2020 (Q3) Europe: Car Sales per Country (EU, UK, and EFTA)

Q1-Q3/2020: Germany was the largest single-country car market in Europe. Car sales in the European Union (EU), EFTA, and the UK contracted 29%.

Ferraris at Geneva Auto Salon 2019Q1-Q3/2020: Germany was the largest single-country car market in Europe. Car sales in the European Union (EU), EFTA, and the UK contracted 29%.

January to September 2020: new passenger vehicle registrations in the European Union (EU), EFTA, and the UK were down 29.3%. Germany remained the largest single-country market in Europe and performed the best of the top-five markets with sales down by a quarter. The British market was again the second largest in Europe despite sales contracting by more than a third. All European countries had weaker car sales during the first three quarters of 2020 with the Scandinavian countries performing the best with new car sales lower by less than a fifth.

European Car Market Statistics 2020: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

European New Car Market in 2020 (Q1 -Q3)

During the first three quarters of 2020, new passenger registrations in the European Union (EU), EFTA, and the UK contracted by 29.3% to 8,567,920 cars — more than 3.5 million fewer than the 12,117,401 registered during the corresponding months in 2019.

According to the ACEA new passenger vehicle registrations during the period January to September 2020 were as follows:

Q1-Q3/2020Q1-Q3/2019% Change 20/19
TOTAL (EU + EFTA + UK)8,567,92012,117,401-29.3
EUROPEAN UNION (EU)7,058,0909,908,370-28.8
EFTA266,174346,760-23.2
UNITED KINGDOM1,243,6561,862,271-33.2

September 2020 was the first month this year with new car sales in Europe higher than in 2019. However, new car registrations in Europe were particularly low in September 2019 due to the introduction of new WLTP regulations, which most manufacturers failed to implement in time.

Car sales by month in 2020 compared to 2019 in Europe

Car Sales by Country in Europe in 2020 (Q1-Q3)

Car sales per European Union, EFTA, and UK country were as follows during the first nine months of 2020 according to new passenger registrations data released by the ACEA:

European CountryQ1-Q3/2020Q1-Q3/2019% Change 20/19
AUSTRIA180,639258,272-30.1
BELGIUM333,607439,254-24.1
BULGARIA17,02926,894-36.7
CROATIA28,24651,375-45.0
CYPRUS7,6079,502-19.9
CZECH REPUBLIC148,319191,110-22.4
DENMARK142,164173,613-18.1
ESTONIA14,24620,618-30.9
FINLAND73,40387,933-16.5
FRANCE1,166,6981,641,367-28.9
GERMANY2,041,8312,740,158-25.5
GREECE60,04692,772-35.3
HUNGARY90,091115,098-21.7
IRELAND84,519113,945-25.8
ITALY966,0171,468,237-34.2
LATVIA10,41014,110-26.2
LITHUANIA28,26034,537-18.2
LUXEMBOURG34,04643,038-20.9
NETHERLANDS248,632330,749-24.8
POLAND295,101410,829-28.2
PORTUGAL105,660174,024-39.3
ROMANIA84,601124,049-31.8
SLOVAKIA55,60776,418-27.2
SLOVENIA43,23257,408-24.7
SPAIN595,435965,286-38.3
SWEDEN202,644247,774-18.2
EUROPEAN UNION (EU)7,058,0909,908,370-28.8
ICELAND7,2689,833-26.1
NORWAY95,350110,617-13.8
SWITZERLAND163,556226,310-27.7
EFTA266,174346,760-23.2
UNITED KINGDOM1,243,6561,862,271-33.2
TOTAL (EU + EFTA + UK)8,567,92012,117,401-29.3
Source: ACEA

Car Sales in European Countries

Car sales in all European countries were lower during the first three quarters of 2020 compared to 2019. Norway was the best performer with sales down by only 14%. Finland was the top-performing EU new car market with sales down 16.5%. Denmark and Sweden also saw sales lower by only 18% making Scandinavia the best-performing car market region in Europe thus far this year. The three worst-performing markets were Croatia, Portugal, and Spain.

Germany remained by far the largest single-country car market in Europe with sales down by a quarter during the first nine months of the year. The German new car market was almost 700,000 cars smaller than January to September 2019.

New passenger vehicle registrations in Britain were down by a third — 620,000 fewer cars than a year ago. In addition to the social and economic effects of Covid-19, political uncertainty regarding Brexit may influence the market in the final months of the year. A no-deal exit may mean cars are cheaper in the final months of 2020 than from 2021.

In France, car sales during the first three quarters of 2020 were largely in line with the EU average. However, sales were sharply down in both Italy and Spain.

The only rank order change amongst the top ten European new car markets was Sweden moving ahead of Austria.

The best-selling carmaker and brand in Europe during the first three quarters of 2020 remained Volkswagen with the VW Golf still the best-selling car.

European New Car Market in 2020

Sales and Market Analysis:

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.