EU new car sales up 12% to mark third month of growth

Brussels – New passenger car registrations in the European Union continued their upward trend during October, marking the third consecutive month of growth in 2022.

New car registrations grew 12.2% year-on-year to 745,855 units, but remained 290,000 units below the 2019 pre-pandemic levels, said a 17 Nov statement by European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA).

All the region’s key markets positively contributed to last month’s growth, with three out of four recording double-digit gains.

Germany posted a 16.8% growth followed by Italy at 14.6% and Spain at 11.7%.

The French market saw a more modest, but still solid, performance at 5.5%.

Year-to-date, EU new car registrations remained in negative territory at 8.1%, as the recent gains were not enough to offset losses cumulated from January to July.

All of the region’s top four markets reported negative developments over the 10-month period, led by Italy which saw the sharpest decline at 13.8%.

France, Spain and Germany registered declines of 10.3%, 5.8% and 5.5% respectively.