EU new-car demand declines after September pick-up 

Brussels - The EU passenger car market slipped back into negative territory in October, after posting the first increase of the year in September. 

Registrations of new cars declined by 7.8% to 953,615 units last month, as several European governments reimposed restrictions to battle a second wave of the coronavirus, said the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) 18 Nov.

With the exception of Ireland and Romania, losses were posted in all EU markets, including the four major ones. 

Demand fell markedly in Spain with a 21% year-on-year decline, while more moderate decreases were observed in France, German and Italy which posted 9.5% 3.6% and 0.2% drops compared to the 2019 levels.

Over the first ten months, new-car registrations fell by 26.8% across the region, reflecting the "unprecedented" impact of Covid-19 on car demand, said ACEA. 

During the period, new-car registrations fell to 8 million units, down more than 2.9 million units compared to the same period last year. 

Within the major EU markets, Spain has seen the steepest drop at 36.8%, followed by Italy at 30.9%, France at 26.9% and Germany at 23.4%.