According to the data released by the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) on 16 June 2009, new passenger car registrations in Europe (EU-27 plus EFTA) declined for the thirteenth consecutive month in May, totaling 1,270,195 units or 4.9 percent less compared to the same month last year. In the first five months of 2009, the market decrease amounted to 13.9 percent. May counted on average one working day less across the region.
In Western Europe, new car registrations totaled 1,197,292 in May. Increases in some countries, as in Austria by 4.8 percent, in Greece by 5.1 percent, in France by 11.8 percent and in Germany by 39.7 percent, contributed to mitigating the drop to 3.2 percent, all compared to May 2008, reflecting market support in the form of fleet renewal schemes. Similarly, Italy limited its downturn to a single digit decrease, 8.6 percent. In the United Kingdom new passenger car registrations decreased by 24.8 percent and in Spain by 38.7 percent. The announcement of incentive schemes has not yet been translated into the registration figures.
In the January-May period this year, new car registrations in Western Europe declined by 12.8 percent, year on year. Germany, with a yearly increase of 22.8 percent, was the only market to expand in the period in question. France, which recorded a slight decrease of 1.4 percent, performed second best, followed by Austria with a decrease of 3.0 percent, all compared to the same period of 2008. Among the major markets, the Italian market contracted by 14.7 percent, the British market by 27.9 percent and the Spain by 42.7 percent year-on-year.
According to the report released by EUROFER (European Confederation of Iron and Steel Industries) in April 2009 entitled "Economic and Steel Market Outlook 2009-2010", the European automotive sector ranks second after the construction industry in the list of steel consuming sectors, with a 16 percent share. The Steel Weighted Indstrial Production (SWIP) index for European automotive sector decreased 7.1 percent in 2008, while in Q1 2009 the index fell 39.3 percent after a decrease of 27.8 percent in the last quarter of 2008. EUROFER forecasts that the SWIP index for the automotive industry will decrease by 28.7 percent in the second quarter of the current year, by 19 percent in Q3, with a decrease of just 3.1 percent in Q4 due to the expected slowdown in the recession.