The latest figures issued by the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) show that European Union (EU) new car registrations recorded in September this year totaled 1,099,264 units, down by 10.8 percent compared to September 2011, indicating a year-on-year decrease for the 12th consecutive month. In September, new car registrations in the EU rose by 59.7 percent compared to August this year.
In September this year, the UK was the only major market to post year-on-year growth with an increase of 8.2 percent, while the other major markets faced a double-digit downturn ranging from 10.9 percent in Germany and 17.9 percent in France to 25.7 percent in Italy and 36.8 percent in Spain.
Meanwhile, in the first nine months of this year, new car registrations totaled 9,368,327 units in the EU, with a decrease of 7.6 percent from the same period of 2011. In particular, in the first nine months of 2012, the UK was the only market to post significant growth (4.3 percent) and Germany saw its demand fall by 1.8 percent, while Spain saw a decline of 11 percent, and France (-13.8 percent) and Italy (-20.5 percent) posted significant contractions, all compared to the same period last year.