For the 12th consecutive month, the manufacturer and importer association Febiac noticed a significant increase in car sales in Belgium and Luxembourg: 34 669 cars were newly registered in July, 32,5% more than in July last year.

The cumulative result since January 2023 is 299 144 registered cars, the best since 2020. Company cars represented not less than 68% of the market, more than two-thirds. So, it’s thanks to this professional side of the market that the Belux market is one of the fastest growing markets (third place) in the EU (+35,4% for the first half year, against +17,8% on average).

We see the same tendencies in the commercial vehicle market. LCV registrations grew by 37,9% in July, light trucks (under 16 tons) did +39,7%, and heavy trucks (16 tons and above) grew even by 70%. Where two-wheelers are concerned, the market is growing, with 8,3% more registered motorbikes, scooters, and three- and four-wheelers in July 2023.

By Brand

Nothing new on the Western front. BMW (10,7% market share, precisely the same as last year in July) stays in the lead, although Volkswagen is catching up (10,1% market share, up 1,3%). Audi did an excellent job in July: sales rose by 54,3%, and the VW daughter arrived in third place, with 7,8% of the market. Fourth is Mercedes, with a 7,4% market share.

For the following places, there’s a tough fight, won in July by Renault, which jumped to 5th place, increasing its sales by 101,1% and scoring a market share of 5,8%, up 2% compared to last year. The sales of the sixth, Volvo, even grew harder (+149,3%, 5% market share), while Kia and Toyota occupy places seven and eighth (4,8 and 4,6% market share, respectively).

With a loss of 35,7% in sales, Peugeot fell back to 9th place, with a 4,4% market share, down from 9% in July 2022. Other noticeable losers are Citroën (-30,6%, 14th), Opel (-28,8%, 15th), Hyundai (-23%, 17th), and Fiat (-29,4%, 21st).

Almost incredible growth figures we see for Tesla (+5 514%), selling 1 235 cars in July 2023, against… 22 in July last year. In the same league, we could put Lynk & Co (+1 466,7%), which registered 141 cars this year against nine last year, and Alpine (+2 000%), which sold 21 cars instead of one.

Other remarkable growers are  MG (+439,2%), Polestar (+378,4%), Cupra (+206,7%), and Alfa Romeo (+176,3%). Most other brands saw their sales also increase; the most impressive were Skoda (+55,4%), Nissan (+72,6%, Mazda (+132,7%), Land Rover (+97,3%), and Jeep (+53,5%). Even Honda (+47,5% and Jaguar (+34,3%) did better; they sold 90 cars in July, coming from 61 and 67, respectively.

First seven months

When we look at the cumulative figures, we see that BMW still has a firm lead over Volkswagen (10,3 against 9,2% market share), followed by Mercedes (7,1% market share), Peugeot (6,9%) and Audi (6,7%). The rest of the top ten is Renault (6th, 5,6%), Toyota (7th, 5,1%), Dacia (8th, 4,7%), Volvo (9th, 4,6%), and Kia (10th, 3,8%).

Here again, Tesla is standing out, increasing its market share from 1% to almost 3,2%, while most others are staying at the same level or losing a bit. Cupra and MG are also noticeable: they increased their market share from 0,3% to 0,9%, selling 2 587 and 2 551 cars, respectively.