Reaching nearly 1 million units sold (999,157) in January, EU passenger car registrations recorded the seventeenth month of consecutive growth, positively opening the new year with an encouraging +6.7%.
With an eye to the largest national markets, Spain drove the growth with a significant +27.5%. Italy showed an optimistic +10.9%, with 131,385 passenger cars sold in the last month. Positive results also in UK (+6.7%), France (+6.2%) and Germany (+2.6%). New EU member states contributed to the overall result with 74,093 units sold (+4.6%).
According to ACEA, growth is expected to continue in 2015, though with a noticeably slow pace, up to 2% by the end of the year (about 13 million passenger cars).
On the occasion of the Annual Reception in Brussels, ACEA President Carlos Ghosn commented the positive outcome in 2014: "This is a significant because it was the EU's first positive annual result since the financial crisis began in 2007, with December marking the 16th consecutive month of growth. However – Ghosn said – our optimism about this early sign of recovery must be tempered with caution, given the economic uncertainties still facing many countries."
