The European new car market is coming back from the near-dead. April passenger vehicle registrations in the EU were up 6.9% to 1,166,482 units, says the European Automobile Manufacturers Association ACEA, and it adds that this was “the best result in terms of volume for the month of April since 2009.” Four months into the year, new passenger car registrations increased by 8.2 percent.
Finally, all volume markets contributed to the expansion. Italy was up 24.2%, followed by Germany (+6.3%), the UK (+5.1%), Spain (+3.2%) and France (+2.3%)
Among the volume manufacturers, Renault was up by a strong 14.9 percent, powered equally by its Renault and Dacia brands. FCA Group, up 13.8 percent, profited from a strong Italian market, along with exploding Jeep sales. Volkswagen, up 5.6 percent, underperformed slightly. GM’s Opel Group, up only 1.7 percent, continues to lag.