Automakers have in the European Union Also in April significantly fewer vehicles were sold than in the corresponding period of the previous year due to the ongoing problems in the supply chain. The number of new registrations fell by 20.6 percent to 684,506 pieces, as the industry association Acea announced on Wednesday in Brussels. With the exception of the first Corona year 2020, when production temporarily came to a standstill across Europe, this was the weakest April since records began.
The sharpest drop in sales was in Italy with minus 33 percent, followed by France with minus 22.6 percent, Germany (minus 21.5 percent) and Spain (down 12.1 percent). In Great Britain, which is no longer part of the EU, registrations fell by 15.8 percent.
Almost all major car manufacturers got sucked into the downward spiral. The Wolfsburg group Volkswagen lost 30 percent in April, at which Opel-Mother Stellantis it was minus 32 percent. Renault shrank by 18 percent. Also the premium manufacturers bmw and Mercedes Benz lost double digits. Only the Korean Hyundai-Kia Group and the two Japanese car manufacturers Honda and Mitsubishi stood out from the negative trend. Since the beginning of the year, new registrations from all manufacturers have fallen by 14.4 percent to 2.9 million vehicles.
The Russian invasion had already exacerbated the problems in the industry in February and caused the lowest level for new registrations in the European Union since statistics began 32 years ago. The effects of the supply shortfalls in wiring harnesses only really hit the books in March, when the Sales fell by 20.5 percent.