Opel’s overall results for the first two months of 2016 are also positive. Sales were up by around 18,000 unites or almost 13 percent, meaning that the brand grew more than twice as strongly as the overall market. The Rüsselsheim-based carmaker managed to increase its market share by more than 0.3 percentage points to around 5.7 in this period, giving it its highest sales figures and market share for the two first months of the year since 2011.
“We grew in 17 markets thanks to our young and attractive portfolio. The new Astra was key for our success. The Astra Sports Tourer, available at dealers from April, and the new Mokka X will continue to drive our business after a strong start into the year,” said Peter Christian Küspert, Vice President Sales & Aftersales Opel Group.
Opel’s strong growth in February is mainly based on the demand for the new Astra. The Astra, whose current generation only made its market debut in most European countries in November, was sold over 18.000 times in February. An increase of around one third. Across Europe Opel has already received over 130,000 orders for the European “Car of the Year 2016”. The Opel Corsa was also key to the company’s success with sales increasing by around 12 percent to 20,400 units in February.
Opel’s new registrations were up in 17 European markets in February, including the four large western European markets Germany (+27%), Italy (+24%), France (+23%) and Spain (+23%). Elsewhere, the brand with the Blitz also increased its market share in
16 European markets.