ACEA

PASSENGER CARS: registrations drop 16.6% in October

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Brussels, 16/11/2010 - New car registrations in the EU* decreased to 1,027,036 units in October, marking a 16.6% contraction compared to October 2009. Ten months into the year, demand for new cars has decreased by 5.5%, totaling
11,279,542 new vehicles registered.

In October, all major markets faced a double-digit downturn, ranging from -18.5% in France, to -20.0% in Germany, -22.2% in the UK, -28.8% in Italy and -37.6% in Spain, which recorded the steepest decrease across the EU*. In comparison, October 2009 saw an 12.1% upturn in EU* registrations compared to 2008, when figures were down 14.9% compared to October 2007.

From January to October, the UK (+4.8%) and Spain (+9.4%) saw their markets expand, while France (-1.4%), Italy (-7.0%) and Germany (-26.8%) performed less well than over the same period last year. The largest drop was noted in Bulgaria (-35.6%) and the biggest increase in Ireland (+53.2%).

* EU27, data for Cyprus and Malta unavailable

NB: Commencing with the January 2010 new passenger car registrations figures, the ACEA data sheets will provide new vehicle registrations in alphabetical order for the countries of the European Union, and no longer separate for Western-Europe (15) and
new EU Member States (10)*. Results for the EFTA countries will continue to be reported separately. The monthly press releases will quote the ‘EU’ figures first, followed by the ‘total Europe’ figures, adding up the EU and EFTA figures.