In January 2019, the European passenger car market saw a slow start to the year, posting a 4.6% decline compared to one year ago according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA).
Despite the decline, with nearly 1.2 million units registered in total, this still represents the second‐highest January volume on record since 2009.
Demand for new cars fell across almost the entire European Union, including the EU’s five major markets.
However, Spain and Italy posted the strongest declines (down 8.0% and 7.5% respectively), while percentage drops were more modest in the United Kingdom (‐1.6%), Germany (‐1.4%) and France (‐1.1%).
The ‘modest’ decline in the UK shows that the market performed in line with the two other biggest EU markets - Germany and France, which were affected by similar challenges such as the introduction of WLTP.
