Brussels, 16/01/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) signals that, in December 2000, 835,559 new cars have been registered in the EU, which indicates a reduction of 8.7%, while 30,202 cars where registered in the EFTA countries (Switzerland, Norway and Iceland), which is equivalent to an increase of 6.2%. The ACEA notes in a press release that December is often a difficult month, which only represents around 6% of registrations throughout the year.
As for 2000 as a whole it was a more difficult year than usual, marked by a certain number of specific situations, such as pressure on prices in the United Kingdom and an excessive supply, temporarily, of second hand cars in Germany. Other elements that played a part in most of the EU Member States have also been the increase in interest rates during the year and the increase in fuel prices.
For 200 as a whole, the ACEA indicates a slight reduction in EU registrations (-2.2%) and in EFTA (-1.4%), compared to 1999, but underline that this is still a good result, given that 1999 had been a record year. Thus, with around 14.7 million cars registered in the whole of Western Europe, of which 14.3 in the EU and 427,000 in EFTA, 2000 was the second best year that the automobile industry has ever had, asserts the ACEA.
The highest number of registrations in the EU have been, in December, those of the following countries: - Germany: 245,000; - France 151,492; - Italy: 1124,100; - United Kingdom: 107,803; - Spain: 94,981; - Sweden: 28,212; - Belgium: 20,196. In Switzerland, the registrations were 23,359.
As for the cars preferred by drivers from throughout Western Europe last December, the Volkswagen group remain in front, with 20.6% of the total, followed by Peugeot/Citroen, with 13.6% and by Japanese cars, with 11%. However, from January to December 2000, the registrations of Volkswagens fell 2.9% throughout Western Europe and those of Japanese cars fell 3.3%, while those for Peugeot/Citroen increased 5.8% and those of DaimlerChrysler by 7.8%. As for Korean cars that represent 3.4% of registrations in December, their registrations increased by 5.5% from January to December 2000.