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EU's Passenger-car Registrations Down 1.7%, Commercial-vehicle Up 1.0% in 2013

2014/02/18 | By Quincy Liang

Thanks to the highest year-on-year (YoY) growth since 2009 in December, passenger-car registrations in European Union (EU) finally contracted by 1.7% in 2013, compared to a 1.0% increase of commercial vehicles, according to ACEA (European Automobile Manufacturers' Association)

With a 13.3% increase in new car registrations in December 2013, the EU (27 nations) recorded the largest monthly YoY growth since December 2009 (+16.6%). However, in absolute figures, the results were the third lowest to date, since ACEA recorded new registrations in the EU in 2003, for December with a total of 906,294 units.

From January to December, the EU market recorded more than 11.85 million new cars. With a contraction of 1.7% in 2013, new-car registrations have been on the decline for six consecutive years. In terms of annual volumes, 2013 is the worst year since 1995 (15 EU countries at the time), and the worst ever since ACEA began the series in 2003 with the enlarged EU.

Mostly Up in Dec.

In December, most EU markets posted YoY growth from 1.4% in Italy, to 5.4% in Germany, 9.4% in France, 18.2% in Spain and 23.8% in the UK.

Over twelve months, results were more contrasted across markets. The UK recorded a double-digit growth (10.8%), while Spain posted a more moderate upturn (3.3%), and Germany (-4.2%), France (-5.7%) and Italy (-7.1%) saw their demand for new cars decline.

Monthly New Passenger-car Registrations in EU (2012 & 2013)
Monthly New Passenger-car Registrations in EU (2012 & 2013)

Commercial Vehicles

In December, new commercial vehicle registrations grew by 34.7% YoY, totaling 169,744 units. Growth was sustained across all segments. All major markets recorded positive results ranging from a growth of 16.6% YoY in France to 16.8% in Italy, 27.0% in Germany, 52.9% in Spain, and 66.0% in the U.K., ACEA's data shows.

From January to December, demand for new commercial vehicles was up 1.0%, reaching 1,711,843 units. Despite the increase, this was the third lowest level since the start of the series in 1997 in absolute figures. Spain (+9.7%) and the UK (+14.5%) positively contributed to the upturn, while Germany (-2.0%), France (-3.7%) and Italy (-11.7%) performed less well than in 2012.