Volkswagen Reclaims Top Sales Spot in Europe
After ( supposedly) falling behind Ford in the sales race in Europe last month, Volkswagen has reclaimed the lead for April while Ford has slipped to just fourth. In total, VW moved 138,304 units in EU countries, while Ford managed just 87,721 units. Renault and Peugeot placed second and third respectively with 99,642 and 88,721 units.
The reason for the drastic swing in VW’s favor is due to two main reasons, the first being the success of VW’s current Golf model. The second major contributing factor is that many vehicle scrappage incentives, which favored sub-compacts like the Ford Fiesta and Ka, have now run their course.
Also a factor in this sales war are national economic situations. In March, Ford’s sales were helped by the company’s popularity in the UK, which ranged as the largest auto market in Europe that month. In April, the UK auto market slipped to fourth, behind Germany, France and Italy.
According to Automotive News, the new numbers also put the Golf ahead of the Fiesta in total European sales, with 186,202 units moved so far this year, as compared to 173,096 for the Fiesta.
It appears, however, that VW is taking a page from Ford’s creative semantics playbook, opting to include just EU countries, while Ford chooses to inlude the EU and the UK.
[Source: AutoNews via WorldCarFans]
With AutoGuide from its launch, Colum previously acted as Editor-in-Chief of Modified Luxury & Exotics magazine where he became a certifiable car snob driving supercars like the Koenigsegg CCX and racing down the autobahn in anything over 500 hp. He has won numerous automotive journalism awards including the Best Video Journalism Award in 2014 and 2015 from the Automotive Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC). Colum founded Geared Content Studios, VerticalScope's in-house branded content division and works to find ways to integrate brands organically into content.
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