Latest ACEA figures show that Demand for new passenger cars was up in all major markets, driven by ongoing scrappage schemes and by the economic recovery of Southern Europe. Registrations in Spain (+22.5%), Italy (+17.2%), France (+9.1%), the UK (+8.6%) and Germany (+4.8%) increased when compared to September 2014. Across the region, new passenger car registrations totalled 1,356,868 units.

Over the first nine months of 2015, new passenger car registrations increased (+8.8%), surpassing 10 million units (10,413,675). However, the ACEA noted that this is still far from the pre-crisis level of almost 12 million units registered during the same period in 2007.

All major markets posted growth YtD, contributing to the overall upturn of the EU market over the first three quarters of the year. Spain (+22.4%) and Italy (+15.3%) benefit from strong growth and posted double-digit percentage gains, followed by the UK (+7.1%), France (+6.3%) and Germany (+5.5%).