After the decline recorded in April, in May 2017 European passenger car market grew by 7.6%, totaling 1,386,818 units sold, a result which is similar, in volume terms, to the levels reached in May 2007, before the economic crisis. Except for the UK (-8.5%) all main national markets posted very good numbers. Germany performed the best (+12.9%), followed by Spain (+11.2%), France (+8.9%) and Italy (+8.2%, with 204,113 registrations, about 15.5 thousand more than in May 2016).
In the first five months of the year, passenger car registrations increased by 5.3% all across Europe, with 6,719,209 units overall. From January to May, Italy led the growth (+8.1%, with 948,051 cars, nearly 71 thousand over the same period last year), followed by Spain (+7.3%), Germany (+4.7%) and France (+3.3%). Only exception is once again the UK, which posted a little decline (-0.6%).