Exotics, Minicars Win Big in First Half the Peugeot 207 CC (Shown) Strength- Ened Its Leadership in a Segment That the Half
20080915-0018_19-ANE.qxd 1/7/09 3:44 PM Page 18 PAGE 18 · www.autonewseurope.com September 15, 2008 Market analysis by segment, European sales ROADSTER & CONVERTIBLE Exotics, minicars win big in first half The Peugeot 207 CC (shown) strength- ened its leadership in a segment that the half. Sales were helped by rising fuel Changing segments declined 15.9% overall in the first half. Luca Ciferri costs and growing concerns about CO2. The Ford Focus Coupe Cabriolet, Smart Automotive News Europe The big winners in the minicar segment First-half 2008 winners and losers ForTwo and 207 CC where the only models to post gains among cars were the Fiat 500 and the second-genera- Exotics +22.4% in the segment’s top 10 in the first half. Led by strong sales of the Audi R8, the ex- tion Smart ForTwo. The factors that are Minicar +19.0% otics segment was Europe’s fastest growing helping minicar volumes grown are hurt- Premium coupe +9.9% 2008 2007 % Change Seg.share% class of cars in the first half, up 22.4 percent ing sales of large SUVs. That segment de- Peugeot 207 CC 26,092 26,068 0.1 20.9 to 6,817 units, according to figures from UK- clined 44.4 percent to 45,226 units. Large SUV -44.4% Volkswagen Eos 18,431 20,094 -8.3 14.7 based market researcher JATO Dynamics. Coupe -35.9% Opel/Vauxhall Astra TwinTop 12,179 16,060 -24.2 9.7 At the other end of the price and fuel-ef- You can download this list as a PDF from our Large -29.5% Smart ForTwo 10,844 6,909 57.0 8.7 ficiency scale, minicars grew 19 percent in Web site at www.autonews.com/segmentsH1 Renault Megane 9,567 15,375 -37.8 7.6 Mazda MX-5 8,351 12,423 -32.8 6.7 Peugeot 307 CC 7,796 13,323 -41.5 6.2 Ford Focus Coupe Cabriolet 7,689 3,758 104.6 6.1 MINICAR UPPER MEDIUM Opel/Vauxhall Tigra TwinTop 5,620 7,238 -22.4 4.5 Launched in July 2007, the new Fiat 500 already is a strong competitor The new Ford Mondeo continued its steady growth in the first half, but Volkswagen New Beetle 4,082 5,152 -20.8 3.3 in Europe’s minicar segment.
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