Belgium September. Auto sales artificially up 31.5%

October 4, 2019

Belgium Auto Sales soared 31.5% in September with 35.685 units sold. The leader Volkswagen surged to 64.3% – with just 7.8% of share – while Mercedes (+56.8%) gained the 4th position. Audi and Citroen boomed over 150%.

Economic Environment

Belgium economic growth decelerated to a near two-year low in the second quarter, as bleaker conditions in the Eurozone and abroad weighed on exports. Domestically, however, momentum held steady as fixed investment rebounded thanks to solid private-sector activity, while household consumption maintained a solid pace of growth.

Turning to Q3, a jump in the unemployment rate in July, coupled with near three-year low consumer sentiment in August, bodes ill for private consumption, while deteriorating business conditions in July-August may have weighed on capital investment.

Market Trend

In recent years the Belgium car passenger market was moderately positive, with sales grew up form 541k in the 2012 to 628k in the 2018, sustained by the positive economic momentum and by the incentives to renovate the car park with green vehicles. In the 2018 the market had scored the third growth in a row.

According to data released by the Federation Belgie de L’automobile et du cycle, the start of the 2019 was quite negative with both January and February reported in negative territory respectively with 51.074 sales (-10.2%) and 49.919 (-0.7%).

In March the market fell at an increased speed, with sales at 54.873 (-6.1%). In April, sales fall again by 2% with 53.496, while in May, the market falls even faster (-7.1%) with 51.081 units, while in June sales are down 11%, registering 50.038 units.

In July, the market improved by 5.5% with 45.110 sales, while in August registrations fell down in double-digits (-11.9%) with 47.929 units sold. In September, the market surged 31.5% with 35.685 unit sold, leading year-to-date figures at 439.168 (-3.6%).

Market Outlook

More uncertain Eurozone backdrop and escalation of trade conflicts will not support the consumer goods demand in the short to medium term. However the market is see resilient during the 2019-2025 period, which will end up due to the push to renovate the circulating park, in line with the more restrictive European rules for vehicles emission.Being interested to know more, give a look at this updated research. Clicking on the picture, you can see contents.

Belgium Auto Report 2010-2025
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Competitive Arena

The year-to-date market leader is still Volkswagen with 43.326 sales (-2.6%).

In second place Renault with 38.360 (-8.3%) followed by Peugeot with 33.139 (-6.2%).

Mercedes with 31.232 (+7.9%), BMW with 28.024 (-12.9%), Opel with 26.826 (-3.9%), Audi with 24.664 (-3.1%), Citroen with 21.418 (+9.8%), Ford with 19.112 (-1%) and in 10th place Dacia with 17.348 (+7.2%).

To see the best-selling cars ranking, please see the dedicated report.

Rank 2019	Rank 2018	Brand	Sales Sept YTD 2019	Sales Sept 2019	+/- YTD 2019	+/- Sept 2019	Share YTD Sept 2019	Share Sept 2019
1	1	Volkswagen	43.326	2.788	-2,6%	64,3%	9,9%	7,8%
2	2	Renault	38.360	2.896	-8,3%	16,4%	8,7%	8,1%
3	3	Peugeot	33.139	2.926	-6,2%	10,4%	7,5%	8,2%
4	5	Mercedes	31.232	2.599	7,9%	56,8%	7,1%	7,3%
5	4	BMW	28.024	2.345	-12,9%	-14,5%	6,4%	6,6%
6	6	Opel	26.826	2.763	-3,9%	9,2%	6,1%	7,7%
7	7	Audi	24.664	1.536	-3,1%	151,4%	5,6%	4,3%
8	8	Citroen	21.418	2.015	9,8%	154,4%	4,9%	5,6%
9	9	Ford	19.112	1.528	-1,0%	6,8%	4,4%	4,3%
10	12	Dacia	17.348	1.406	7,2%	51,7%	4,0%	3,9%
11	10	Hyundai	17.018	1.445	-7,9%	73,1%	3,9%	4,0%
12	13	Volvo	16.763	1.896	4,9%	14,5%	3,8%	5,3%
13	14	Skoda	15.995	1.796	4,2%	26,7%	3,6%	5,0%
14	15	Toyota	13.898	1.208	-1,3%	17,6%	3,2%	3,4%
15	16	Fiat	12.919	1.070	-6,0%	114,4%	2,9%	3,0%
16	17	Kia	12.095	796	2,9%	5,9%	2,8%	2,2%
17	11	Nissan	11.141	536	-35,2%	5,1%	2,5%	1,5%
18	18	Seat	8.835	725	9,0%	94,4%	2,0%	2,0%
19	19	Mazda	6.889	588	-4,9%	-1,0%	1,6%	1,6%
20	20	Mini	6.471	738	-0,8%	55,4%	1,5%	2,1%
21	21	Suzuki	5.230	152	-10,4%	-59,5%	1,2%	0,4%
22	23	Jeep	4.176	165	-0,3%	123,0%	1,0%	0,5%
23	22	Land Rover	3.928	235	-25,1%	34,3%	0,9%	0,7%
24	27	Honda	2.749	165	6,1%	51,4%	0,6%	0,5%
25	33	Tesla	2.742	545	290,6%	346,7%	0,6%	1,5%
26	24	Jaguar	2.699	143	-22,7%	6,7%	0,6%	0,4%
27	28	Mitsubishi	2.233	48	7,1%	-14,3%	0,5%	0,1%
28	25	Porsche	2.159	162	-29,1%	165,6%	0,5%	0,5%
29	29	DS	1.872	170	24,1%	24,1%	0,4%	0,5%
30	26	Alfa Romeo	1.608	45	-40,8%	164,7%	0,4%	0,1%
31	30	Smart	1.433	48	2,0%	-21,3%	0,3%	0,1%
32	31	Lexus	1.199	93	-2,8%	69,1%	0,3%	0,3%
33	32	SsangYong	587	33	-31,3%	-26,7%	0,1%	0,1%
34	34	Subaru	266	31	-44,2%	47,6%	0,1%	0,1%
35	54	Alpine	215	19			0,0%	0,1%
36	35	Maserati	144	3	-26,5%	-81,3%	0,0%	0,0%
37	37	Ferrari	101	7	14,8%	75,0%	0,0%	0,0%
38	39	Bentley	81	2	92,9%		0,0%	0,0%
39	38	Aston Martin	43	5	-12,2%	0,0%	0,0%	0,0%
40	40	Lotus	39	5	21,9%	150,0%	0,0%	0,0%
41	47	Rolls-Royce	26	-	100,0%	-100,0%	0,0%	0,0%
42	48	API	24	1	100,0%		0,0%	0,0%
43	45	Lamborghini	23	1	9,5%	0,0%	0,0%	0,0%
44	44	MPM Motors	21	-	-8,7%		0,0%	0,0%
45	36	Infiniti	18	-	-89,0%	-100,0%	0,0%	0,0%
45	42	Morgan	18	1	-28,0%		0,0%	0,0%
46	46	McLaren	15	-	-6,3%		0,0%	0,0%
47	54	Lada	13	-			0,0%	0,0%
48	43	Alpina	10	1	-58,3%	-80,0%	0,0%	0,0%
49	50	Caterham	7	-	-12,5%		0,0%	0,0%
50	49	Cadillac	6	5	-33,3%		0,0%	0,0%
51	49	B-Style & Flex-I-Trans	4	-	-55,6%		0,0%	0,0%
51	41	Chevrolet	4	-	-86,2%		0,0%	0,0%
52	51	AMF	2	-	-66,7%	-100,0%	0,0%	0,0%

Rank 2019	Rank 2018	Country	Sales Sept YTD 2019	Sales Sept 2019	+/- YTD 2019	+/- Sept 2019	Share YTD Sept 2019	Share Sept 2019
1	1	Volkswagen Group	95.083	7.010	-1,5%	68,5%	21,7%	19,6%
2	2	P.S.A.	83.255	7.874	-1,2%	28,9%	19,0%	22,1%
3	3	Renault Nissan Alliance	69.328	4.905	-10,5%	23,1%	15,8%	13,7%
4	4	BMW	34.531	3.084	-10,8%	-4,3%	7,9%	8,6%
5	5	Mercedes Daimler	32.665	2.647	7,6%	54,1%	7,4%	7,4%
6	6	Hyundai-Kia	29.113	2.241	-3,7%	41,2%	6,6%	6,3%
7	8	Ford Group	19.112	1.528	-1,0%	6,8%	4,4%	4,3%
8	7	F.C.A.	18.948	1.290	-9,4%	111,5%	4,3%	3,6%
9	9	Geely Group	16.802	1.901	4,9%	14,7%	3,8%	5,3%
10	10	Toyota Group	15.097	1.301	-1,4%	20,2%	3,4%	3,6%