The latest figures issued by the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) show that
European Union (EU) new car registrations continued the downward trend commenced in October 2011, falling to their lowest level for a month of February with 795,482 units, down 10.1 percent compared to January this year and down 10.5 percent year on year.
In February, the
UK was the only major market in the EU to see increased passenger car demand compared to the same month of 2012, with a rise of 7.9 percent, while passenger car demand decreased 9.8 percent in
Spain, 10.5 percent in
Germany, 12.1 percent in
France and 17.4 percent in
Italy, all on year-on-year basis.
Meanwhile, in the January-February period this year, new car registrations totaled 1,681,073 units in the EU, with a decrease of 9.5 percent from the same period of 2012. In particular, in the first two months of 2013,
Germany (-9.6%) and
Spain (-9.7%) saw similar decrease rates on year-on-year basis.
France (-13.5%) and
Italy (-17.3%) recorded double-digit declines, while demand improved in the
UK (+10.3%), all year on year.