In May this year, new car registrations totaled 1,288,220 units in the European Union (EU), with an increase of 16 percent year on year, marking the 33rd consecutive month of year-on-year growth, according to the latest figures issued by the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA). In volume terms, these results come close to May 2008, just before the economic crisis hit the automotive industry.
In May, Italy (+27.3%), France (+22.3), Spain (+20.9%) and Germany (+11.9%) were the major EU markets which recorded increases in new car registrations on year-on-year basis, followed by the UK (+2.5%), which also performed better than in May 2015.
Meanwhile, in the January-May period, new passenger car registrations in the EU increased to 6.4 million units, up 9.9 percent year on year. In this period, Italy saw an increase of 20.5 percent, while new passenger car registrations in Spain rose by 12.5 percent, France saw a rise of 10.5 percent, with registrations in Germany rising by 6.8 percent and with registrations in the UK up 4.1 percent, all year-on-year basis.