August 2023 Western European Car Sales Best of the Year

The Western Europe passenger vehicle selling rate rose to 14.6 million units per year in August, according to an analysis just released by the GlobalData* consultancy. This is up from a 11.5 million units rate in July, making it the best sales result of the year. Registrations stood at nearly 800k units, representing an increase of 22% year-over-year (YoY). The supply situation continues to improve but the market is still well below 2019 levels.

“For another month, all the top five Western European markets, barring Spain, experienced double digit YoY growth for August 2023. The macroeconomic environment remains challenging as countries face high interest rates and subdued economic growth. However, with backlogs, and 2022 being a low base, growth remains our core assumption, with 2023 expected to reach 11.2 million units,” GlobalData said.

Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on August 2023 Western European Car Sales Best of the Year

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GlobalData Highlights

The German PV market performed stronger than expected in August 2023 with 273k units sold, 37.3% higher than the same period last year and with a selling rate of 3.8 million units/year. The market has sold 1.9 million vehicles YTD – 16.5% higher than the YTD August 2022 total.

The UK PV market continued to grow strongly with the selling rate reaching a yearly high of 2.8 million units/year, after registering 85.7k units (+24.4% YoY). While this growth is supported by large fleet and business registrations, private demands has softened. August is a relatively weak month as consumers wait for the new plates in September. The UK PV market sold 1.2 million vehicles YTD, 20% higher than the YTD August 2022 total

France performed extremely well, with the highest selling rate since 2019 of 2.3 million units/year. This is inflated by the easing of supply constraints, but the market is performing considerably better than in 2022, with year-to-date (YTD) growth standing at a~17%.

Spain’s selling rate rose from 860,000 units/year in July to 1,000,000 units/year in August 2023, with total sales at 56,000 units (+7.8% YoY). These sales figures were driven by an easing in supply issues, but also assisted by demand in the summer holiday period. The market sold 643,000 units YTD – 20.6% higher than YTD August 2022.

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*GlobalData

GlobalData says that “4000 of the world’s largest companies, including over 70% of FTSE 100 and 60% of Fortune 100 companies, make more timely and better business decisions thanks to GlobalData’s unique data, expert analysis and innovative solutions, all in one platform. GlobalData’s mission is to help our clients decode the future to be more successful and innovative across a range of industries, including the healthcare, consumer, retail, financial, technology and professional services sectors.” J.D. Power is also part of GlobalData. Inquiries at: [email protected].

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