EU passenger car market shrinks 3.3% in Q1

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - The EU passenger car market narrowed 3.3% year-on-year in the first quarter, the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) reported on Wednesday.

"In Germany, registrations remained almost flat (0.2%), while the other key markets performed worse than in the first quarter of 2018 − most notably Spain (negative 6.9%) and Italy (negative 6.5%)," the group said.

According to the ACEA data, new passenger car registrations in the entire 28-member bloc totaled 4.03 million during the first three months of 2019.

The top manufacturer VW Group, with a 23.8% market share in the three-month period, posted a 2.7% annual drop in sales.

The group -- owner of the Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda, Seat and Porsche brands -- sold over 959,000 passenger cars.

The PSA Group (Peugeot, Citroen, DS and Opel) and the Renault Group (Renault, Dacia, Lada and Alpine) had market shares of 15.9% and 9.8%, respectively.

In 2018, over 15 million new passenger cars were registered in the EU.

The EU is the main automotive export market for Turkey where top international automakers -- including Ford, Hyundai, Mercedes, Renault, and Toyota -- are operating.

Turkey's auto exports to European countries totaled over $25 billion, making up 79.5 percent of Turkey's total automotive exports in 2018.