Brussels, 17 January 2018 – In December 2017, new passenger car registrations in the EU fell by 4.9%, totalling 1,088,498 units – mainly the result of the fact that December had one working day less in 2017 than in the preceding year.
In December 2017, new passenger car registrations in the EU fell by 4.9%, totalling 1,088,498 units – mainly the result of the fact that December had one working day less in 2017 than in the preceding year. Nearly all major EU markets contracted, except for the Spanish one (+6.2%). The United Kingdom’s car market posted its ninth straight month of decline, with registrations falling by 14.4% in December.
Overall in 2017, European demand for cars grew (+3.4%) for the fourth consecutive year, reaching more than 15 million new passenger cars registered for the first time since 2007. Among the five big markets, Italy (+7.9%) and Spain (+7.7%) recorded the strongest gains, followed by France (+4.7%) and Germany (+2.7%). By contrast, last year demand for cars in the United Kingdom declined (-5.7%) for the first time in six years. Noteworthy is the strong performance of the new EU member states, where registrations went up by 12.8% during the year.