Car Sales in Europe Declined in March; Significantly Slower Growth in Croatia

New car sales in Europe fell in March for the first time this year, while in Croatia, its growth significantly slowed, according to a report released on Wednesday by the European manufacturers’ association ACEA.

In March, a total of 1.79 million new cars were registered in 27 EU countries (excluding Malta), 5.3 percent less than in the same month last year, ACEA’s data shows.

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This marks the first decline in sales this year, ACEA emphasizes, warning of the high comparative base in the same month last year. In February, sales in EU27 increased by 4.3 percent.

– Momentum is beginning to weaken in certain markets, particularly in Great Britain where sales plummeted by 15.7 percent in March, ACEA points out.

Demand for new cars has also weakened in the largest European car market, Germany, by 3.4 percent, and in Italy, by 5.8 percent. In France, the market grew by 2.2 percent and in Spain by 2.1 percent. Across the entire group of ‘old’ EU member states, sales fell by six percent compared to March of last year.

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The ‘new’ member states, on the other hand, recorded weaker growth, at six percent, following a 7.8 percent increase in sales in February. Meanwhile, the total number of registered new cars remains more than ten times smaller than in ‘old’ Europe, the association’s data shows.

Croatia followed this trend with a year-on-year sales increase in March of 17 percent, nearly three times weaker than in the previous month when it surged by 47 percent, according to ACEA data. A total of 6,296 new cars were registered in Croatia in March according to the association’s data.

Stagnation in the First Quarter

In the first quarter of this year, sales at the EU27 level stagnated, with a total of 4.17 million new cars registered.

Among the leading markets, sales in Spain increased the most in the first three months of this year, by 10.5 percent compared to the same period last year. In Germany, it increased by four percent, and in France by 2.9 percent.

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Other major markets recorded a decline in demand for new cars, with the most significant drop in Britain, by 12.4 percent. In Italy, it decreased by a significantly weaker 1.5 percent.

ACEA particularly highlights a strong surge in demand in the group of new EU member states, by 11.9 percent compared to the first quarter of last year.

In Croatia, a total of 13,876 new cars were registered in the first three months of this year according to the association’s data, 28.4 percent more than in the first three months of last year.