Volkswagen Golf, Polo Still Kings of Europe

2010 was, just like 2009, a very difficult year for the whole industry but, with the help of scrappage schemes and government incentives, a large part of the industry managed to survive. The end of the year brought the first signs of recovery and 2011 was expected to bring bigger sales in all segments of the industry. Unfortunately, the end of incentive programs brought lower sales all around, including in Europe.

On the Old Continent, the automotive industry registered a decrease of 0.9 points in January, selling a total of 1,070,231 cars, down from 1,079,839 posted in the same month of the previous year. Germany remains the biggest European car market with 211,056 sold units last month, an increase of 16.5 percent versus January 2010, followed by France with 185,521 versus 171,478 (up 8.2 percent).

In case you're wondering, Volkswagen is the company that sold the best in January, delivering a total of 127,885 units and posting an increase of 5 percent. But the biggest increase was registered by none other than GM's Opel which sold 72,902 units, up from 68,286 units in January 2010 (+6.8 percent).

Volkswagen Golf is still the best selling model in Europe, with 38,860 units delivered last month, a drop of 1.9 percent versus January 2010. The Polo comes second with 28,882 units (down 9 percent from the same month of 2010), followed closely by Ford Fiesta with 27,012 units (down 31.3 percent). Only two models sold in Europe managed to post sales increases: Opel Astra - up 6.7 points and Ford Focus - up 0.9 points.

"Despite signs of a recovery in the industry in many markets, particularly in central and eastern Europe, the continuing financial problems in markets such as Greece and the ending of many scrappage schemes in early 2010 means the total European new car market remains at a level below that of a year ago," UK analysts Jato mentioned in a statement.