The first quarter of 2010 saw registrations grow by 9.2 percent, compared to the value posted last year, However, the figure can be translated into a 9.4 percent decrease, compared to the first quarter of 2008.
According to ACEA, the automotive market rebound tendency was felt in most major markets and was driven by the government scrappage incentive programs.
A total of 1,637,478 new vehicles were registered in the EU last month, with the UK accounting for 400,000 new car sales, a figure that can be translated into a 26.6 year on year increase and made the country the largest EU market in March.
Italy saw its new car registrations grow by 19.6 percent, while France registered a 17.9 percent increase. Spain posted a 63.1 percent surge, becoming the fifth largest EU market, with 124,756 units registered. However, Germany, traditionally the EU’s largest market, registered a negative result, as its registrations fell by 26.6 percent to 297,375 units. Hungary also registered a negative result, recording a 53.3 percent drop.
The 2010 Q1 statistics show that a total of 3,671,871 new cars were registered in the EU, a 9.2 percent year on year increase. Out of these, 670,410 were registered in Germany (-22.8 percent), 666,231 in Italy (+23.3 percent), 611,548 in the UK (+27.3 percent), 594,720 in France (+16.9 percent), 286,167 in Spain (+44.5 percent), with the rest belonging to smaller markets.
Automotive producers must now make efforts to attract customers, as the national scrappage schemes have come to and end and the market is expected to post a slow-down.
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