Passenger car: European market down 12.3% in April

Brussels, 14/05/2009 – New passenger car registrations declined for the twelfth consecutive month in Europe, totaling 1,251,862 units in April, or 12.3% less than in the same month a year ago.

Brussels, 14/05/2009 – New passenger car registrations declined for the twelfth consecutive month in Europe, totaling 1,251,862 units in April, or 12.3% less than in the same month a year ago. Four months into 2009, the market decrease amounts to -15.9%. April counted on average one working day less across the region. New registrations in Western Europe fell by 11.6% in April. Austria (+12.8%) and Germany (+19.4%) were the only countries to post growth, reflecting the effect of fleet renewal incentives. Neighbouring countries with such schemes in place, such as France (-7.1%), Italy (-7.5%) and Luxemburg (-8.5%) recorded a single-digit decrease, while other markets declined more severely. British and Spanish registrations fell by 24.0% and 45.6% respectively.

Four months into the year, new car registrations in Western Europe dropped by 15.1%. Germany stood out as the only expanding market (+18.4%). Elsewhere, the downturn ranged from -4.8% (France) to -90.8% (Iceland). Looking at the major markets, Italy contracted by 16.3%, the UK by 28.5% and Spain by 43.7%. The new EU Member States saw their results drop by 21.4% in April, with 83,430 new cars registered. Poland (+2.4%), the Czech Republic (+19.0%) and Slovakia (+43.5%) posted growth while Hungary (-51.5%) and Romania (-51.8%) recorded a sharp downturn.

Cumulative figures from January to April show the same trend of a general 26.3% contraction in the region. The same three markets expanded, with Slovakia at +0.3%, Poland at +1.6% and the Czech Republic +1.8%. All other markets performed less well than last year, including large ones such as Slovenia (-26.5%), Hungary (-35.4%) and Romania (-58.6%). 

* EU27 + EFTA, data for Cyprus and Malta unavailable

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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

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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
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