8:19 am, October 20, 2022
New car registrations grew in September as supply problems began to ease.
New data from the ACEA (European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association) shows carmakers in the EU, European Free Trade Area (EFTA) and UK delivered a combined 1.05m new cars last month, up by 7.9 per cent compared with September 2021.
It was the second consecutive month where registrations rose, following August where numbers were up by 4.4 per cent.
The ACEA did caveat the results, however, by saying that comparisons with September 2021 were ‘weak’ as that month was blighted by heavy semiconductor shortages.
Volkswagen Group (+20.4 per cent), Toyota Group (+11.5 per cent), BMW Group (+1.5 per cent), Mercedes-Benz (+27.9 per cent), Ford (+31.5 per cent) and Nissan (+12.8 per cent) performed strongly during the month.
Stellantis, meanwhile, dropped by 2.6 per cent, Hyundai was down by 7.2 per cent and Jaguar Land Rover registrations fell by 1.9 per cent.
The ACEA data also showed that over the first three quarters of 2022, combined EU, EFTA and UK registrations were down by 9.7 per cent versus the same period last year.
The figures will add further weight to the ACEA’s prediction that the EU car market will shrink by over a quarter by the end of this year.
Earlier this month, ACEA president and CEO of BMW Oliver Zipse – who has also been critical of the UK’s 2030 ban on combustion-engined cars – called for urgent policy action.
He said: ‘To ensure a return to growth – with an even greater share of electric vehicle sales so climate targets can be met – we urgently need the right framework conditions to be put in place.
‘These include greater resilience in Europe’s supply chains, an EU Critical Raw Materials Act that ensures strategic access to the raw materials needed for e-mobility, and an accelerated roll-out of charging infrastructure.’
He added: ‘The last years have been marked by major events like Brexit, the coronavirus pandemic, semiconductor supply bottlenecks and the war in Ukraine, with its impact on prices and availability of energy.
‘All of these things underline how quickly, how profoundly and how unpredictably our world is changing.
‘This applies not least in the geopolitical context – where there are direct consequences for our globally interconnected industry and its close-knit value chains.’
