EU Registrations: Q1 -12.3%, March -20.5%

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During March 2022, passenger car registrations in the European Union continued to decline (-20.5%), with 844,187 units sold, The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, known by its French acronym as ACEA*, said today.

The ongoing supply chain interruptions, further exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, negatively affected car production. As a result, most countries in the region recorded double-digit drops in sales, including the four key markets: Spain (-30.2%), Italy (-29.7%), France (-19.5%) and Germany (-17.5%). This compares to Passenger car registrations: -6.4% first two months of 2022; -6.7% in February, which means the trend line is increasingly negative.

During the first quarter of 2022, new car registrations fell by 12.3% compared to the same period last year, counting 2,245,976 new passenger cars in total. All four of the major EU markets saw decreases: Italy (-24.4%), France (-17.3%), Spain (-11.6%) and Germany (‑4.6%).

EU Automobile Industry

• 12.7 million Europeans work in the auto industry (directly and indirectly), accounting for 6.6% of all EU jobs.
• 11.5% of EU manufacturing jobs – some 3.5 million – are in the automotive sector.
• Motor vehicles are responsible for €398.4 billion of tax revenue for governments across key European markets.
• The automobile industry generates a trade surplus of €76.3 billion for the EU.
• The turnover generated by the auto industry represents more than 8% of the EU’s GDP.
• Investing €58.8 billion in R&D annually, the automotive sector is Europe’s largest private contributor to innovation, accounting for 32% of total EU spending.

* The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) represents the 16 Europe-based car, van, truck and bus makers: BMW Group, DAF Trucks, Daimler Truck, Ferrari, Ford of Europe, Honda Motor Europe, Hyundai Motor Europe, Iveco Group, Jaguar Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Renault Group, Stellantis, Toyota Motor Europe, Volkswagen Group, Volvo Cars, and Volvo Group.