Passenger car registrations: +3.2% first quarter of 2021; +87.3% in March

Brussels, 16 April 2021 – In March 2021, registrations of new passenger cars in the European Union increased by 87.3%. 1,062,446 new cars were sold in the EU last month, compared to 567,253 during the same month in 2020.

In March 2021, registrations of new passenger cars in the European Union increased by 87.3%, the result of last year’s exceptionally low base of comparison caused by the strict COVID-19 restrictions introduced in most markets in March 2020. 1,062,446 new cars were sold in the EU last month, compared to 567,253 during the same month in 2020. Triple-digit gains were posted by three of the four largest EU markets: Italy saw the biggest increase (+497.2%), followed by France (+191.7%) and Spain (+128.0%). The German market also showed strong gains, with sales up 35.9% in March.

During the first quarter of 2021, EU demand for new cars grew by 3.2% to reach 2.6 million units registered in total. Despite steep declines during the first two months of the year (-24.0% in January and -19.3% in February), March’s strong results managed to offset the negative trend. Looking at the major EU markets, last month’s gains brought the cumulative performances of Italy and France into positive territory (up 28.7% and 21.1% respectively). On the other hand, both Spain (-14.9%) and Germany (-6.4%) continued to post declines so far in 2021, although significantly less dramatic than in the preceding months.

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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

  • 13.0 million Europeans work in the automotive sector
  • 11.5% of all manufacturing jobs in the EU
  • €374.6 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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