The European new car market continued its positive growth in November, with registrations up 5.9% for the month and 4.1% for the year to date.

The European new car market continued its positive growth in November

The figures from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) show a total of 1,216,702 cars were registered this month, with the 5.9% increase compared to November 2016 most down to the fact that there was one extra working day this year round.

Nearly all major EU markets performed well: Spain (+12.4%) and France (+10.3%) posted double-digit growth, followed by Germany (+9.4%) and Italy (+6.8%). The UK car market, however, contracted for the eighth consecutive month, with registrations falling by 11.2% in November.

For the year to date, more than 14 14 million new passenger cars were registered. Among the five big markets, Italy (+8.7%) and Spain (+7.8%) recorded the strongest gains, followed by France (+5.3%) and Germany (+3.0%). By contrast, car demand in the United Kingdom decreased by 5.0% so far in 2017.