Europe’s automobile market has continued to decline, falling 19.3% year-on-year in February, figures released Wednesday by the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) show.
“Containment measures and uncertainty continue to weigh heavily on demand," ACEA said in a statement.
With 771,486 vehicles sold in the EU, this was the worst month of February since 2013, another bad year for the automotive industry.
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Among the main markets, Italy was the most resilient (-12.3%), even surpassing France (-20.9%) in the number of vehicles sold. Germany, the largest European market, fell by 19%, and Spain remained at a very low level (-38.4%) since the beginning of the crisis.
Belgium’s market dropped by 21.9%, and only Sweden (+5.3%) and Ireland (+4.9%) have seen their markets grow compared to February 2020.
Among the major car groups, Renault is the hardest hit, with 72,132 vehicles sold (-27.9%), despite the Dacia brand holding up well.
Volkswagen is down by 17.4%, below the 200,000 vehicle mark but still ahead of the new Stellantis group made up of Fiat-Chrysler and Peugeot-Citroën (188,491 vehicles, -21.7%).
Finally, Hyundai-Kia fell by 18.7%, BMW by 9.1%, Toyota by 11.4%, Daimler by 19.3% and Ford by 19.5%.
The Brussels Times