Oxford, UK – May's Car registrations in Western Europe were flat compared with the same month in 2018 at 1.3m units. But the headline masks national variations, said LMC Automotive.
They reached 333,000 units, which was enough to take the year-to-date figures into positive territory
Brexit uncertainty hit UK sales which were down 4.6% year on year. A total of 184,000 cars left the showrooms in the month. In France the year on year number of registrations grew by 1.2% with over 194,000 units sold there. Spanish sales were down by 7.3.% at 126,000 units. Italian sales were down by 1.2%. Car makers there saw a total of 197,307 new vehicles hit the road there there in the month.
LMC Automotive, which produced the figures said the year-to-date volumes in the first part of 2019 are down on the same period in 2018
But it adds that this was 'a particularly strong period in 2018.'
The consultants suggest the second half of the year could be better than the first. But they warn that the improvement will not 'put the region back on track for significant growth in 2019.
