As a consequence of the lockdown imposed by most of European countries to deal with the COVID-19 emergency, passenger car registrations dropped by 55.1% in March, totaling 567,308, less than half of what recorded in February.
Among the 27 European countries, Italy posted the worst numbers, falling by 85.4% (with only 28,326 cars sold). Other major markets recorded very high decreases as well: France -72.2%; Spain -69.3%; Germany -37.7%.
In the first quarter of 2020, demand for new passenger cars contracted by 25.6%, heavily affected by the collapse recorded last month. The four biggest markets posted double digit declines: Italy -35.5% (with 347,193 registrations, nearly 191 thousand less compared to the same period last year); France -34.1%; Spain -31.0%; Germany -20.3%.