Europe’s light vehicle market faces long recovery climb: GlobalData

Following ACEA’s latest assessment that new car sales in the European Union will fall by 25 per cent in 2020, GlobalData’s automotive analyst David Leggett, says: “In May, the European passenger car market (EU+EFTA+UK) suffered another sharp drop, with new registrations falling by 57.2 per cent on last year.

“However, lockdowns eased in May and we anticipate gradual improvement to new car demand in the region over the rest of the year, particularly as purchase and scrappage incentives come into play in major markets such as France, Italy and Spain.

“Nevertheless, GlobalData forecasts that the European light vehicle market will turn out down 23.2 per cent this year at 15.8 million units. That’s a much bigger drop than occurred during the international financial crisis of a decade ago.”