New car sales in the EU rose 12.2% year-on-year in October

The European Association of Automobile Manufacturers (ACEA) has announced new car registration data for the countries of the European Union (EU) for the month of October.

Consequently, new car sales, which were 664,861 in October last year, increased 12.2 percent to 745,855 in the same month this year. Thus, new car sales led their annual rise for the third consecutive month.

In September last year, especially the shortage of chips had reduced the production and sales of vehicles in Europe. The increase in October this year was due to the base effect of last year.

SALES BELOW THE LEVEL BEFORE THE EPIDEMIC

Despite the decrease in chip shortages, the increase is not considered a trend reversal due to declining backlog orders. New orders are said not to be strong due to uncertainties about economic activity.

While auto sales have yet to reach their pre-coronavirus level, the increases in August, September and October were not enough to offset the weakness of the previous months.

HIGHEST INCREASE IN GERMANY

Compared to the same period last year, car sales between EU countries were 16.8 percent in Germany, 14.8 percent in Italy and 11.7 percent in Spain.

Among the 27 EU member states, Germany had the highest number of new cars in September. During this period, 208,642 new cars were registered in Germany, 124,981 in France, 115,827 in Italy and 65,966 in Spain.

8.1 PERCENTAGE OF DECREASE IN THE JANUARY-OCTOBER PERIOD

New car registrations in the EU decreased by 8.1 percent in January-October 2022 compared to the same period a year earlier, to 7,529,965.

According to manufacturers, VW Group sold the most new cars in the EU in September with 190,205.

Stellantis Group trailed VW Group in new vehicle sales in the EU. The Stellantis Group, which includes brands such as Peugeot, Fiat, Citroen and Opel, sold a total of 141,500 cars.

The Renault Group ranked third with 76,916 cars, while the Hyundai Group ranked fourth with 68,313 units. (AA)