European Auto Industry Recovery Slows in May
Car Registrations Grew at Slowest Pace in Six Months
New car registrations in the European Union, a proxy for actual sales, rose 4.5% on the year to 1.09 million vehicles in May. In the first five month, registrations grew 6.9%.
All major markets contributed positively to the overall expansion of the EU market, except Italy, which faced a downturn, ACEA said Thursday.
In Italy, car registrations fell 3.8%. Spain and Portugal reported double-digit growth in demand for new cars, while registrations rose 7.7% in the U.K.
Germany, the EU's biggest car market, posted a 5.2% increase in May, while registrations in France rose 0.3% for the same period.
While the turnaround seems intact, there are some doubts about the strength of the car sales recovery. ACEA said it was the second-lowest number of cars sold in May since the group began collecting EU-wide data in 2003.
Among European car makers, registrations of Volkswagen VOW3.XE -0.61% cars rose 9.6% in May, while PSA Group sold 4.3% more cars. Renault group sales jumped 19% last month, making it the fastest-growing European car maker in May. However, BMW Group's BMW.XE +0.19% car registrations fell 2.2% and Italy's Fiat F.MI -1.10% was down 2.7%.
Among non-European manufacturers, U.S. car makers struggled to gain ground in European markets, with General Motors GM +1.21% car registrations declining 6.8% in May and Ford's sales falling 2% in the month.