EU new car sales up for third month of in a row
The European Union continued on an upward trend during October for new passenger car registrations. This positive performance marks the third consecutive month of growth in 2022.
October new car registrations grew 12.2 per cent year-on-year to 745,855 units, but remained 290,000 units below the 2019 pre-pandemic levels, according to a release from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA).
Leading the way, three out of four of Europe’s largest markets recorded double-digit gains last month.
Germany showed a 16.8 per cent growth, with Italy at 14.6 per cent and Spain at 11.7 per cent. The French market also recorded solid growth, up 5.5 per cent.
For the year-to-date, EU new car registrations remained in negative territory at 8.1 per cent, due to the sluggish January to July period, with all the supply difficulties and uncertainty due to the war in Ukraine.
Here in Ireland, new car registrations for October were down 2.1 per cent (2,624) when compared to October 2021 (2,680). However, registrations for the year-to-date are marginally up 0.6 per cent (104,056) on the same period last year (103,425).