European Auto Industry Shows Growth for First Time in 19 Months

The European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) reports that auto sales in the European Union increased by 1.7% in April compared to April 2012. It is the first time in 19 months that there has been any increase in European auto sales. The last time EU auto sales saw an increase was September 2011. The ACEA accounts the 16,985-car increase in sales because there were two extra working days this year compared to last year. 

Things are not entirely rosy as the ACEA also reports that in the first four months of the year European auto sales have fallen 7.1% compared to the first four months of last year. There have been 4,026,946 cars sold in the EU so far this year, according to the ACEA report. 

The strongest markets in the EU in April compared to the previous April were the UK up 14.8%, Spain up 10.8% and Germany up 3.8%. The major losers were Italy down 10.8% and France down 5.3%. 

In the first four months of the year, the UK is the only major EU market to have a sales increase at up 8.9%. The rest of the major markets were down - Italy down 12.3%, France down 12.3%, Germany down 8.5% and Spain down 6.7%. 

It is certainly not time to say that the EU car market has rebounded. Other reports show that the gross domestic product of the 17 largest EU nations has fallen 0.2% in the first quarter. Despite the increase, it was still the third-lowest number of car registrations for April since the ACEA began recording figures in 1990. 

Source: Automotive News Europe