According to data released on February 16 by the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA), in January this year new passenger car registrations in the European Union (EU-27) increased by 12.9 percent compared to the same month of the previous year, while the new car registrations declined by 17.3 percent compared to January 2008.
Registrations increased in a majority of countries on a year-on-year basis, ranging from 0.3 percent in Slovakia to 62.1 percent in Portugal. Among the larger markets, new car registrations in France increased by 14.3 percent, in Spain they rose by 18.1 percent, in the UK the increase rate was 29.8 percent, while in Italy the figure was up 30.2 percent, all compared to January 2009. Germany with a drop of 4.3 percent was the only major market which registered a decline, due to the discontinuation of the country's fleet renewal program in the autumn of last year. Meanwhile, the Romanian new car market decreased by 84.6 percent in January. In total, in the given month, 1,058,868 new cars were registered in the EU.
