autoevolution
 

Renault Passes Ford In Europe, Becomes Second-Largest Car Brand

Renault has become Europe’s second-best-selling automaker in the first half of 2016.
Carlos Ghosn Introduces Renault Talisman 1 photo
Photo: Renault
The French brand has managed to achieve this accomplishment with a growth of 14.2% in the first term of this year when compared to the same period of 2015.

Renault has surpassed Ford with its sales result, with a difference of 33,736 vehicles between the two companies. This difference came even with a growth of 4.8% for the Blue Oval, but its 527,502 cars were not enough to beat Renault’s 561,238 units.

Analysts expect Ford to have a shot of defeating Renault by the end of the year thanks to the launch of the Edge model, which could turn things around for the Blue Oval with the help of the EcoSport, its smaller brother.

The new Fiesta is scheduled for launch in late 2017, so the model could not pose a threat to Renault’s Clio, which has just received a facelift. Furthermore, 2016 will be the first full year of sales for the new Megane IV, which is expected to bring significant volumes.

It is worth noting that the figures accomplished by Renault do not include the results of the Dacia brand, which is owned by the French corporation, but is accounted separately in ACEA’s figures. ACEA is the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, and the organization publishes sales results in Europe every month.

While Renault and Ford will continue to battle out second place, Volkswagen sits comfortably in the first position of the podium with almost 850,000 cars sold in Europe. As Autocar notes, this value comes after a growth of just 0.1% when compared to the previous six months of last year.

Interestingly, Volkswagen still managed to outsell its competitors even though the German company has not fixed all of its Dieselgate-affected vehicles, and while European clients will not receive compensation like their American homologs.

VW’s result in Europe shows that consumers still do not focus on emissions as much as the European Union and lawmakers would like them to, and that Volkswagen is safe and sound concerning sales after its scandal, which is still unresolved.
If you liked the article, please follow us:  Google News icon Google News Youtube Instagram X (Twitter)
About the author: Sebastian Toma
Sebastian Toma profile photo

Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland.
Full profile

 

Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?

You will only receive our top stories