SECTOR FOCUS: AUTOMOTIVE
Europe Passenger Cars & LCVs Lubricant Trends
Mike Skypala, Managing Director, OATS Ltd
European economies are in a state of transition as governments move to net zero. The European parc is similarly being impacted by the move to embrace low and zero emission vehicles.
Car parc The European parc has long been dominated by the major European OEMs if you include Ford Europe and Opel, with Volkswagen still market leader. Of the Japanese/Korean OEMs, only Toyota registers 5% of the parc with Nissan and Hyundai following at 3% share each.
engines accounting for 17%. As we have seen in the German local market report, Electric is gathering pace in some markets but it is going to be several years before it gets to rise above 50% in one year across Europe.
Looking at the makes and models which have experienced the biggest change in Vehicles- In-Operation (VIO) in the period 2016-2020 vs 2011-2015, either because new models have been launched in that period, or registrations have increased relative to the total parc, we see some interesting trends:
Renault has increased its share of VIO by 18% pts, driven by its key Vans – Master, Trafic and Kangoo – and key SUVs – Kadjar and Captur – plus the trusty Megane and Clio.
Figure 1: Market share data for mapped European (including Russia) car parc up to December 2020 of 351m vehicles. Source: Oats.
This picture does not change dramatically when you look at the period 2018-2020, with the exception of Mercedes Benz and BMW increasing their respective shares by between 10-20 percentage points each. Over this period Hyundai/KIA have become the clear No.2 Asian OEM brands individually, but combined taking an impressive 8.2% share of registrations. Skoda has also improved its position with 4.5% share – a 150% increase on its share of the total parc!
Traditional fuels still dominate with 97% of the parc having either a petrol or diesel engine, with petrol accounting for 55%. The rise of hybrid and fully electric vehicles has been well documented, and in 2020, Petrol and Diesel had dropped to 81% of the registrations that year, with Electric/Hybrid/Hydrogen
10 LUBE MAGAZINE NO.168 APRIL 2022
Peugeot did almost as well, growing its VIO share by 17% pts, driven by its SUVs – 2008, 3008 and 5008, its Vans – Expert and Partner –the 208 and the 108 City car.
Mercedes Benz & BMW as mentioned above have also increased their VIO share in the five year comparison period by 31% and 16% pts respectively. MB’s vans – Sprinter, Vito and V-Class - have spearheaded this growth, along with the SUVs GLA, GLB, GLC, GLE and, the A-Class and CLA coupe. For BMW, in terms of impact on engine oil, it is more limited to the 4 and 7 series and the X1 and X5 SUVs.
Toyota, Hyundai and KIA have also all grown their share in this period. Although less established than the European OEMs, these brands have grown their share across all body styles not only SUV and compact city cars. Those buying standard saloon or hatchback cars are seeing the price differentials as an attractive proposition.
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