Passenger car registrations: +8.1% over eight months; +10.0% in August

In August 2016, the European passenger car market posted strong growth figures (+10.0%), with registrations totalling 819,126 units. An impressive performance, considering that August normally is one of the weakest months of the year in volume terms due to the summer holidays. These positive August results followed a (-1.4%) decline in July, when a continuous streak of 34 months of consecutive growth came to an end. Among the major markets, Italy (+20.1%) and Spain (+14.6%) recorded the highest percentage gains, followed by Germany (+8.3%), France (+6.7%) and the United Kingdom (+3.3%) – all of which performed better than in August 2015.

Over the first eight months of 2016, new passenger car registrations increased by 8.1% in the EU, reaching 9,787,760 units. All major markets posted growth, contributing to the overall upturn of the European market. The Italian (+17.4%) and Spanish (+11.3%) car markets saw double-digit growth over the period, followed by France (+6.1%), Germany (+5.7%) and the UK (+2.8%).