The organisation’s data shows that demand for new cars totalled 12,053,904 units in 2012 and the 8.2% decline in the industry is the most important experienced since the 16.9% downturn in 1993.

Looking at individual markets, there were diverse results, with the UK up by 5.3% and Germany only moderately down at 2.9%, while Spain (-13.4%), France (-13.9%) and Italy (-19.9%) faced a more severe downturn.

December new car registrations were even more gloomy, with a total of 799,407 new cars registered in the EU, representing a sharp 16.3% decrease in the EU – the steepest recorded in a month of December since 2008. December marks the 15^th month of decline for the sector.

Most of the major markets recorded a double-digit downturn in December, ranging from -14.6% in France to -16.4% in Germany, -22.5% in Italy and -23.0% in Spain. Out of all the major markets, only the UK posted growth at +3.7%.