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 800,000 units, representing an increase of 22% YoY. The supply situation continues to improve but the market is still performing 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.