The decline of the European new car market has continued throughout February. According to JATO Dynamics data, 1,063,264 units were registered last month, compared to 1,143,852 in February 2019. This equates to a decline of 7.0%, as last month saw the lowest number of registrations since 2015 – when only 955,113 units were registered. This aligns to the negative results seen in January when volume fell by 7.6%. Thus, the first two months of this year, have already seen a cumulative fall in registrations of 7.3% to 2,194,706 units.
Felipe Munoz, global analyst at JATO Dynamics, commented: “The situation is rapidly deteriorating in Europe due to complex regulation, lack of available homologated cars, and increasing pressure on the economy. All of these factors are having a detrimental impact on consumer confidence.” As of February 29th, 2020, our data has shown that the impact of Covid-19 has yet to hit the European automotive market. As although registrations only increased in 6 markets, this made up just 4% of total volume for the month.
Against this negative backdrop, electrified vehicles were once again the outlier in the industry. Their registrations jumped from 75,400 units in February 2019 to 135,500 units last month. The increase of over 80% came at the expense of diesel and petrol cars who saw significantly fewer registrations. Munoz added: “So far this year, electrified vehicles have been the only lifeline for manufacturers operating in Europe. This is good news, as the industry’s electrification plans have finally seen a positive response from consumers.”
Please click here to view the full press release.
SOURCE: JATO
