Brussels, 15 June 2018 – In May 2018, the EU passenger car market flattened out after showing robust growth in April. Registrations of new cars were only 0.8% higher than in May 2017, counting 1,398,913 units in total.
In May 2018, the EU passenger car market flattened out after showing robust growth in April. Registrations of new cars were only 0.8% higher than in May 2017, counting 1,398,913 units in total. Results were diverse among the major EU markets, with Spain (+7.2%) and the United Kingdom (+3.4%) posting growth, while Germany (-5.8%) and Italy (-2.8%) saw their demand for cars decline in May.
From January to May 2018, demand for new cars in the European Union remained positive, largely sustained by the strong performance of the new EU member states, where registrations went up by 11.6% so far this year. Overall, 6,879,885 new passenger cars were registered in the EU during the first five months of 2018, or 2.4% more than one year ago. Car registrations increased in Spain (+10.6%), France (+3.5%) and Germany (+2.6%), although demand contracted in the United Kingdom (-6.8%).