STLA EU: The quarter so far, from Alfa to Ram

Stellantis is still a distant #2 to Volkswagen in Europe, with both companies losing sales in the double digits, for both March and the first quarter of 2022 overall.

In January-March 2022 (the first quarter), Volkswagen sales dropped from 775,074, a 15% fall, with Seat, Skoda, and Volkswagen all falling by around 20%, but Audi dropping just 3% and Porsche, the smallest-selling brand, rising by 22%; Volkswagen’s boutique luxury brands rose by 28%, to 1,654 sales.

EU sales split

At Stellantis, Fiat dropped the most (26%), followed by Peugeot and Citroën (20% each); Jeep fell by 19% but DS rose by 19%. Lancia/Chrysler fell by 17% to 10,777, and Alfa Romeo fell by 20% to 5,194, roughly half of DS sales. Dodge, Maserati, and Ram, all combined, sold 286 vehicles—a 37% drop, likely due to fuel cost concerns or worries about fuel shortages.

Stellantis is still big in Europe, with a 19% market share. Only Volkswagen’s 24% share exceeds it. Volkswagen sales were hit by supply shortages due to the Ukraine war; Stellantis also had supply shortages, though they were more varied.

Hyundai took advantage of its production abilities by scoring a stunning 21% sales gain, combining 28% at Kia and 15% at Hyundai itself. The two brands hit a 10% market share, up from 7% in Q1 2021. That was enough to beat Renault, which had a 9% share after falling by 7% (Renault’s share was actually up from 8%—if we look to the first decimal point, it rose by 0.4 points, and rounding did the rest).

The other major players were:

  • BMW (7% share, 11% sales drop)
  • Toyota (7% share, 267-sale gain)
  • Mercedes (6% share, 11% sales drop)
  • Ford (5% share, 15% sales drop)
  • Volvo (2% share, 25% sales drop)
  • Nissan (2% share, 9% sales gain)

Other major gainers and losers were Jaguar Land Rover (taking a 43% drop and losing around one point of market share) and Honda (with a 34% sales gain that took them from 0.5% to 0.7% market share).

The figures may be a bit worrying for Alfa Romeo, which appears to be an afterthought in Europe as well as in North America, though the new Tonale may help revive their brand. Fiat’s low sales make some sense given their limited product line compared with the French mainstream brands. The fall in Dodge, Maserati, and Ram, combined, as noted above, may be temporary and due to fears that fuel will be in short supply if Russian pipelines are shut down. Battery-electric versions of all three are coming to Europe.

Overall, the industry dropped by 12% over the full first quarter, and 20.5% in March alone.

All figures are for EU+UK+EFTA.

Discover more from Stellpower - that Mopar news site

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading