European car registrations – the NFDA response

The National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA) has commented on the most recent figures published by ACEA (European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association). “The National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA) is encouraged by the continued increase of passenger car registrations in the EU marking the 30^th consecutive month of growth”, said Sue Robinson, director of the NFDA. The NFDA represents franchised car and commercial vehicle retailers across the UK.

In February, passenger car registrations rose 14.1 per cent to 1,056,902 units compared to this time last year, whilst from January to February 2016 they increased by 10.1 per cent.

The largest European markets experienced a very positive growth in February. In UK registrations rose 8.4 per cent over-the-month to 83,365 units. Italy experienced the largest rise with an enormous increase of 27.3 per cent, whilst in France registrations were up 13 per cent. In Spain new car registration have risen 12.6 per cent and in Germany 12 per cent.

Robinson continued, “The growth in the European car market shows that European economies are still showing a continued recovery from the economic downturn. It is positive to see that European consumers feel confident to buy new vehicles. We are optimistic this trend will continue and the European car market will remain buoyant.”