The merger agreed on Tuesday between French car maker PSA and US-Italian group Fiat Chrysler will create one of the world's largest auto groups, but it still might not be enough to overtake Europe's dominant force: Volkswagen. 

Sales figures from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association show that in the first nine months of 2019 across the EU and EFTA region, the VW group sold 2.95 million new cars – a million more than the PSA group, with Fiat-Chrysler adding another 740,990. 

Although the VW group's numbers are dominated by the Volkswagen brand (1.34 million), there were also healthy sales from Audi (580,696), Skoda (580,515) and Seat (397,498), with additional input from classic marque Porsche (55,460) and smaller makes. 

PSA's numbers were relatively balanced between Peugeot (738,648), Opel/Vauxhall (682,271) and Citroen (500,008), with DS contributing 35,739 sales. In the other group, Fiat sold 515,952 cars and Jeep 132,365; Lancia/Chrysler sold 45,806 and Alfa Romeo 41,378. 

The new tie-up also faces a challenge from the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance. Although not fully merged, the members of this strategic partnership sold around 1.69 million cars in Europe between January and September: 807,640 from Renault, 449,949 from Dacia, 305,573 Nissans and 116,264 Mitsubishis.