The main factor remains the entry into force on September 1 of the new WLTP emissions test protocol, which caused a surge in registration operations in the summer. As a result, in the last month of autumn, demand for new cars decreased in almost all EU countries, including the five key markets.
In Germany, sales fell by 7.4%, in Italy — also by 7.4%, in Spain — by 6.6%, in the UK — by 2.9%, and in France — by 1.5%.
In October, Germany again took first place among European countries in terms of car sales volume. In the German market, 252,628 passenger cars found their owners in a month.
In second place in the ranking was France — its residents bought 173,798 cars.
The top three is closed by the UK with 153,599 vehicles sold.
Among European automakers, the first line, as usual, is held by VW Group — the concern sold 225,415 cars in EU markets, which is 21.5% less than in October of last year.
Second place is occupied by PSA Group with a result of 188,151 cars sold — a decline of 0.7% compared to the same period a year earlier.
The third indicator in terms of the number of cars sold is Renault Group — 105,519 units, which is 14.9% less.
Despite the autumn cooling of the market, based on the results of ten months of 2018, demand for passenger cars in the EU increased by 1.6% compared to last year, exceeding the mark of 13 million registrations. The most significant growth was recorded in Spain (+10.0%), followed by France (+5.7%) and Germany (+1.4%). At the same time, in Italy (-3.2%) and the UK (-7.2%), registrations, on the contrary, decreased.
