EU car sales up in 2017, despite late dip

Brussels – Last December saw demand for new passenger cars fall by nearly 5% compared to the same month in 2016, reversing a trail of positive market performance since April.

However, the decline was attributed mainly to the fact that December had one working-day less in 2017 than in the preceding year.

New passenger car registrations in the EU fell by 4.9%, totalling 1,088,498 units, according to the latest figures released by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) 17 Jan.

Nearly all major EU markets contracted, except for Spain which posted a 6.2% growth.

Overall in 2017, European demand for cars grew 3.4% for the fourth consecutive year, reaching more than 15 million new passenger cars registered for the first time since 2007.

Among the five big markets, Italy and Spain led with 7.9% and 7.7% growth rates respectively. They were followed by France and Germany which registered increases of 4.7% and 2.7% respectively.

Also noteworthy was a strong performance of the new EU member states, where registrations went up by 12.8% during the year.

By contrast, demand for cars in the UK declined 5.7% in 2017, putting an end to a six-year positive trend.