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Cars: Car market records explosive growth of 113 per cent in August
The number of new passenger car registrations in the European Union (including Malta) increased by 31.2 per cent in August, up to 1.13 million, while Romania reported the highest growth, shows data published on Wednesday by the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA).
The Romanian car marked saw an increase of 112.9 per cent in August, with 25,546 cars registered, compared with 12,001 cars registered in the same period of 2017. Significant increases were also recorded last month in Poland (64.3 per cent) and Lithuania (58.5 per cent).
August usually is the lowest sales month of the year, but the EU passenger car market grew significantly (+31.2 per cent), counting more than 1.13 million new vehicles. The most likely explanation for this exceptional growth is the introduction of the new WLTP test that applies to all new car registrations from 1 September 2018. Hence, some auto manufacturers offered pre-WLTP vehicles at extremely attractive price before September 1. As a result, many EU countries recorded increases by more than 10 per cent in passenger car sales, reads the ACEA release.
All producers must test their cars by using the WLTP before selling them. However, the new Worldwide harmonized Light vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP), which is based on data obtained directly on the road, generated higher carbon dioxide emissions for certain vehicles, which delayed the respective cars' official certification and sales.
Among the top five European markets, deliveries dropped last month in Germany and Italy - by 5.8 and 2.8 per cent respectively, while in Spain (7.2 per cent), UK (3.4 per cent) and France they increased.
All the large European car markets contributed positively to the general growth in August, especially Spain (48.7 per cent), France (40 per cent), Germany (24,7 per cent), UK (23,1 per cent) and Italy (9,5 per cent), according to ACEA.
Over the first eight months of 2018, passenger car registrations across the EU grew by 6.2 per cent to reach 10.86 million units, compared with the same period in 2017, when 10.23 million cars were delivered. The most significant increase was recorded in August 2018 in Romania (47.5 per cent), followed by Lithuania (32.2 per cent). In Romania there were registered 100,824 passenger cars, while in the same period in 2017 there were registered 68,344 passenger cars.
Almost all the largest markets contributed to the general growth in the January - August interval, especially Spain (+14.6 per cent), France (+8.9 per cent) and Germany (+6.4per cent), except for UK and Italy, where the market recorded a decline of -4.2 per cent in UK and -0.1 per cent in Italy, respectively.