In September, demand for new cars in the EU* was up 5.4%, amounting to 1,159,066 units, from the record low volumes registered in September 2012**. The month counted on average one more working day across the EU this year, compared to the last. From January to September, new car registrations declined by 3.9%, compared to the first nine months of 2012, with a total of 9,000,629 vehicles.
In September, most major markets posted growth, from +3.4% in France to +12.1% in the UK and +28.5% in Spain. Italy (-2.9%) and Germany (-1.2%) saw their new car registrations decrease. Overall, the EU* market expanded by 5.4% compared to the same month last year, despite recording the second lowest level for a month of September**.
Nine months into the year, the UK was the only significant market to record an increase (+10.8%). Downturn prevailed across other major markets, ranging from -1.6% in Spain to -6.0% in Germany, -8.3% in Italy and -8.5% in France, leading to an overall 3.9% contraction in the EU*, compared to the first nine months of 2012.
* EU27, data for Malta unavailable
** since ACEA recorded new registrations in the EU27 in 2003
