In Belgium and Luxembourg, 38 906 new cars were registered in September, 25,4% more than in September last year. For the first three quarters of the year, the increase was 33,2% compared to last year, totaling 374 848 newly registered cars. In the Netherlands and France, we see the same tendencies but less pronounced.

The light commercial vehicles also saw an increase of 19,9% in September, while the heavier trucks decreased by 36,4% (under 16 tons) and 29,5% (plus 16 tons), respectively. The latter seems to be due to the fact that a lot of trucks were registered early in August because the new digital tachographs to be installed in trucks and buses as of the 21st of August weren’t readily available.

Motorized two-wheelers see their registrations grow by 14,5% in September, resulting in a cumulative growth of 3,8% for the first 9 months of the year 2023. Honda has taken the lead here again, followed by Yamaha, BMW, Kawasaki, and Piaggio.

By Brand

Volkswagen has again beaten BMW in September, seeing its sales grow by 26,4% to a market share of 10,4%. Despite a sales increase of 56,5% compared to (a very weak) September 2022, BMW has to be satisfied with a second place, totaling 9,6% market share.

Third and fourth are the two other German premium makes, Mercedes and Audi, raising their sales by 26,3% and 53,6%, respectively. Noticeable is the switch inside the Stellantis Group, with Citroën taking fifth place with a remarkable 63,3% sales increase, while Peugeot landed just behind in 6th place (-12,3% compared to last year).

Other remarkable growers are Kia (+44,3%, 8th place), Volvo (+31,5%, 11th place), Opel (+84,5%, 13th place), and, of course, Tesla (+49%, 14th place). Did also very well: Nissan (+67,7%, 18th), Mazda (+44,3%, 19th), Seat (+60,2%, 21st), and Cupra (+48,2%, 22nd). The more sporty Seat daughter Cupra now sells practically as many cars as the mother company.

There were also spectacular increases (but with lower sales volumes) for Land Rover (+53,2%), Jeep (+265,7%), MG (+804,6%), Porsche (+46,9%), Honda (+52,9%), Alfa Romeo (+117,1%), and Lexus (+76,8%). Lotus saw its sales increase from 5 to 28 cars, a 460% increase, but of course with very tiny numbers.

The losers of the month were Peugeot, as already said, Toyota (-13%), Dacia (-33,8%), Jaguar (-30,7%), and a remarkable -80,4% for Lynk & Co, which saw its ‘sales’ dwindle from 204 to 40 cars in September, compared to last year.

After 9 months

When we look at the cumulative figures for the first 9 months of 2023, BMW is still comfortably in the lead (10,3% market share), followed by Volkswagen (9,6%), Mercedes (7,3%), Audi (6,9%), and Peugeot (6,5%). Renault is sixth (5,3%), followed by Toyota (5,0%), Volvo (4,4%), Dacia (4,4%), and Kia (4%).

Tesla is a remarkable 15th and saw its sales increase by 294,2%, with a market share rising from 1,1% to 3,2%. The American EV manufacturer is now more important in the Belgian market than established makes like Hyundai, Nissan, Mini, Seat, Mazda, Fiat, and the lot.

Most noticeable also: the sales increases of MG (+399,9%) and Cupra (+220,1%). Last remark: BYD has already overtaken Subaru in sales (399 compared to 306), despite the fact that the Japanese company recorded a growth of 61,1% in 2023 until now.

North and South

In the Netherlands, 29 855 new cars were registered in September, a 16,6% increase. For the first 9 months, the sales increase is 27,6% compared to the first three quarters of 2022. Kia is once again the number one seller in September, followed by Volkswagen, Toyota, Tesla (!), and BMW.

The most popular car in the Netherlands in September was… the Tesla Model Y, followed by the Volkswagen Polo, the Kia Niro, the Kia Picanto, and the Peugeot 208.

In France, the September sales were also 10,7% higher than in the same month last year. Stellantis group stays number one with 28% market share but loses 2,2% in total sales for September. Renault Group is second, with 25,3% of the market share (+14,4% in sales). Number three is Toyota, with only 5,5% market share and a loss in sales of 12,1%.

19% of the cars sold were BEVs in September, a 3% market share more than in 2022. Of course, Tesla is responsible for a part of this, seeing its sales increase by 60,5%. In the French market in September, it has now 3,55% of the market share and has overtaken BMW (3,14%), Mercedes (3,13%), Audi (3,11%), and Ford (3,09%).