The year of the Covid – 19 – pandemic was the worst for the European car market since records began in 1990. Compared to the previous year, the number of new passenger car registrations fell in the year 2020 by almost 24 Percent to 9, 42 million vehicles, as the European industry association Acea announced on Tuesday in Brussels.

Clear reluctance to buy The two waves of infection with their lockdown phases have 2020 leave visible traces in the statistics. In addition, the great uncertainty among customers due to the severe economic consequences resulted in a clear reluctance to buy. In Germany, the market collapsed by almost a fifth year-on-year.

In December, the number of newly registered cars in the European Union fell compared to the same month last year moderate 3.3 percent to 1 031 million vehicles. In Germany there was even a countermovement with a plus of almost 10 percent.

The other major European markets got it worse: In Spain, new registrations remained practically stable compared to the previous year, in France the numbers fell by almost 12 percent. On the Italian car market there was a minus of almost 13 percent.

Volkswagen successfully bucked the trend In December, Daimler had a minus of just under 15 percent, with which the Mercedes group performed worst among German car manufacturers. At BMW it was 6.2 percent. Volkswagen was able to achieve a plus with all brands and brought almost percent more cars on the road. The Opel parent company PSA, since 16. Jan 2021 Stellantis, gained almost 3 percent, Renault recorded a minus of 13 Percent.

A look at the year shows: only in September was there an increase in registrations, in all other months of the year the numbers were in some cases considerably lower. The lockdown month of April 2020 set the negative record with a slump in new registrations 76 .3 percent compared to the previous year.

Braked restart Due to staggered cycles at the suppliers, a Production is not normalizing at full speed at the moment: The major manufacturers are missing components for the business that is now starting up again because the semiconductor industry has cut back on the production of chips for the automotive industry the 16 largest European manufacturer of cars, trucks and buses.

(fpi)