The leader of this segment was Fiat 500L, the main competitor of the B-Max model Ford assembles in Craiova, Romania. The Fiat model saw more that 350 unit sales in the first four months, accounting for 50% of the sales of compact MPVs. Dacia Lodgy, which Renault assembles in Morocco, ranks second, with 158 cars delivered, an increase of almost 30%. Ford B-Max, saw the worst decline of the segment, 45% to 41 cars and monthly sales reached seven units in April.
Fiat 500L was the best-selling compact MPV in Europe in 2014, with more than 94,000 cars delivered, an increase of 26%, while B-Max ranked fourth with 54,000 cars, a 21% decline.
Second leading by growth was the luxury sedan segment, last year’s top performer in this department. Sales of luxury sedans increased by more than 50% in January-April to 103 units, 70% of which Mercedes-Benz S-Class cars.
The only segments of the 11 of the market to have gone down were the subcompact segment, the second largest by volume, with almost 5,200 cars delivered, 3% fewer than in January-April 2014, the sports car segment that fell by 15% to 22 units and MPVs, down almost 30% to 40 units.
In all, motor vehicle sales increased by 16.5% in the first four months to almost 31,500 units compared with the year-ago period, according to the data of the Automotive Manufacturers and Importers Association (APIA). Car sales rose by 15.7% to almost 25,600, while utility vehicle sales were up 23% to more than 5,500 units.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)