Passenger car: demand for new cars stable over five months
Brussels, 13/06/2008 – European demand for new cars decreased in May compared to the same month of last year (-7.8%).

Brussels, 13/06/2008 – European demand for new cars decreased in May compared to the same month of last year (-7.8%). This result was affected by one working day less across the whole region, as well as by a massive increase in fuel prices. Calculated over five months the market remained stable (-0.7%). In total, 1,334,081 new passenger cars were registered in Europe* in May.
In Western Europe, markets contracted by 8% to 1,235,314 newly registered passenger vehicles. Cumulative results from January to May show a milder decrease of 1.5%. Looking at the major markets, France was the only one to post growth both in its monthly results (+7%) and in its cumulative figures (+5.2%). The number of new registrations in Germany was slightly lower (-6%) than in May 2007, although the market is on a stable path, with cumulative results 4.2% higher than over the same period last year. The Spanish and the Italian markets were still on a downward trend, decreasing by 24.3% and 17.6% respectively over the month. Five months into the year, they recorded 14.3% and 10% fewer registrations compared to the same period in 2007. Demand for new cars in the UK fell by a modest 3.5% in May, after two months of notable growth, leading to stable cumulative January – May results (-0.6%).
In the new EU Member States, the decline of 4.2% in new registrations in May contrasted with the 9.8% increase over the last five months. The Polish market performed better than in 2007, totaling 26,230 new car registrations. Romania saw its market decrease by 12.2% in May but remained the second most important market of the new EU Member States with 24,647 new registrations. Five months into the year, almost all new Member States posted growth.
* EU27 + EFTA, data for Cyprus and Malta unavailable
Downloads
About ACEA
- The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) represents the 14 major Europe-based car, van, truck and bus makers: BMW Group, DAF Trucks, Daimler Truck, Ferrari, Ford of Europe, Honda Motor Europe, Hyundai Motor Europe, Iveco Group, JLR, Mercedes-Benz, Renault Group, Toyota Motor Europe, Volkswagen Group, and Volvo Group
- Visit www.acea.auto for more information about ACEA, and follow us on www.twitter.com/ACEA_auto or www.linkedin.com/company/ACEA/
- Contact: Francesca Piazza, Senior Statistics Manager, fp@acea.auto
Interested in ACEA press releases?
Receive them directly in your inbox!
About the EU automobile industry
- 12.9 million Europeans work in the automotive sector
- 8.3% of all manufacturing jobs in the EU
- €392.2 billion in tax revenue for European governments
- €101.9 billion trade surplus for the European Union
- Over 7% of EU GDP generated by the auto industry
- €59.1 billion in R&D spending annually, 31% of EU total