European car registrations up 25.2% in H1 2021

The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) reports that passenger car registrations in the European Union increased again in June 2021 compared to the same month of last year, rising 10.4 per cent to 1,048,143 units. When factoring in the UK, which experienced a 28.0 per cent year-on-year increase to 186,128 new registrations, as well as EFTA markets, Europe-wide registrations of passenger cars increased 13.3 per cent to 1,282,503 units in June.

The month’s figures represent a more modest rate of growth than we’ve seen in previous months. Over the first half of 2021, EU demand for new cars grew by 25.2 per cent to reach 5,361,857 units registered in total. However, this is still 2.8 million units or 35.5 per cent below the pre-COVID volume recorded over the first six months of 2019. UK registrations of new passenger cars rose 28.2 per cent year-on-year to 909,973 units in January to June 2021 but were 28.4 per cent lower in the first six months of 2021 than in the corresponding months of 2019.