The car market remains nailed to numbers in sharp decline compared to last year, with registrations in the Euro area (plus UK and EFTA) in sharp decline in February, -20.3% compared to the same month of 2020 , a percentage that reaches -23.1% if we consider the two-month period January-February. All the main European markets are in negative territory, with the exception of Sweden (+ 5.3%) and Norway (+ 3.3%). To depress the sector are the limitations introduced to contain the contagion from Covid 19 and the uncertainty about the future, which is holding back demand.
The trend of the major markets
Among the five major markets in Western Europe, the “best” result was recorded by Italy, as pointed out by the Centro Studi Promotor, with a decrease in registrations equal to 12.3% last month against -19% in Germany. , -20.9% in France, -35.5% in the United Kingdom and -38.4% in Spain. Italy is able to contain losses thanks to the incentives introduced with the Budget Law and also reserved for cars with traditional fuel and CO2 emissions up to 135 g / km.
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“The resources for these bonuses are running out – underlines Gian Primo Quagliano of the Centro Studi Promotor – to date 54.8 million are still available and, taking into account the average daily bookings from the beginning of the campaign, funds still remain until the end of March. We need a new urgent intervention by the Government ».
The month of February 2020, then, was the last before the arrival of the pandemic that completely upset the market, first imposing a rigid lockdown and then triggering a demand crisis that is affecting the main world markets. Last year, overall registrations fell by 25% across Europe – almost 4 million fewer cars – with only a partial recovery in the second half of the year and very negative numbers in the first two months of 2020.
The car manufacturers
The data processed by ACEA, the association to which European car manufacturers belong, highlight the disappointing results recorded by the main carmakers. Volkswagen marks -19% of sales in the whole area, with all brands in negative ground, Stellantis is worse than the market and falls by 22.4%, with Jeep however that “contains” the losses (-5.3%) . At over ten points of market share is the Renault Group which overall loses 28.6%, followed by Hunday (-19.1%).