2015 (Full Year) Europe: Car Sales Per EU & EFTA Country

VW Touran launch Geneva Auto Show 2015In 2015, new passenger vehicle registrations in the Europe increased by 9.2% to 14.2 million cars. Car sales increased in almost all European countries. In December 2015, the European Union and EFTA countries had the 28th consecutive month of increases in car sales with car sales in 2015 the highest in five years.

New Car Market in Europe in 2015 (Full Year)

New passenger vehicle registrations in the European Union (EU) and EFTA countries increased by 9.2% in 2015 to 14,202,024 cars – nearly 1.2 million more cars than in 2014. This was the best total since 2010 but still lower than before the financial crisis.

The upward trend in car sales in Europe started in the second half of 2013 with December 2015 the 28th consecutive month of increases. Growth in car sales has become stronger in recent months with the outlook for 2016 generally positive.

Car Sales per European Union and EFTA Country in 2015

New passenger vehicle registrations in the European Union and EFTA countries were as follows according to car sales figures released by the ACEA:

 EU COUNTRY FY 2015 FY 2014 %Change
AUSTRIA 308,555 303,318 1.7
BELGIUM 501,066 482,939 3.8
BULGARIA 23,500 20,359 15.4
CROATIA 34,820 33,409 4.2
CYPRUS 10,344 8,276 25
CZECH REPUBLIC 230,857 192,314 20
DENMARK 207,552 188,925 9.9
ESTONIA 20,349 20,969 -3
FINLAND 108,812 106,237 2.4
FRANCE 1,917,226 1,795,885 6.8
GERMANY 3,206,042 3,036,773 5.6
GREECE 75,805 71,218 6.4
HUNGARY 77,171 67,476 14.4
IRELAND 124,945 96,284 29.8
ITALY 1,574,872 1,360,578 15.8
LATVIA 13,765 12,452 10.5
LITHUANIA 17,085 14,503 17.8
LUXEMBOURG 46,473 49,793 -6.7
NETHERLANDS 449,393 387,565 16
POLAND 354,975 327,709 8.3
PORTUGAL 178,496 142,826 25
ROMANIA 81,162 70,172 15.7
SLOVAKIA 77,968 72,237 7.9
SLOVENIA 59,450 53,296 11.5
SPAIN 1,034,232 855,308 20.9
SWEDEN 345,108 303,948 13.5
UNITED KINGDOM 2,633,503 2,476,435 6.3
EUROPEAN UNION 13,713,526 12,551,204 9.3
EFTA:
ICELAND 14,029 9,537 47.1
NORWAY 150,686 144,202 4.5
SWITZERLAND 323,783 301,942 7.2
EFTA 488,498 455,681 7.2
EU + EFTA 14,202,024 13,006,885 9.2

ACEA figures exclude the small Maltese market.

Car Sales in European Countries in 2015

New passenger vehicle registrations increased in 2015 in all but two European Union countries. Only the small Estonian and Luxembourg markets contracted slightly.

The three largest European countries – Germany, Britain and France – all registered growth but slower than the broader market. Car sales in Italy increased by a strong 16% while car sales in Spain increased by a fifth to just over a million vehicles. Italy contributed the largest volume increase – over 200,000 more cars than in 2014.

The strongest growth was in the small Icelandic and Irish markets. Car sales in Portugal and Cyprus were up by a quarter while the Czech and Spanish markets grew by a fifth.

Volkswagen remained the largest carmaker in Europe in 2015 with the VW Golf Europe’s favorite car model.

See Also:

2015 Europe: Best-Selling Car Manufacturers, Brands and Models

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.