EU passenger car sales up 8.7% in Oct

Brussels – The EU passenger car market bucked the trend in October, registering am 8.7% year-on-year increase to 1.17 million units. 

The month marked the highest October total on record since 2009, according to figures released by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) 19 Nov. 

During the same month last year, registrations fell by 7.3% after the WLTP emissions test came into effect, setting a low base of comparison for 2019. 

Nearly all EU countries posted increases in October this year, with the exception of Cyprus and the UK. 

Four of the five major EU markets noted strong gains, with Germany posting a 12.7% growth, followed by France, Italy and Spain, registering increases of 8.7%, 6.7% and 6.3% respectively. Car sales contracted by 6.7% in the UK during the month.

Over the first 10 months of the year, new-car registrations were down 0.7% compared to the same period last year.

While demand increased across the EU in September and October, Germany was the only major European market to register growth at 3.4%.

Spain posted a 6.3% decline over the 10-month period, followed by the UK which recorded a 2.9% drop year-on-year. Italy and France posted marginal declines, almost recovering to 2018 volumes.