European car registrations saw slight growth in May as volumes actually hit their highest level in over a decade, according to latest data from Jato.

EU car growth slowed to 0.5% in May

The figures for last month show the EU car market recorded only a 0.5% increase last month compared to May 2017 – said to be the result of the market stabilising following a long period of strong growth – but also achieved its highest volume since May 2007 while the YTD figures were the highest for this century.

Demand for SUVs remained rock solid. Volumes grew by 24.2% in May, marking the 13th consecutive month of double-digit growth. In contrast, all other segments registered a decline of 8.5%. SUVs were the best-selling segment in 23 of the 27 markets analysed, only being outsold by subcompacts in Greece, Croatia, Romania and Portugal.

The biggest driver of growth amongst the SUVs was the small SUV, which totalled 182,000 units, up 37%, due to strong performances of the segment leader, the Renault Captur, and the second-generation Dacia Duster, which recorded increases of 26% and 29% respectively. Other launches such as the Volkswagen T-Roc, Citroën C3 Aircross and Opel/Vauxhall Crossland also all recorded strong results.

Registrations of diesel vehicles were down by 19% compared to the same period last year, which meant diesels accounted for 36% of total registrations for the 17 European markets analysed. Despite this, the decline in diesels was not offset by volume increases in the petrol and hybrid markets. Volume for petrol vehicles grew by 15%, whilst AFVs recorded a volume increase of 27% which was boosted due to the increasing numbers of electric cars and plug-ins available in the market.

In the model line-up, the Volkswagen Golf maintained its leading position, despite a decline in volume of 4%, in part due to reduced demand in Germany and France which were down 6.6% and 29% respectively. The Clio, Polo and Fiesta maintained their positions, whilst notably the Volkswagen Tiguan rose up the ranking by four places to fifth position.