As it is often the case, some things seem to get worse before they get better, and it’s the same with regards to the car industry, where strict emissions rules and consumer incentive programs have taken their toll on new car sales in Europe, leading to a 7.4% drop in the month of January.
According to ACEA, registrations dropped to 1.135 million vehicles within the European Union, Britain and EFTA countries.
Last month’s decline marked the first drop in sales in the past five months, although another reason for it happening was some January sales actually being pulled into December, when volumes spiked 21% – carmakers attempted to sell as many high-emissions vehicles before New Year’s, so as to avoid new taxes.
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Other contributing factors to this decline include weaker global economic conditions, but also the uncertainty caused by Brexit. The UK left the EU on January 31st.
As for which automakers suffered most last month, Ford registered the largest decline (down 19%), followed by Renault (down 16%) and the PSA Group, whose sales dropped 14%, as reported by Autonews Europe.
PSA suffered a 27% drop in Opel/Vauxhall sales, followed by a 9.2% fall in Peugeot registrations and an 8% drop in Citroen sales. The fact that the DS brand sold 47% more cars in January didn’t seem to make a big enough difference. Meanwhile, sales for the VW Group remained flat as Porsche gained 68%, Seat 9.2% and Audi 8.5%, whereas the VW brand dropped 6.4% and Skoda 2.3%.
Then there are the likes of Toyota and BMW (Mini included), whose sales went up 10% and 3.8% respectively, while Hyundai, FCA and Daimler saw drops of 3.9%, 6.4% and 10% respectively.
