ACEA

PASSENGER CARS: registrations fall over summer

Brussels, 16/09/2010 - Continuing the downward trend shown in the second quarter of 2010, new car registrations in the EU* slipped into considerable percentage drops over the summer months. New registrations fell by 18.6% in July and 12.9% in August. Eight months into the year, new cars in the EU* totaled 9,021,703 units, or 3.5% less than over the same period a year ago.

In July, a double-digit contraction occurred in the main markets, ranging from -12.8% in France to -13.2% in the UK, -24.1% in Spain, -25.7% in Italy and -30.2% in Germany. Overall, 1,032,893 new cars were registered, or 18.6% less than in July last year.

In August, as in July, France (-7.9%), the UK (-17.5%), Italy (-19.3%), Spain (-23.8%) and Germany (-27.0%) all recorded a considerable downturn. Traditionally a month with lower registration levels, August recorded a total of701,710 new car registrations (-12.9%).

From January to August, new car registrations across the EU reached 9,021,703 in number, or 3.5% less than in the first eight months of 2009. Of the most significant markets, France (+2.0%), the UK (+13.2%) and Spain (+21.9%) expanded, while Italy (-2.5%) and Germany (-28.7%) contracted. The steepest fall was noted in Bulgaria (-39.1%) and the highest increase in Ireland (+49.6%).

* 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.

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