Rome, Nov. 18, (dpa/GNA) – The market for new cars in the European Union was back into negative territory in October, with a year-on-year drop of nearly 8 per cent, industry data showed Wednesday.
Around 954,000 vehicles were sold in the bloc last month, down 7.8 per cent from October 2019, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) said in its monthly bulletin.
In September, after months of free-falling sales due to the coronavirus pandemic, the market picked up for the first time in 2020, with a year-on-year expansion of 3.1 per cent.
Among biggest EU markets, Spain suffered the biggest fall in sales in October (-21 per cent), while there were smaller decreases in France (-9.5 per cent) and Germany (-3.6 per cent).
In Italy, the market held up, with only a 0.2-per-cent drop.
From January to October, sales across the EU were down by 26.8 per cent compared to 2019. « Ten months into the year the impact of Covid-19 on car demand remains unprecedented, » ACEA noted.
Germany’s Volkswagen group retained its EU market leadership position, with a 25.6-per-cent share of sales in the first ten months of 2020.
France’s PSA Group was second in ACEA’s rankings with a market share of 15.4 per cent, followed by Renault on 11.5 per cent, Hyundai on 7.2 per cent, and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles on 6.6 per cent.
