New car demand in the European Union continued to struggle in the first half of 2019, with registrations down 3.1%.

During the first half of 2019, demand for new passenger cars across the EU was down by 3.1% compared to the same period last year

The figures from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) show that registrations for the first six months totalled 8.2 million units compared to 8.4 million for the same period in 2018. With the exception of Germany (+0.5%), each of the big EU markets recorded a slight decline in the first half.

It follows a 7.8% drop in June, with registrations to 1,446,183 units, although ACEA said the drop could be largely attributed to a negative calendar effect. On average, June only counted 19 working days across the EU this year, compared to roughly 21 days in 2018. As a result, the five major EU markets all posted declines, especially France (-8.4%) and Spain (-8.3%).