EU new car sales up 5.9pc in November

ROME: Last month the number of new cars sold in the European Union rose by 5.9 per cent year-on-year in a jump that was influenced by calendar issues, a trade group said on Thursday. The increase “was mostly driven by the fact that there was one extra working day this November,” the European Automobile Manufactures Association (ACEA) said in its monthly bulletin.

Among major EU markets, Spain and France had the best performances,with sales rising by 12.4 per cent and 10.3 per cent respectively, ACEA noted.

New car registrations increased by 9.4 per cent in Germany and by 6.8per cent in Italy, while in Brexit-focused Britain they fell for the eighth month in a row, by 11.2 per cent.

In the year to date, new cars sales in the EU rose by 4.1 per cent compared to the first 11 months of 2016, to more than 14 million units.

Over the period, demand was particularly strong in Italy and Spain,with sales increases of almost 10 per cent, while in Britain sales fell by 5 per cent.

EU sales leader Volkswagen group had a 23.7 per cent share of the market in January-November, followed by the PSA group on 12 per cent,Renault on 10.4 and Fiat-Chrysler on 6.9 per cent. New car sales are seen as a proxy for economic health. In the EU,they fell sharply following the 2008 financial crisis, but have risen steadily since September 2013, aside from a few blips. — dpa