New passenger vehicle registrations in the European Union increased by 8.6% in the first quarter of 2015 with growth in all the largest countries. In March 2015, the European new car market expanded for the 19th consecutive month. During the first three months of 2015, Germany, the UK and France all experienced growth while Italy had double-digit growth in January, February and March 2015. The Spanish car market expanded by more than a third during the first quarter of 2015, adding 65,000 more cars than a year ago.
The European New Car Market in 2015 (Q1)
The European new car market (EU and EFTA) grew by a strong 8.5% during the first three months of 2015 to 3,637,635 new passenger vehicle registrations. The EU market grew by 8.6% to 3,527,704 while EFTA expanded by a more moderate 3.3% (although the Swiss may go shopping in coming months). All five the largest European car markets expanded significantly.
March 2015 was the 19th consecutive month of expansion for the European Union car market. In March 2015, growth was 10.6% – the highest monthly increase in a year.
Car Sales per European Union Country in 2015 (Q1)
New passenger vehicle registrations by EU and EFTA country during the first quarter of 2015 according to car sales statistics released by the ACEA were:
| Q1/2015 | Q1/2014 | % Change | |
| EU + EFTA (1) | 3,637,635 | 3,353,553 | 8.5 |
| AUSTRIA | 75,154 | 81,281 | -7.5 |
| BELGIUM | 147,073 | 148,532 | -1 |
| BULGARIA | 5,008 | 4,619 | 8.4 |
| CROATIA | 7,958 | 7,275 | 9.4 |
| CYPRUS | 2,434 | 2,092 | 16.3 |
| CZECH REPUBLIC | 53,265 | 42,993 | 23.9 |
| DENMARK | 49,236 | 47,828 | 2.9 |
| ESTONIA | 4,793 | 4,753 | 0.8 |
| FINLAND | 29,355 | 30,503 | -3.8 |
| FRANCE | 477,319 | 446,609 | 6.9 |
| GERMANY | 757,630 | 711,753 | 6.4 |
| GREECE | 17,271 | 16,602 | 4 |
| HUNGARY | 17,058 | 15,493 | 10.1 |
| IRELAND | 64,671 | 49,900 | 29.6 |
| ITALY | 428,464 | 377,629 | 13.5 |
| LATVIA | 3,210 | 2,850 | 12.6 |
| LITHUANIA | 3,758 | 3,406 | 10.3 |
| LUXEMBURG | 11,856 | 12,311 | -3.7 |
| NETHERLANDS | 110,158 | 107,031 | 2.9 |
| POLAND | 91,670 | 97,621 | -6.1 |
| PORTUGAL | 46,212 | 33,960 | 36.1 |
| ROMANIA | 14,452 | 13,345 | 8.3 |
| SLOVAKIA | 16,594 | 16,855 | -1.5 |
| SLOVENIA | 15,647 | 13,799 | 13.4 |
| SPAIN | 267,137 | 202,127 | 32.2 |
| SWEDEN | 75,733 | 67,803 | 11.7 |
| UNITED KINGDOM | 734,588 | 688,122 | 6.8 |
| EUROPEAN UNION | 3,527,704 | 3,247,092 | 8.6 |
| ICELAND | 2,289 | 1,574 | 45.4 |
| NORWAY | 35,367 | 36,492 | -3.1 |
| SWITZERLAND | 72,275 | 68,395 | 5.7 |
| EFTA | 109,931 | 106,461 | 3.3 |
(1) Malta figures not included.
Car Sales in European Union Countries in 2015(Q1)
During the first three months of 2015, car sales increased in 23 of the 30 EU and EFTA countries monitored by the ACEA. (Malta figures are not available.) There were only minor changes in the rank order by size of the European car markets.
Europe’s three largest car markets – Germany, the UK, and France – all experienced roughly the same below market average growth during the first quarter of 2015. For more than a year, Britain was the only significantly growing large European car market.
The Italian car market continued its recovery with the third consecutive month of double-digit sales increases.
However, Spain was the major driving force behind growth this quarter. Car sales in Spain increased by a third during the quarter (and 40% in March alone) largely due to government incentives. Spain added 65,000 cars to the market – more than any other country during the quarter.
Car sales in Belgium were slightly lower while the car market in The Netherlands is showing some moderate recovery after months of sharp declines.
Poland remained its eighth place despite weaker sales – only Austria performed worse and slipped behind Sweden, which outperformed the market.
The only other changes in relative positions were: the Czech Republic overtaking Denmark, Portugal overtaking Norway, Hungary overtaking Slovakia and Bulgaria passing Estonia.
The strongest growth was in Iceland, which is unfortunately also the smallest market (Malta figures are not included). Portugal, Spain, Ireland, and the Czech Republic also grew fast.
The worst performing markets were Austria and Poland. Finland, Luxembourg, Norway, Slovakia and Belgium were the only other European countries with negative growth in car sales during the first quarter of 2015.
See also: 2015 (Q1) Europe: Best-Selling Car Manufacturers, Brands and Models (no real surprises here either: Volkswagen Group, VW and the Golf)
