EU passenger car market narrows 2.9 pct in Jan-Feb

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA (AA) - The EU passenger car market narrowed 2.9 percent year-on-year this January and February, the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) reported on Friday.

"Some markets saw a strong drop compared to last year, most notably Spain (down 8.4 percent) and Italy (down 4.9 percent)," the group said.

"But new passenger car registrations remained more or less stable in Germany (up 0.6 percent), France (up 0.5 percent), and the U.K. (down 0.6 percent)."

According to ACEA data, new passenger car registrations in the entire 28-member bloc totaled nearly 2.38 million during the first two months of 2019.

With a 24.2 percent market share in the two-month period, the top manufacturer VW Group saw a 3.8 percent annual fall in sales.

The group -- which owns the Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda, Seat and Porsche brands -- sold nearly 560,000 passenger cars.

The PSA Group, including major brands Peugeot, Citroen, and Opel, and the Renault Group had market shares of 17.3 percent and 10.2 percent , respectively.

Last year, over 15 million new passenger cars were registered in the EU.

The EU is the main automotive export market for Turkey, where top international automakers -- including Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Mercedes, Renault, and Toyota -- are operating.

Turkey's auto exports to European countries totaled over $25 billion, making up 79.5 percent of Turkey's total automotive exports in 2018.