European new car sales down by 3.2%

European new car sales fell by 9.1 per cent in September pulling down year to date registrations by 3.2 per cent, according to Jato Dynamics.

The main European new car markets, UK, France, Germany and Italy, all posted lower year on year figures for September. The German market is currently on course to sell one million fewer cars than last year. 

The top five selling brands, Volkswagen, Ford, Opel/Vauxhall, Renault and Peugeot, all posted declines during the month. The top two selling models, the VW Golf and Ford Fiesta, were down by 28.9 per cent and 22.2 per cent respectively.

“Although true year-on-year comparisons remain difficult, the level of new car sales in the ‘big five’ markets this year has been bad news for the global volume brands, who  have traditionally relied on them and will need to look elsewhere for growth,” said David Di Girolamo, head of Jato Consult.