UK Registrations Up 11.5% in April

New passenger car registrations in Europe (EU27 lands) fell by 7.4 per cent year-on-year in April. This drop in comparison with April 2009 figures is not unexpected when it is remembered that registrations began to rise a year earlier in response to short-term scrappage schemes introduced in a number of countries. Over the first four months of 2010 the market expanded by 4.8 per cent compared to the same period a year ago, while shrinking by 11.6 per cent in comparison to January-April 2008.

In absolute numbers, a total of 1,134,701 new cars were registered in the EU in April. Of the largest markets, Germany registered the greatest number of new cars, 259,414 units, although its 31.7 per cent year-on-year decline in registrations was one of the largest recorded. In contrast, the UK market grew 11.5 per cent year-on-year, with 148,793 new registrations.

Four months into the year, a total of 4,809,647 new passenger cars have been were registered in the EU, 4.8 per cent more than in the same period last year. Registrations in the UK increased 23.9 per cent year-on-year during this period, with 760,341 new registrations.