In May, 41 358 new cars were registered in Belgium and Luxemburg, a serious increase of 42,5% compared to the same month last year. Most of these registrations have been done by companies and independents, representing already two-thirds of the total Belux market last month.

Looking at the first five months of the year, 212 714 new cars were already registered, a 32,5% increase compared to last year. It’s the best result since 2020, but still, a far cry from the record year 2019 (pre-covid), when no less than 260 044 cars were registered for the same period.

Other vehicles

Light commercial vehicles have also seen a solid increase in May (+22%), while the cumulative increase for this year is 19,3% compared to the first five months of 2022.

Trucks are doing well too. The market under 16 tons grew by 20,4% (+21,3% cumulated), the plus 16 tonners increased sales by 35,6% (+20,7% cumulated for the first 5 months).

According to the importer federation Febiac, the lack of a motorcycle show and the bad weather in March and April had an influence on two-wheeler sales in May also: -2,4% compared to May 2022 and -2% cumulated.

By brand

As could be expected, seeing that company cars are leading the dance, the BMW brand is leading the pack again in May, increasing its sales by 53,9% compared to May 2022. The German premium brand is closely followed by Volkswagen (+43,4%), Peugeot (+37,1%), Mercedes (+31,2%), and Audi (+28,7%). Compared to the total market increase, we see that out of the top 5, only BMW has increased its market share.

Other remarkable increases are Renault (+66,6%, 7th place), Dacia (+163,9%, 8th place!), Volvo (+97,8%, 9th), Skoda (+50,4%, 14th), Mini (+67,7%, 16th), Mazda (+93,9%, 20th), Cupra (+353,2%, 22nd), Land Rover (+77%, 24th), Polestar (+162,1%, 26th), MG (+88,6%, 28th), Alfa Romeo (+153,1%, 30th), and Lexus (+137%, 32nd).

A remarkable feat is the +14 114,3% increase of Tesla, but that’s because it sold only 7 cars in May 2022 and 995 this year. Tesla occupies fifteenth place in the ranking in May and occupies that same place in the cumulative ranking for the first five months.

There were almost no losers in a market that increased that much. That’s why the -16,6% of Citroën stands out, and even more so the -61,1% of Honda). The latter also has a cumulative loss of -47,3% for the first five months of the year.

Cumulated

When we look at the results for the first five months cumulated, BMW strengthens its position as the market leader with a 10,36% market share, followed by Volkswagen (8,8%), Peugeot (7,4%), Mercedes (7,2), and Audi (7,6%).

Renault has passed Toyota again for 6th place, with a 5,4% share against 5,3%), while Volvo occupies 8th place (4,5%) and the unstoppable Dacia 9th (also 4,5%). Both also increased their market share. Other smaller brands that have increased their market share are Skoda, Mazda, Suzuki, Cupra (more than tripled), MG (more than doubled), Alfa Romeo (doubled), and Subaru. Chinese BYD comes in 35th place with 0,1% market share and already 217 cars sold in the first five months of this year.

In the Netherlands also, the first five months of the year have been good for car sales, registering 160 617 new cars, almost 30% more than last year.

In France, the cumulative market for the first 5 months has progressed by 16,3%, with an increase of 14,8% in May. Nevertheless, Plateforme Automobile warns that May 2022 was extremely weak and that the 145 538 cars sold in May are still a far cry away from the 200 000 plus cars sold in May before the crisis.