EU passenger car demand declines in June, first half

Brussels – New car registrations in the European Union fell by 7.8% year-on-year to 1,446,183 units in the month of June, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA).

The decline was in large part due to “a negative calendar effect,” explained ACEA in a 17 July statement.

On average, June only counted 19 working days across the EU this year, compared to roughly 21 days in 2018.

As a result, the five major EU markets all posted declines, especially France and Spain which posted 8.4% and 8.3% drops.

For the first half of the year, demand for new passenger cars across the EU was down by 3.1% compared to the same period last year, counting 8.2 million registrations in total.

With the exception of Germany which posted a marginal 0.5% growth, other big EU markets have so far recorded a slight decline.