2013 (Q3) Europe: Car Sales per EU and EFTA Countries

New passenger vehicle registrations in Europe declined by 4% during the first three quarters of 2013.

Mercedes stand at Geneva Auto Salon 2013

Car sales in the European Union and EFTA countries continued to decline but at a slower pace during the third quarter of 2013. Sales in the EU were down 3.9% year to date with the pace of the contraction in the European car market clearly slowing as 2013 is progressing – mid-2013, passenger vehicle registrations were down 6.6%. The British car market is the only major European vehicle market to have shown significant growth while the German, French, and Italian car markets remain weak. The Netherlands experienced the sharpest decline in sales.

European New Car Market in 2013 (Q3)

Car sales in Europe continue to decline in 2013 but the downturn was clearly less severe during the third quarter of 2013 compared to earlier in the year. New passenger vehicle registrations in Europe were down 6.6% mid-2013 and down 9.7% during Q1/2013.

In September 2013, new passenger vehicle registrations in Europe increased by 5.4% although this must be seen against the background of September 2012 being the weakest on record.

Car sales in the European Union from January to September 2013 declined by 3.9% to 9,009,629 cars. If figures for EFTA are included, the decline was 4% to 9,367,275 cars.

Car Sales per European Union Country in 2013 (Q3)

New passenger vehicle registrations in European Union and EFTA countries during the first nine months of 2013 according to car sales statistics released by the ACEA were as follows:

Jan – Sep 2013 Jan – Sep 2012 % Chg
AUSTRIA 248,111 266,890 -7.0
BELGIUM 389,471 386,733 +0.7
BULGARIA 13,898 14,252 -2.5
CYPRUS 5,437 8,892 -38.9
CZECH REPUBLIC 120,154 131,059 -8.3
DENMARK 135,170 128,549 +5.2
ESTONIA 14,513 13,316 +9.0
FINLAND 80,966 88,938 -9.0
FRANCE 1,309,813 1,431,509 -8.5
GERMANY 2,217,019 2,358,798 -6.0
GREECE 44,013 45,538 -3.3
HUNGARY 41,029 39,321 +4.3
IRELAND 71,717 76,717 -6.5
ITALY 1,000,032 1,091,073 -8.3
LATVIA 7,763 7,995 -2.9
LITHUANIA 8,893 9,190 -3.2
LUXEMBURG 36,026 39,090 -7.8
NETHERLANDS 301,805 427,222 -29.4
POLAND 213,017 206,399 +3.2
PORTUGAL 79,384 74,430 +6.7
ROMANIA 41,073 49,128 -16.4
SLOVAKIA 47,080 53,845 -12.6
SLOVENIA 39,821 38,707 +2.9
SPAIN 546,435 555,364 -1.6
SWEDEN 193,065 203,711 -5.2
UNITED KINGDOM 1,794,924 1,620,609 +10.8
EUROPEAN_UNION_(EU27)* 9,000,629 9,367,275 -3.9
ICELAND 6,218 6,371 -2.4
NORWAY 105,784 104,199 +1.5
SWITZERLAND 226,266 245,526 -7.8
EFTA 338,268 356,096 -5.0
EU27*+EFTA 9,338,897 9,723,371 -4.0

Source: ACEA – *Figures for Malta not available.

New Passenger Vehicle Registrations in Europe in 2013 (Q3)

Europe’s largest car markets performed significantly better during the third quarter of 2013 compared to earlier in the year. However, further contractions in Germany, France, and Italy still pulled the overall market down. The United Kingdom, the second largest car market in Europe, remained the only big market in positive territory.

The Spanish car market shows signs of recovery. Sales year to date were down 1.6% but mid-2013, the Spanish car market was still off 5%.

The Belgian car market expanded slightly and is not positively larger than the Dutch car market, which contracted by nearly a third from a year ago. The Austrian and Swiss markets were sharply down but the Swiss figures are being compared to the second best year ever.

In general, South European countries, which have been a drag on the European car market for several years, outperformed the broader market during the first three quarters of 2013. Even Greece did better than average while Poland had strong growth. However, continued weakness in France and Italy remain the main negative influences on the European car market in 2013.

Volkswagen remain the top carmaker and the VW Golf the most popular car model in Europe thus far in 2013. (E131020)

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.