EU passenger car demand grows in May

Brussels – The EU passenger car market posted a 0.1% year-on-year increase in May, reversing the negative trend established in the previous eight months.

Demand in the region was mainly driven by central European countries, where registrations went up by 6.2% during May, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA).

The five major Western European markets posted mixed results: demand fell by 7.3% in Spain, 4.6% in the UK and 1.2% in Italy, while Germany and France witnessed year-over-year growths of 9.1% and 1.2% respectively.

Over the five-month period since January, new car registrations across the EU fell by 2.1% compared to last year, at 6.7 million units in total.

With the exception of Germany, the five big EU markets have all posted slight declines so far this year.