The European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) has revised its 2020 sales forecast for passenger car registrations and it’s not looking too good.
In fact, the industry association expects car sales in the EU to drop by more than 3 million units from last year’s 12.8 million units to some 9.6 million this year. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic has already caused the EU market to contract by 41.5% this year.
In terms of volume, this adjusted forecast for 2020 represents the lowest number of new cars sold since 2013, when the industry was still reeling from six consecutive years of decline in the aftermath of the last financial crisis.
Related: Europe’s New Car Sales Down 78 Percent In April, China Just Two Percent
“ACEA maintains hope that this dramatic scenario can be mitigated through fast and strong measures by the EU and national governments,” stated the association’s general director, Eric-Mark Huitema.
“Given the unprecedented collapse in sales to date, purchase incentives and scrappage schemes are urgently required right across the EU to create much-needed demand for new cars. In the interest of our industry and the wider EU economy, we are calling for the necessary political and economic support – both on the EU as well as the member state levels – in order to limit the damage to production and employment over the months to come.”
Volume aside, if we were to only examine the percentage change, this bleak forecast represents the sharpest drop ever seen by Europe’s automobile industry.
Back in April, when COVID-19 lockdown measures were in full effect, new car sales across all of Europe plummeted 78 percent.
