Troubled Amsterdam-based multinational vehicle giant Stellantis has seen its market share drop by 7 per cent, losing its second-largest carmaker in Europe slot to Renault in December.
Stellantis, which makes Jeep, Fiat and Peugeot among other brands, sold just above 111,000 cars in December, while the Renault group, producer of Renault, Dacia and Alpine cars, shifted more than 120,000.
The numbers were made public in the January 21 report by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA).
Volkswagen, the parent company of VW, Porsche, Audi, Seat and others, has also been facing difficulties. Despite that, it remained top in Europe, with sales rising 5.9 per cent, selling almost 240,000 cars in December.
Throughout 2024, Stellantis remained in the lead, selling 1,742,073 cars versus Renault’s 1,733,762.
Still, it was the first time since the creation of Stellantis in January 2021 that it saw its market share overtaken by Renault, according to ACEA’s numbers.
Renault’s market share increased by almost 2 per cent compared to 2023, while Stellantis’ was down 7.2 per cent.
Overall, the car market in Europe remained more or less stable, rising by a modest 0.8 per cent, according to ACEA.
Car sales in Spain grew 7.1 per cent. In contrast, France experienced a decline of 3.2 per cent, Germany saw a reduction of 1 per cent and Italy recorded a decrease of 0.5 per cent.
The biggest winners of 2024 were Japan-based Mitsubishi (+43.7 per cent), Sweden’s Volvo (+28 per cent) and Honda (+21 per cent), also Japan-based.
At the opposite end there were US-based Ford (-13.7 per cent) and Tesla (-13.1 per cent).
The worst performing single brands were Germany’s Smart (-54.3 per cent) and the UK’s Jaguar (-45 per cent). The latter also caught attention with what many regarded as an unpopular, overly “woke” advertisement campaign.
Multinational vehicle maker Stellantis has replaced several top managers, including CEO Carlos Tavares, after posting dismal results amid the growing economic crisis facing European Union car manufacturers. https://t.co/JJtPDNIyFt
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) October 11, 2024
Stellantis recently saw its CEO Carlos Tavares abruptly resign – shortly after the company issued profit warnings. In 2024, it lost more than 40 per cent of its corporate value.
In contrast to the many struggles at Stellantis regarding pricing and quality issues, Renault has fared better.
The French automaker introduced a new electric model, the Renault 5, which has proved popular with journalists and car experts alike. That helped Renault’s stock price to rise almost 41 per cent in 2024.
That was despite the fact that 2024 saw the end of several subsidy schemes in Europe, causing electric vehicle sales generally to fall.
“Registrations of battery-electric cars fell by 10.2 per cent to 144,367 units in December 2024. This decline was primarily driven by a significant decrease in registrations in Germany (-38.6 per cent) and France (-20.7 per cent), leading to a 5.9 per cent decrease in market volume for 2024 compared to 2023,” ACEA’s report stated.
“As a result, the total market share for battery-electric cars stood at 13.6 per cent for 2024.”
Battery-electric cars were the third-most-popular choice for buyers in 2024, it said.
