In December last year, new passenger car registrations totaled 1,088,498 units in the European Union (EU), increasing 4.9 percent year on year, mostly driven by the fact that there was one less working day in December 2017, according to the latest figures issued by the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA).
In December, nearly all major EU markets contracted, except for Spain (+6.2%), while the UK posted its ninth straight month of decline, with registrations falling by 14.4 percent in December, both year on year.
Meanwhile, in 2017, new passenger car registrations in the EU increased to more than 15 million units, up 3.4 percent year on year. In this period, Italy (+7.9%), Spain (+7.7%) France (+4.7%) and Germany (+2.7%) saw their demand increase, while car demand in the United Kingdom fell by 5.7 percent, all on year-on-year basis.