March Car Registrations Down

European passenger car registrations amounted to 1,709,616 units in March this year. The figure represents a decrease of 4.7 per cent compared to March 2004. According to the ACEA the statistics were affected by the Easter break falling in March this year, adding that there had been a, “sluggish economic environment in the first quarter of 2005.”

The UK felt a decrease of 5.1 per cent, along with Germany (-0.4%), Spain (-3.6%) and Italy (-8.6 %). France was the only country that posted a national increase, of 2.5 per cent.

The UK recorded 442,940 passenger car registrations in March compared with 466,954 last year.