• On account of two to four more working days, the European market is up 10% in April at 1.42 million units, giving the YTD performance of only -1%. A strong April was driven by France (up 15%) and Germany (up 20%), while Italy, -3% (-12% adjusted for number of selling days), and Spain, +3% (-16% adjusted) were weak. Thus, country mix had an influence on the performance of individual OEMs.
• The strongest growth — in excess of +20% — last month came from luxury automakers such as Mercedes and BMW, while Renault (+3%) and Toyota (+1%) results were disappointing.
In April, Mercedes Benz cars recorded a 22% rise in sales of which 16% came for the Mercedes brand. Volume gains recorded for the first 4 months were still a high 14% (of which 8% for Mercedes). This is largely down to a very successful new C-Class which has recorded a 48% rise in sales (YTD).