Belgium Premium Sales Comparison : 2016-18

The first thing that struck me about this list was the consistency of the data. True, Audi was overtaken by Mercedes in 2016, which cannot be seen here. The gap has now widened too. JLR has been moving up nicely but nothing spectacular and certainly nothing to catch up to. Maybe Alfa Romeo will pass Porsche in 2019. Otherwise, it will be business as usual in this car loving nation.

Belgium Car Production By Make: 2016

Car production has been a major industry in this small nation, but today it is limited. I have data going back to 1970 and 2016 was the lowest figure in that time. Much car manufacturing has headed to the eastern side of the continent.

There is now two brands involved in cars and three for commercial vehicles. The total slipped below 400,000 units and as to where it will go from here I don't

Belgium Premium Comparison : 2010-16

Premium cars are proving popular in many nations. They are often outselling cheaper mainstream brand while at the same time making more profit. More recently the most aggressive attack on this segment have been the BAM marques, BMW, Audi and Mercedes Benz. However other car makers are striking back and the competition is heating up. So a look at sales in this decade would be interesting.

First

Belgium Car Sales By Brand : 2010-14

The frugal and environmentally friendly 'Blue Motion' VW


In the last of the series, sales have slipped a bit and VW cheated..er, I mean made their way to the top. The two PSA brands have made the next spots their own. BMW has done well to get so high, with Audi and Mercedes not far behind. GM Opel and especially Ford have given up on chasing volume and that is the result, less sales but maybe

Belgium Car Sales By Brand : 2005-09

Renault ended up on top, thanks to cars such as the Clio


Sales were strong but took a dip in 2009 with another economic hiccup. As expected for a nation that doesn't have a local brand to identify with, the top area is congested with no brand having a clear lead. The French trio ended up 1-2-3 after VW had led for three years previously.

Kia had a tremendous run from obscurity while Škoda

Belgium Car Sales By Brand : 2000-04

Sales were strong through this period, top makes exceeding 50,000 per annum. VW fell from top to 4th, with Renault and Peugeot dog fighting over the vacated position. Toyota was the only Asian brand that could better 12th in 2004.

MINI and smart arrived during this time while MG Rover was about to call time. Fiat managed to half its sales during the half a decade under review. As usual the

Belgium Car Sales By Brand : 1995-99

Economics improved toward the end of this period and sales took off and Belgians like buying new cars. VW strengthened its position as did the two PSA marques. Others such as Nissan had a poor few years, so the usual ups and downs of any market.







Rk
Make
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999


1
VW
48,889
54,530
54,781
56,281
64,148


2
Renault
39,642
43,724

Belgium Car Sales By Brand : 1990-94

The Renault Clio arrived in 1990 


As best as I can I put together this list. Any input welcome. Car sales were going well until the recession which hurt the car market in 1993 and 94. Opel started the period ahead but lost out to VW and then Renault. Lada had a rough time but further down Rover seemed unconcerned and was on a roll.

European brands did well as expected with the U.S. European

Mature Market Vehicle Production : Belgium

The Volvo XC60 is made in Belgium


Belgium is a nation that has no car brands of its own but still a sizable industry...well it did. The chart below shows that over a million vehicles were often assembled in a year. However, with the departure of SEAT, VW and GM, volumes weren't the same. Ford has now left too, meaning that for 2015 only Volvo and Audi cars will still be made there. Some

Belgium Top 4 Brands : 2000-2013

The Renault Captur. The brand was 2nd in 2013


By now, it was European brands dominating. Then once GM Opel went, VW and three French marques battled it out. The year with the most sales was 2011 with 572,200 and the lowest was 2003 with 458,800.
2013 finished with 486,100 so that was 86,000 units down in two years. 2014 should see things improving economically and car sales up.

The extreme

Belgium Top 4 Brands : 1990-99

The 1999 VW Polo 


The 1990's were very settled for the major car brands, with only four logos sharing the top 4 places, with the exception of 1999. The decade started strongly with sales well over 450,000 per annum, but then hit a bump mid-decade and fell away to as low as 358,900 in 1995. Belguim went through it's worst recession since WWII. Things then improved and by 1989 489,600 cars were

Belgium Top 4 Brands : 1980-89

The Ford Escort was popular in Belgium


Sales data for Belgium is hard to find, so I have cobbled together data as best I can. FEBIAC is the source for such, and they are cautious about letting too much out.

Belgians like their cars. For a small nation, they buy them in large numbers. Over 399,200 new cars were bought in 1980. In 1983 it slipped to 338,900 but bounced back to 439,800 by 1989.

Top 10 Models/Brands Belgium: 2003

Distinctive rear end I must say. Like Beyonce.

In 2003, this was a French car paradise. With a strong French speaking community I assume playing a part, six of the top eight models were from that nation. The Megane II was European car of the year in 2003.

Second placed 206 was five years old by this time but still selling strongly. The 2002 car of the year - the 307 - came in third.



The

Top 16 Models/Brands Belgium: 1990

It may have sold well but I cannot say I am taken by it.


Sixteen is an unusual number but that is how many models exceeded 10,000 sales. Some model names remain but many have been superseded.



The Vectra was quite a good car.

As far as brand sales go, in 2013 VW is still top, Renault 2nd, Peugeot 3rd and Citroen 4th. Premium brands do better now with BMW 5th, Audi 7th and Mercedes 9th.

Car Production Belgium: 2008

Belgium is a net exporter of vehicles, that is it makes more than is sold in the country. In 2001 Belgium made 1,060,000 cars and 130,000 commercial vehicles. In 2008, it had dropped to 680,000 cars and 44,000 commercials. That is a drop of 39% in unit volume. With a high paid workforce and no indigenous carmakers, Belgium is at the mercy of decisions made far away.

So which brands are made