European car registrations rise 3.1 percent in September in first gain of the year

In September 2020, the EU passenger car market registered the first increase of the year. Registrations grew by 3.1% last month to reach 933,987 new cars sold across the European Union, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’​ Association (ACEA) data.

The four largest markets, however, posted mixed results. Losses were seen in Spain (-13.5%) and France (-3.0%), while Italy (+9.5%) and Germany (+8.4%) showed solid gains.

Over the first nine months of 2020, demand for cars contracted by 28.8% in the EU. Seven million units were registered from January to September, almost 2.9 million less than during the same period last year. Indeed, despite last month’s positive results, the impact of COVID-19 still weighs heavily on the cumulative performance of the EU car market. Among the major markets, Spain saw the steepest drop (-38.3%) so far this year, followed by Italy (-34.2%), France (-28.9%) and Germany (-25.5%).