Sales of large MPVs in Europe are surprisingly up by a whopping 35% in the first quarter of 2014 after many years of steady declines. The only logical explanation for this unexpected phenomenon is the upcoming model changeover for the Ford Galaxy and S-Max, both of which are in sell-out mode of the current generations. The new models are expected to finally hit showrooms later this year after a 1,5 year delay because of a factory shutdown in Genk, Belgium and the subsequent relocation of the production line to Valencia, Spain.
Because of the attractive deals on the outgoing models, the Galaxy and S-Max each more than double their sales of last year’s first quarter. As a result, the S-Max jumps into the top position of the segment and the Galaxy is challenging the Seat Alhambra for the lead. This also means that Ford had a 44,5% market share of this segment in the first three months of 2014.
The Alhambra is up as well, gaining another 14% after already increasing its sales by 2% over the full year 2013, which is quite amazing for a model that’s been around since 2010. And another interesting statistic is that the Volkswagen Sharan (up 33 sales), Renault Espace (down 2 sales) and Lancia Voyager (up 6 sales) all are extremely stable on the same period in 2013.
Meanwhile, the aging PSA MPVs are falling into oblivion. No word yet on their replacement, although the company’s new CEO Carlos Tavares has said that he wants to reduce the overlap between the brands, indicating that only Citroën will have a large MPV in the future.
| 2014-Q1 | 2013-Q1 | Change | ||
| 1. | Ford S-Max | 8.782 | 4.027 | 118% |
| 2. | Volkswagen Sharan | 7.676 | 7.643 | 0% |
| 3. | Seat Alhambra | 5.067 | 4.459 | 14% |
| 4. | Ford Galaxy | 4.976 | 2.064 | 141% |
| 5. | Renault Espace/Grand Espace | 2.116 | 2.118 | 0% |
| 6. | Lancia/Chrysler Voyager | 1.023 | 1.017 | 1% |
| 7. | Peugeot 807 | 529 | 695 | -24% |
| 8. | Citroën C8 | 504 | 780 | -35% |
| 9. | SsangYong Rodius/Stavic | 259 | 176 | 47% |
| Segment total | 30.932 | 22.979 | 35% | |
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