The European car sales market posted its worst results since 1993 last year, the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association has reported. According to the data provided, the total number of car sales registered in the EU was 9.3 million with a 4.6 percent year-on-year decline.
Factory closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent disruptions in the supply of components are among the main reasons cited.
By country, the report gives the following numbers:
The German car market was the only one to show an increase, with a 1.1 percent uptick;
The Italian market plunged 9.7 percent;
The French market reduced by 7.8 percent;
The Spanish market showed a decrease of 5.4 percent;
Although EU-wide car sales started to grow from August 2022, with December registrations up 12.8 percent from a year earlier, the German auto industry association said it expects only a mild recovery for the national market in 2023.