New Passenger Car Registrations European Union1 in April
Passenger car registrations: ‐38.5% four months into 2020; ‐76.3% in April
We present the ACEA report on registration of new passenger cars in the EU*
In April 2020, registrations of new passenger cars in the European Union posted a year‐on‐year
decline of 76.3%. The first full month with COVID‐19 restrictions in place resulted in the strongest
monthly drop in car demand since records began. With most showrooms across the EU closed for
the entire month, the number of new cars sold fell from 1,143,046 units in April 2019 to 270,682 units
last month.
Each of the 27 EU markets recorded double‐digit declines in April, but Italy and Spain endured the
biggest losses, with car registrations falling by 97.6% and 96.5% respectively. Looking at the other
major markets, demand dropped by 61.1% in Germany, while France saw an 88.8% contraction in
April.
From January to April 2020, EU demand for new passenger cars contracted by 38.5%, owing to the
negative impact of the coronavirus on March and April results. So far this year, registrations fell by
half in three of the four key EU markets: Italy ‐50.7%, Spain ‐48.9% and France ‐48.0%. In Germany,
demand contracted by 31.0% over the first four months of 2020.
