The firm’s latest new car sales analysis shows that, 44,823 more units were sold in January 2014 compared to the same period last year, building on a strong finish to 2013. 

In total, 23 out of 30 European countries analysed showed sales growth in January, including all of the “Big Five” – France, Italy, Spain, Germany and Great Britain. The latter two continue to perform well, with year-on-year growth of 7.2% and 7.6% respectively. While unable to replicate December’s double-digit growth, Spanish volumes still increased by 8.9%. Just seven of the 30 countries analysed showed negative growth for January culminating in a very positive start for the sector. 

Volkswagen expanded its market share to remain the number one brand in Europe thanks to a 7.8% increase in volumes in January. Opel/Vauxhall, however, had a slower start to the year with sales down 8.0% on 2013 mainly due to lower sales of the Astra in Great Britain and Germany. 

Peugeot (9.4%) and Renault (3.7%) both took advantage of this to move up to third and fourth places respectively in the top 10 brands table. It was also a good month for second-placed Ford (8.5%) and sixth-placed Audi (7.7%). 

Outside the top 10, Dacia, Mazda, Skoda and Toyota also recorded significantly increased sales in January.

Increases of 28.4% for the Golf and 9.0% for the Polo, the top two models by sales, were key to Volkswagen’s strong performance during January. The Ford Fiesta dropped from second to third place as a result, despite an 8.4% increase in volumes. 

The new Skoda Octavia climbed to sixth place following a strong start to the year with year-on-year sales up by 32.7%. The Audi A3 was the only top 10 model to better this, recording a significant increase of 83.7% for its recently expanded model range. 

A number of new models were amongst the top performers, including Peugeot’s new 308 (50.2%) Citroën’s new C4 Picasso / Grand C4 Picasso range (77.5%) and the new Seat Leon (59.3%). It was also a good January for Dacia’s Sandero (58.0%) and Duster (35.9%) ranges. 

At the premium end of the market, Tesla and Maserati both recorded high growth. Tesla’s Model S electric car performed particularly well in low-emission friendly markets such as Norway. It has also been a successful debut for Maserati’s new Ghibli executive saloon, which accounted for over 75% of the brand’s sales across Europe in January. 

Gareth Hession, vice president of research at JATO Dynamics, commented: ‘This is an encouraging start to 2014 for the European new car market, with volumes up almost five per cent on this time last year. The industry has been hoping to avoid the slow start we witnessed at the start of 2013, so a fifth successive month of growth and the fact that the five biggest individual markets all grew during January should be grounds for optimism.’