In May this year, new car registrations totaled 1,386,818 units in the European Union (EU), increasing 7.6 percent year on year, according to the latest figures issued by the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA).
The five big markets performed very well in May, except for the United Kingdom. Germany (+12.9%) and Spain (+11.2%) posted the highest percentage gains, followed by France (+8.9%) and Italy (+8.2%). Only the British market narrowed in May, recording a decline (-8.5%).
Meanwhile, in the January-May period of this year new passenger car registrations in the EU increased to 6,719,209 units, up 5.3 percent year on year. In this period, new passenger car registrations increased by 8.1 percent in Italy, by 7.3 percent in Spain, by 4.7 percent in Germany, by 3.3 percent in France and were down by 0.6 percent in the UK, all year-on-year basis.