EU: Passenger car market narrows 3.1% in H1

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA (AA) - The EU passenger car market narrowed 3.1% year-on-year in the first half of this year, the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) reported Wednesday.

The association said new passenger car registrations across the 28-member bloc totaled 8.2 million in the January-June period.

"With the exception of Germany (up 0.5%), each of the big EU markets recorded a slight decline so far in 2019," the ACEA said.

Manufacturing the Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda, Seat and Porsche brands, the VW Group holds a 24.2% market share with 1.98 million cars in the six-month period.

The PSA Group, including major brands Peugeot, Citroen, and Opel, and the Renault Group had market shares of 16.7% and 11%, 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% of Turkey's total automotive exports in 2018.