EU passenger car demand up 5.9 per cent in October

In October 2017, European Union demand for passenger cars returned to growth after a decline in September. Registrations of new cars totalled 1,169,672 units, or 5.9 per cent higher than in October last year, the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) has said.

Nearly all major EU markets performed well, especially Spain (+13.7 per cent), France (+13.7 per cent) and Italy (+7.1 per cent). However, the UK, in contrast, saw new car registrations fall by 12.2 per cent in October, according to the ACEA.

Demand for passenger cars in the new EU member states grew by 20.1 per cent last month, making a significant contribution to the solid performance of the EU market, the ACEA said.

From January to October 2017, passenger car registrations across the European Union increased by 3.9 per cent, totalling more than 12.8 million new vehicles registered. Among the five big markets, Italy (+8.9 per cent) and Spain (+7.3 per cent) posted the highest percentage gains, followed by France (+4.8 per cent) and Germany (+2.3 per cent).

But the UK saw demand for cars decrease by 4.6 per cent so far in 2017.