European car market narrows 18.3% in August

By Tuba Ongun

The European passenger car market shrank 18.3% year-on-year in August, shifting from a slight rise in the month prior, said an industry group report on Thursday.

New passenger car registrations in the EU fell to 643,637 units in August, the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) said.

Three out of four major EU markets saw double-digit losses in car sales last month – Germany (-27.8%), France (-24.3%), and Italy (-13.4%) – with the Spanish market down 6.5%.

The market share of battery-electric cars in the EU dropped by nearly one-third to 14.4% from 21% the previous year.

In August, new registrations of battery-electric (BEV) cars fell 43.9% at an annualized pace to 92,627 units.

- Year to date

In January-August, the EU car market grew 1% from a year earlier to 7.2 million units in sales.

Among the bloc’s largest markets, Spain and Italy posted 4.5% and 3.8% annual growth, respectively, while the French and German markets saw their results stagnate 0.5% and 0.3%, respectively.