EU passenger car demand up 4.3 percent in February

By Gokhan Ergocun

ANKARA (AA) - The European Union's (EU) demand for passenger cars in February rose by 4.3 percent year-on-year, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) report on Thursday.

The demand also rose by 5.8 percent year-on-year in the first two months of 2018, the ACEA said in a report.

The ACEA said: "In volume terms, last month saw the best February results since 2008."

The association said new car registrations amounted to 1.12 million units during February and 2.38 million units in the January-February period.

While nearly all major EU markets posted growth, the United Kingdom and Italy saw a decline, down 2.8 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively, in February.

Spain showed the biggest increase with 13 percent, followed by Germany (7.4 percent) and France (4.3 percent).

The report showed that the VW Group, of which major brands are Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda, Seat and Porsche, holds the lion’s share with 24.2 percent in passenger car sales in February, increasing sales by 9.4 percent, year-on-year.

The PSA Group -- Peugeot, Citroen, and Opel -- and the Renault Group followed with 17.2 percent and 10.7 percent of car sales, respectively.

In 2017, over 15 million new passenger cars were sold in the EU, up 3.4 percent for the fourth consecutive year.

The EU is the main automotive export market for Turkey, where the world’s prominent automotive manufacturers including Fiat, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Renault and Toyota have operations.

Last year, nearly 80 percent of Turkey's total automotive exports went to EU countries, a worth of $22 billion marking a 17 percent rise, year-on-year.