EU car sales drop over 30% in October amid deepening chip crisis

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) – Despite a slight increase of 2.2% in European car sales year-on-year in the January-October period, the October figures alone posted a huge drop of 30.3% versus the same month last year.

"With 665,001 units sold across the region, this was the weakest result in volume terms for a month of October since records began," the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) said in a statement on Thursday.

The global semiconductor shortage has an impact on several industries that rely on chips, including the automotive sector.

In the first 10 months, new car registrations totaled around 8.2 million units.

In October, most EU markets saw double-digit declines, including the four major economies - Italy (-35.7%), Germany (-34.9%), France (-30.7%), and Spain (-20.5%).

The highest declines were registered by Lithuania with 54.8%, Austria with 39.2%, and Belgium with 35.3%, while Ireland (16.7%) and the Greek Cypriot administration of Southern Cyprus (5.2%) posted positive figures.

Among manufacturer groups' EU sales, the largest drops were posted by Volkswagen Group, which owns the Volkswagen, Skoda, Audi, Seat, Porsche, Bentley, Lamborghini, and Bugatti brands, and Daimler, which owns Mercedes and Smart, down 44% and 34.2%, respectively.

Hyundai Group, the owner of Kia and Hyundai brands, increased sales by 3.7% year-on-year in October.

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