Registrations of new passenger cars in the EU continued to decline year-on-year, in the latest month, with the drop in September marking the 12th consecutive month of declining sales. New car registrations in September fell 10.8% to 1,099,264 units, compared with 1,232,840 in the corresponding month a year earlier.
In the first three quarters of this year, car registrations slid to 9,368,327 units, 7.6% lower than the 10,134,123 cars registered in the January-September 2011 period, figures published by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) reveal.
“Looking at the major markets, the British was the only one to expand (+8.2%), while Germany (-10.9%), France (-17.9%), Italy (-25.7%) and Spain (-36.8%) all faced a double-digit downturn,” ACEA said in its report.
A similar scenario played out in the first three quarters of 2012 as well, with the UK posting year-on-year growth of 4.3%, while registrations in Germany (-1.8%), Spain (-11%), France (-13.8%) and Italy (-20.5%) contracted compared with the January-September 2011 period.
Despite a year-on-year drop of 8%, Volkswagen Group led the European passenger car market in September, accounting for sales of 261,874 cars. This figure compared with sales of 284,549 units recorded by the group last September. The group’s Volkswagen, SEAT and Skoda brands reported declining sales from a year ago, while Audi’s sales improved.
PSA Peugeot Citroen reported a similar 8.1% decline in sales last month, at 119,482 units. Comparatively, the French OEM had reported sales of 129,991 units a year earlier. Both Peugeot and Citroen posted year-on-year sales declines in September.
General Motors took third place last month, selling 93,716 cars (-16.2%), just ahead of Ford’s 90,363 units (-14.9%).
BMW Group was among the few OEMs that posted improved figures from a year earlier. The German OEM’s sales grew by 4.4%, to reach 80,915 units. Toyota managed a 0.8% increase in its sales, at 49,712 units. Hyundai’s share of the EU car market grew to 3.5% in September, with sales totalling 38,679 units (+3.9%), while its affiliate Kia managed 33,907 units (+3.4%), giving it a market share of 3.1% in the EU.
Honda and Jaguar Land Rover also reported sales increases last month, of 5.5% and 13.2% respectively. September saw Honda’s sales in the EU rise to 18,569 units, while JLR managed 16,080 units.
