The latest figures issued by the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) show that European Union (EU) new car registrations recorded in June this year totaled 1,201,578 units, down by 2.8 percent compared to June 2011, indicating a year-on-year decrease for the ninth consecutive month. In June, new car registrations in the EU rose by 8.5 percent compared to May this year.
In June this year, Germany and the UK were the only major markets to post year-on-year growth with increases of 2.9 percent and 3.5 percent respectively, while the other major markets underwent contractions ranging from 12.1 percent in Spain to 24.4 percent in Italy. The French market remained almost stable.
Meanwhile, in the first six months of this year, new car registrations totaled 6,644,829 units in the EU, with a decrease of 6.8 percent from the same period of 2011. In particular, in the first six months of 2012, Germany (0.7 percent) and the UK (2.7 percent) saw their markets expand slightly, while Spain dropped 8.2 percent, and France (-14.4 percent) and Italy (-19.7 percent) posted significant contractions, all compared to the same period last year.