Only brand-new cars that are still in production ought to appear in sales tables. So how does a Peugeot 309 end up in the European market’s sales figures in 2024?
The compact French family car left the production line back in 1993, handing over to the Peugeot 306. Yet in 2024, one example has apparently received its very first registration.
Peugeot 309 and other discontinued models in the 2024 DataForce sales tables
Figures published by DataForce cover every new car registered in Europe since the start of the year-and the Peugeot 309 is far from the only eyebrow-raiser.
Staying with the brand of the lion, there was also a Peugeot 206 registered last July. From the beginning of the year, the data also shows two Peugeot 307s and two 807s being registered. And it does not stop there: how do you explain a “new” Fiat Multipla being delivered to its first owner, along with a Lancia Delta, an Opel Adam, or a Volkswagen Beetle?
Although the production year for each vehicle is not stated, they all share one thing: they are models that are no longer built-and in some cases have not been for decades.
More recently, there is the first registration of three BMW i3s and one i8. But looking further back, a Z3 has been registered this year and… a Z8 too-the latter with fewer than 6000 units produced at the start of the millennium.
Explanations are needed
DataForce’s sales tables compile results from the 27 European Union countries, plus the United Kingdom, and the EFTA (European Free Trade Association) nations: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
According to a company spokesperson, “the report shows only the first registrations of a car. I agree it is confusing to see such old cars on the list. It seems there are some residual stocks of these models that were never registered for road use”.
That still leaves the possibility that more hidden gems remain stored by dealers awaiting registration-or even sitting in abandoned dealerships.
Even so, the scepticism remains when we come across “new” cars such as the Alfa Romeo 147, 159 and MiTo, or MPVs built by AutoEuropa, including the SEAT Alhambra and the Volkswagen Sharan.
Even rarer sightings in the registration figures
Among various other, more exotic entries, a Ferrari F430 and a 550/575 (it is not specified which) also feature, along with the Lamborghini Gallardo and Murciélago-two of each.
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