The Western Europe passenger vehicle (PV) selling rate dropped in July, at 11.2 million units/year, returning to the levels seen pre-June. PV registrations fell 0.2% YoY to 916,000 units.

“Following an improvement in the selling rate in June, Western Europe returned to the more subdued levels last month. There is a combination of headwinds to market activity that look unlikely to ease significantly anytime soon. Interest rates remain high, even though first moves to loosen monetary policy have now been made by the ECB and the Bank of England. Vehicle pricing is still elevated – despite the supply constraints that caused the sharp uptick in vehicle prices in recent years having faded – and does not show signs of a major downward revision in the near-term. Meanwhile, the BEV market is also losing momentum. said the GlobalData European Light Vehicle Sales Forecasting Team.

“Even though YTD sales are up 3.3%, we now expect most of this to unwind over the remainder of the year given the general weakness we have being seeing in selling rates recently,” said the GlobalData* European Light Vehicle Sales Forecasting Team. “We now forecast the full year result to only just eclipse 2023,” said GlobalData. “Monetary policy loosening and lowering vehicle prices should eventually support improved market activity though this will be more evident in 2025. Geopolitical conflicts, as well as political and economic uncertainty provide downside risk.”