Oxford, UK – West European car registrations in September 2021 were down by 26% at 886,000 units compared with 1.2m units September 2020, according to data from LMC Automotive.
LMC Automotive said the fall in sales indicated the 'major sourcing issues that are haunting global vehicle production currently, with dealerships unable to meet consumer demand'. Car-makers are producing higher value vehicles to maximise their limited revenue, they said.
Looking at the largest markets, in Germany sales were down 25.7% in September, with registrations at 196,972 units.
UK sales fell by even more, with the total 215,312 cars sold down by 34.4% on the same month in 2020. This is the lowest level of September sales for two decades.
In France, the year-to-date registrations rose by 8%, with a total of 1.26 m units sold there in thenine months. In September, 133,835 vehicles were sold.
Spanish sales were down by 15.7% in the month at 59,641 units. The year-to-date total is 648,000 units, up 8% on last year.
Meanwhile, in Italy sales were down by 32.7% to 105,000 units in September. A total of 1.16m vehicles have been sold there in the year to date.
The European automotive market has grown by 6.5% in 2021 so far, to 8.24m units from 7.74m units at this stage in the previous year. But the rate of sales has slowed during the course of the year, and LMC Automotive is now forecasting that by the end of 2021, a total of 9.7m units will be sold compared with 10.7m in 2020.
