Registrations across the European new car market slumped by 2.3% in July – it’s first fall for 34 months.

Jato Dynamics revealed in its monthly report detailing the registration figures from 26 of the region’s markets that the combined sales figure had fallen from 1.18 million in July 2015 to 1.16 million for the same period this year.

The two fewer working days in July may have been a contributor to this result, it claimed, along with the significant decline of two of the largest European car groups, PSA and VW, who recorded a 13.2% and 8.8% fall in registrations respectively.

Felipe Munoz, Global Automotive Analyst at JATO Dynamics concluded: “Despite July’s slightly disappointing results, the full year figures are unlikely to be impacted too severely.

“The lower growth rates we are currently seeing are likely to moderate the larger growth rates we have seen in some of the biggest markets over the past three years”. 

The UK posted a registrations increase of 0.1% - an improvement on June’s figures – but France and Germany recorded drops of 9.6% and 3.9% respectively, whilst the others recorded modest increases, with Italy posting a 2.6% rise and Spain a 4.4% increase.

Volkswagen was the best-selling brand, with 136,393 units registered, accounting for 11.8% of the total market, but this was down on the 152,863 and 12.9% experienced a year ago.

As such, Volkswagen recorded the highest drop of any brand in the top ten, falling by 10.8% compared to the same period last year, closely followed by Skoda and Peugeot who both recorded a 10.5% drop.

Mercedes posted the highest increase in the top ten, but this was a modest 3.7%, which saw the brand register 66,153 units in July 2016.

Dacia (+11.5%), Suzuki (+19.5%), Mini (+10.7%), Land Rover (+33%), Honda (+15.3%) and Jeep (+11.4%) all recorded double-digit growth largely driven by their SUVs.

Jaguar was another big improver, posting a 32.5% increase.

The Volkswagen Golf was still the best-selling model, with 36,540 units registered in July, but its volume dropped considerably, resulting in the model’s second lowest market share since December 2012.

Other big players all posted double digit falls, including the Ford Focus (-12.3%), Skoda Octavia (-17.9%), Peugeot 308 (-19.7%) and the Audi A3 (-25.9%). The Mercedes A-Class and the Volvo V40 were two of the C-segment models that saw an increase in sales.

In the subcompact segment it was the Opel/Vauxhall Corsa which stood out, registering a significant increase of 9.2% in contrast to its major rivals such as the Volkswagen Polo, Ford Fiesta and Renault Clio which posted declines of 6.1%, 3.3% and 11.4% respectively.

The SUV segment continued to grow, increasing registrations by 11.9% compared to July 2015, meaning it now accounts for 25.5% of the overall market.

The Nissan Qashqai kept its position as the best-selling SUV, registering 18,373 units, but this was a 6.9% drop on the same period last year.

Newer rivals such as the Renault Kadjar, Hyundai Tucson and Kia Sportage drove the segment’s growth, posting significant increases of 127%, 586% and 24% respectively.

The Peugeot 2008 boosted the B-SUV segment’s registrations with a rise of 6.9.

Volvo also led in the large SUV segment, thanks to the 15% increase posted by the XC90 which surpassed the BMW X5 (-4.8%), Mercedes GLE (+78%), Audi Q7 (+5.3%) and Range Rover Sport (+31%).

MPVs continued to decline, with registrations down by 11% despite the strong performance of the Volkswagen Touran which posted the highest percentage increase of the month (+144%).