EU demand for passenger cars down by 32 percent over eight months

Over the first eight months of 2020, EU demand for passenger cars contracted by 32.0 percent. In total, 6,123,852 new cars were registered across the European Union from January to August, almost 2.9 million less than during the same period last year.

In July 2020, registrations of new passenger cars in the European Union saw a relatively small decline of 5.7 percent compared to the same month last year. Seven of the 27 member states posted growth in July, including France (+3.9 percent) and Spain (+1.1 percent). Outside the EU perimeter, the United Kingdom (+11.3 percent), Iceland (+44.5 percent) and Norway (+6.5 percent) also showed first signs of recovery.

During the month of August, however, the EU car market posted a stronger decline (-18.9 percent) again, although less dramatic than earlier in the year. With the exception of Cyprus (+14.1 percent), all countries in the region recorded losses compared to August 2019. Looking at the four major EU markets, Italy performed best, with a slight drop of 0.4 percent, while the strongest declines were seen in Germany (-20.0 percent) and France (-19.8 percent).

Over the first eight months of 2020, EU demand for passenger cars contracted by 32.0 percent. In total, 6,123,852 new cars were registered across the European Union from January to August, almost 2.9 million less than during the same period last year. Among the EU’s largest markets, Spain saw the biggest decline (-40.6 percent) so far this year, followed by Italy (-38.9 percent), France (-32.0 percent) and Germany (-28.8 percent).