EU hungry for passenger cars
June 17, 2014
Demand for new passenger cars in the European Union rose by 4.5 percent in May, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) reported Tuesday. The figure marked the ninth monthly increase in a row.
ACEA confirmed the pronounced sales slump in evidence a year earlier is definitely over, with 1.09 million new registrations logged in the EU during the month of May.
But the association added that whilst automobile sales had grown since last year, sales have yet to fully recover from Europe's post-2008 economic slump. This year's May sales were the second lowest result for a month of May since ACEA started collecting comparable data for the enlarged EU in 2003.
Germany in midfield
Italy was the only major market to log a downturn in the month under review. All other major EU nations contributed positively to the expansion.
Year-on-year growth in May sales ranged from just 0.3 percent in France to 16.9 percent in Spain, with Germany recording an increase of 5.2 percent.
In the first five months of 2014, new car registrations were up 6.9 percent compared with the first five months of 2013, totaling almost five and a half million units.
The three biggest auto makers in the market - VW, PSA and Renault – all profited from stronger demand.
hg/nz (dpa, AFP)