The latest figures issued by the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) show that European Union (EU) new car registrations recorded in December 2011 totaled 953,108 units, decreasing by 6.4 percent year on year and down 7.5 percent compared to November 2011.
In December, Germany was the only major market to post growth with an increase of 6.1 percent, while passenger car demand decreased 3.7 percent in the UK, 3.6 percent in Spain, 15.3 percent in Italy and 17.7 percent in France.
Meanwhile, in 2011, new car registrations totaled 13,111,209 units in the EU, with a decrease of 1.7 percent from 2010. In particular, in 2011, France (-2.1 percent), the UK (-4.4 percent), Italy (-10.9 percent) and Spain (-17.7 percent) all saw their markets contract, while Germany posted significant growth (+8.8 percent).