The latest figures issued by the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) show that in March this year European Union (EU) new car registrations continued the downward year-on-year trend commenced in October 2011, totaling 1,307,107 units and falling 10.2 percent on year-on-year basis. However, in March new car registrations in the EU rose by 64.2 percent compared to February this year, in which month new registrations had fallen to their lowest level for a month of February with 795,482 units. Meanwhile, in the first quarter of this year, new car registrations totaled 2,989,486 units in the EU, with a decrease of 9.8 percent from the same period of 2012.
In March, the UK remained the only major market in the EU to see increased passenger car demand compared to the same month of 2012, with a rise of 5.9 percent, while passenger car demand decreased by 4.9 percent in Italy, 13.9 percent in Spain, 16.2 percent in France and 17.1 percent in Germany, all on year-on-year basis.
In the first quarter of 2013, except for the UK (+7.4%), all major markets indicated a double-digit decline ranging from -11.5 percent in Spain to -12.9 percent in Germany, -13 percent in Italy and -14.6 percent in France.