After 13 months of decline, EU car market grows 4.4% in August

In August, the European new car market finally returned to growth (+4.4% year-on-year), following 13 consecutive months of decline. All major EU markets contributed to this positive development. However, the volume remains far below pre-pandemic levels. 

Figures released by ACEA, the trade association of the EU automobile industry, show solid gains in new car registrations across the EU’s four major markets: Italy (+9.9% compared to previous August), Spain (+9.1%), France (+3.8%) and Germany (+3.0%). Despite the good news, the total EU sales volume – 650,305 units – remains well below pre-pandemic levels.

Welcome change

Last month’s positive results are a welcome change after another set of negative figures for the previous month, with a 10.4% overall decline in new car registrations across the EU. All four major EU markets performed worse than in July 2021. Germany (-12.9%) and Spain (-12.5%) posted the strongest declines. 

The ongoing semiconductor shortage and resulting supply chain disruption has put a serious dent in new car registrations for the whole year so far. Eight months into 2022, overall volumes have contracted by 11.9%, down to just under 6 million new passenger cars sold. Even including the positive figures for August, the EU’s Big Four have all faced losses so far this year – from most to least: Italy (-18.4%), France (-13.8%), Germany (-9.8%) and Spain (-9.4%).

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