In March 2021, registrations of new passenger cars in the European Union increased by 87.3 percent. 1,062,446 new cars were sold in the EU last month, compared to 567,253 during the same month in 2020, according to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA).
Triple-digit gains were posted by three of the four largest EU markets: Italy saw the biggest increase (+497.2 percent), followed by France (+191.7 percent) and Spain (+128.0 percent). The German market also showed strong gains, with sales up 35.9 percent in March.
During the first quarter of 2021, EU demand for new cars grew by 3.2 percent to reach 2.6 million units registered in total. Despite steep declines during the first two months of the year (-24.0 percent in January and -19.3 percent in February), March’s strong results managed to offset the negative trend. Looking at the major EU markets, last month’s gains brought the cumulative performances of Italy and France into positive territory (up 28.7 percent and 21.1 percent respectively). On the other hand, both Spain (-14.9 percent) and Germany (-6.4 percent) continued to post declines so far in 2021, although significantly less dramatic than in the preceding months.
