percent Percent) and Skoda (minus 27.4 percent) are much worse off.
Profiteers of theScrappers had to give up a lot: Daihatsu (minus 69.3 percent), Hyundai (minus 40.0 percent) and Suzuki (minus 54.6 percent). Toyota (minus 55.5 percent), Mazda (minus 43.8 percent) and Honda (minus 46.0 percent) are also in good shape. Sports car manufacturer Porsche is pulling out of the affair with a minus of 19.0 percent.
The used car market takes off
A On the other hand, the used car market went up. 624,203 car descriptions in March represent an increase of 4.0 percent compared to the previous year. With a total of 1,450,078 changes in ownership, the first quarter is still 10.3 percent below the previous year. A total of 1,645,248 vehicles (down 8.8 percent) have changed hands in 2010. In March, the change rate was 730,530 vehicles (plus 5.4 percent)
