EU: Passenger car demand climbs 0.8 pct in Jan-Nov

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - The European Union passenger vehicles demand during the first 11 months of 2018 rose by 0.8 percent on an annual basis, the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) announced on Friday.

The ACEA said new passenger car registrations totaled nearly 14.2 million during the first 11 months of 2018.

"Looking at the major EU markets, Spain (8.0 percent) and France (4.7 percent) posted solid growth from January to November 2018, while registrations fell in Italy (3.5 percent) and the United Kingdom (6.9 percent) during the same period," the association said.

VW Group, the owner of Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda, Seat, and Porsche brands, dominated the sales with 23.9 percent share in the January-November period.

Sales of the VW Group saw an annual hike of 1.6 percent, reaching around 3.4 million units in the first 11 months of the year.

The PSA Group -- Peugeot, Citroen, and Opel brands -- and the Renault Group -- Renault, Dacia, Lada, and Alpine brands -- followed with 16.3 percent and 10.6 percent of car sales, respectively.

In 2017, over 15 million new passenger cars were sold in the EU, up 3.4 percent from the previous year.

The EU is the main automotive export market for Turkey, where the world’s prominent automotive manufacturers including Fiat, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Renault, and Toyota have operations.

Last year, nearly 80 percent of Turkey's total automotive exports were made to EU countries amounting to $22 billion, marking a 17 percent rise, year-on-year.

The ACEA will release its next report on the passenger car registrations on Jan. 16.