According to the Italian automotive industry association (Anfia), Italy's new car registrations amounted to 147,102 units in May, down 14.3 percent year on year. In the first five months of the current year, new car registrations in Italy dropped by 18.9 percent year on year to 684,962 units.
Anfia president Roberto Vavassori commented, "This is the sixth consecutive double-digit decrease. To see such a low figure for May, we have to go back to May 1993. Meanwhile, the overall European auto market is indicating a general weakness. France's new registrations were down 16.1 percent in May, and in Spain they decreased by 8.2 percent."