Auto registration momentum cooling in some key EU markets, industry group say
Passenger car registrations fell last month in both the UK and Germany, two important EU auto markets, pressuring the pace across the bloc, an industry group said on Tuesday.
The European Automobile Manufacturers Association said that passenger vehicle registrations across the EU declined in September by 2 per cent to 1.43m from a record month in the previous year. It was the first fall since April.
Registrations took a particularly large hit in the UK, dropping 9.3 per cent. The figure also dipped 3.3 per cent in Germany. However, the falls were partially offset by gains of 8.1 per cent in Italy and 4.6 per cent in Spain.
Auto sales have been rising strongly since the end of the 2008-09 financial crisis. In fact, the August 2017 passenger car registration reading marked the strongest performance in that month in a decade, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association data.
Industry observers have noted, therefore, that a slowdown is neither entirely unexpected, nor necessarily negative given the strong levels of growth. A similar trend is on display in the US, where the auto market has been showing some red flags after a record run in 2016.