Passenger car registrations in the EU reached 1,061,150 in January, up 6.2% year-on-year, according to figures released by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA). It was the 26th consecutive month of registration growth.
All major markets posted growth compared to January 2015. Registrations in Italy and Spain witnessed double digit growth of 17.4% and 12.1% respectively.
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Italy’s rapid growth meant it was the third largest market in the EU in January, overtaking French car sales. Passenger car registrations in France grew 3.9% year-on-year themselves.
UK new passenger car registrations rose by 2.9% year-on-year, while in Germany they were up by 3.3%.
Italian car sales were less than 6,000 below the number registered in the UK for the month.
The country with the highest increase in registrations in January compared to the same month in 2015 was Ireland, where they grew by 33.6% to 39,812.
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By GlobalDataOut of the EU members only the Netherlands, Belgium, Croatia, Greece and Latvia recorded a year-on-year decrease in units sold. The highest decrease was recorded in the Netherlands, where registrations dropped 14.4%.
Manufacturer performance
Despite a 3.8% year-on-year fall in sales Volkswagen remained the most popular brand in the EU, as it sold 124,149 cars in January.
Ford remained the second largest brand with 75,710 vehicles sold, 11.4% more than January 2015.
Opel/Vauxhall saw its sales rise by 12.8% year-on-year to 70,649, while Renault sold 1.1% more vehicles reaching 65,822.
In January, Peugeot and Audi sold 64,632 and 60,933 vehicles respectively.
The brands which witnessed the highest rates of growth in car sales were Jaguar (162.4%), Honda (41.9%) and Land Rover (37%).
The VW Group – which includes Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda, Seat and Porsche – was the manufacturer group that sold the most cars between January and September. 256,989 cars from this group were sold in January, marking a 0.8% year-on-year increase.
The manufacturer group with the highest year-on-year growth in sales was Jaguar Land Rover Group, with a 53.8% rise.
