2012 First Quarter Car Sales by European Country

New passenger vehicle registrations in Western Europe continued to decline during the first quarter of 2012. Germany, Britain, France and Italy were the biggest auto markets in Europe.

Symbolische Uebergabe des Volkswagen Markenpavillon an die Autostadt
Volkswagen Remains the Top-Selling Brand in Europe. Photo © Volkswagen Media Service

2012 began with weak car sales in Western Europe with new passenger vehicle registrations down by 7.3% for the first quarter of 2012. Germany and the United Kingdom (UK), the two largest car markets in Europe, showed modest growth. However, car sales in other major markets including France and Italy were very slow and the main reason for the weak figures. Most smaller European countries registered positive car sales growth for the first quarter of 2012.

The Car Market in Western Europe during 2012 First Quarter

New passenger vehicle registrations in Western Europe remain weak with the European Union plus EFTA market declining by 7.3% to 3,427,677 cars during the first quarter of 2012. New car sales in March – traditionally the most important volume month for Europe as a whole – was down 7% to the lowest level since 1998.

During the first three months of 2012, the best performing market was Iceland where car sales figures more than doubled. In contrast, the Portuguese car market was almost halved.

Car Sales per European Country in 2012 (First Quarter)

According to car sales statistics released by the ACEA, new passenger vehicle registrations in Western Europe by market were as follows during the first quarter of 2012:

March March % Chg Jan – Mar Jan – Mar % Chg
2012 2011 2012/2011 2012 2011 12/11
AUSTRIA 37,933 35,869 +5.8 88,764 87,865 +1.0
BELGIUM 59,915 63,533 -5.7 148,363 169,904 -12.7
BULGARIA 1,483 1,589 -6.6 4,452 3,956 +12.5
CYPRUS 1,000 1,539 -35.0 3,216 4,014 -19.9
CZECH REP 17,064 17,501 -2.5 43,529 42,026 +3.6
DENMARK 12,386 16,796 -26.3 39,412 40,733 -3.2
ESTONIA 1,565 1,218 +28.5 4,026 3,249 +23.9
FINLAND 22,924 12,585 +82.2 47,818 35,677 +34.0
FRANCE 197,774 257,533 -23.2 507,830 647,454 -21.6
GERMANY 339,123 327,921 +3.4 773,636 763,403 +1.3
GREECE 4,901 8,531 -42.6 17,179 25,267 -32.0
HUNGARY 4,768 4,457 +7.0 13,964 11,433 +22.1
IRELAND 13,100 14,396 -9.0 45,898 47,966 -4.3
ITALY 138,137 188,495 -26.7 406,907 514,759 -21.0
LATVIA 879 873 +0.7 2,488 2,370 +5.0
LITHUANIA 1,003 1,096 -8.5 2,878 2,867 +0.4
LUXEMBURG 5,319 5,660 -6.0 13,511 13,423 +0.7
NETHERLANDS 52,549 56,601 -7.2 166,871 180,403 -7.5
POLAND 29,630 27,289 +8.6 77,865 69,089 +12.7
PORTUGAL 9,622 18,930 -49.2 23,511 45,577 -48.4
ROMANIA 4,902 3,793 +29.2 13,965 9,679 +44.3
SLOVAKIA 6,427 6,480 -0.8 16,598 15,697 +5.7
SLOVENIA 5,186 5,909 -12.2 14,325 16,653 -14.0
SPAIN 84,427 88,397 -4.5 204,119 208,151 -1.9
SWEDEN 28,555 29,527 -3.3 67,976 69,764 -2.6
UNITED KINGDOM 372,835 366,101 +1.8 563,556 558,336 +0.9
EUROPEAN UNION (EU27)* 1,453,407 1,562,619 -7.0 3,312,657 3,589,715 -7.7
ICELAND 433 208 +108.2 1,076 535 +101.1
NORWAY 13,051 12,901 +1.2 34,814 33,816 +3.0
SWITZERLAND 32,489 30,107 +7.9 79,130 72,853 +8.6
EFTA 45,973 43,216 +6.4 115,020 107,204 +7.3
EU27*+EFTA 1,499,380 1,605,835 -6.6 3,427,677 3,696,919 -7.3

EU27* – figures for Malta not included.

Car Sales in Western European Countries 2012 First Quarter

New passenger vehicle registrations in Europe were weak with March 2012 seeing the sixth consecutive month of declining new car sales. March is the single most important month for car sales in Europe and although the German and British car markets showed some growth, total sales were down 7% to the lowest first-quarter figures since 1998.

The German car market easily remained the largest in Western Europe. Moderate growth in British car sales during the first three months of 2012 saw the UK market overtaking the sharply lower French market to become the second-largest passenger vehicle market in Europe.

The important French and Italian car markets both contracted by over 20% for a very weak start to 2012. These two important countries were the main drag on the sales performance in Europe – only Portugal (-48%) and Greece (-32%) performed worse.

The largest increases in the new passenger vehicle registrations during the first quarter of 2012 were recorded in Iceland (+101%), Romania (+44%), and Finland (+34%). However, these markets are very small with larger markets only showing small increases or declines.

The best-selling car manufacturer in Europe in 2012 first quarter remained Volkswagen.

About the author:

Henk Bekker

Henk Bekker is a freelance writer with over 20 years of experience in online writing. His best-selling cars website has been reporting car sales statistics since 2008 with classic car auction prices focusing on the most expensive automobiles sold at public auctions in the past decade. He also owns the travel websites European-Traveler.com and Lake Geneva Switzerland. Henk holds an MBA from Edinburgh Business School and an MSc in Finance from the University of London.