Passenger car registrations: +8.4% first three months of 2017; +11.2% in March

In March 2017, EU passenger car registrations increased significantly (+11.2%), totalling 1,891,583 units. This level of growth is mainly due to Easter falling in March last year and in April this year. In volume terms, this result marked the highest March total on record. All the big five markets recorded very strong performances during the month, with Italy (+18.2%), Spain (+12.6%) and Germany (+11.4%) posting double-digit percentage gains, followed by the UK (+8.4%) and France (+7.0%).

From January to March 2017, demand for passenger cars increased by 8.4%, totalling 4,141,269 units. Italy (+11.9%), Spain (+7.9%), Germany (+6.7%), the United Kingdom (+6.2%) and France (+4.8%) all saw their markets grow during the first three months of the year, contributing to the overall upturn of the EU market.