Brussels, 15 November 2018 – In October 2018, registrations of new passenger cars continued to decline across the European Union (-7.3%), although at a more moderate pace than in September.
In October 2018, registrations of new passenger cars continued to decline across the European Union (-7.3%), although at a more moderate pace than in September. The main cause is still the introduction of the new WLTP emissions test on 1 September, which resulted in an exceptional surge in registrations over the summer. As a result, demand for new cars fell in most EU countries last month, including the five major markets.
From January to October 2018, EU demand for passenger cars went up by 1.6% compared to one year ago. Looking at the five biggest car markets, Spain (+10.0%) saw the highest growth rates, followed by France (+5.7%) and Germany (+1.4%). By contrast, registrations declined in Italy (-3.2%) and the United Kingdom (-7.2%).